Very
early in Jesus public ministry, the Lord went to Jerusalem for Passover. When He came into the Temple and saw how it was
being used to sell merchandise and financial services, He had
made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and
the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.
(verse 15)
A
couple of years later, at His last Passover celebration on what we call Palm
Sunday, Jesus did the same thing. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of
prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den
of thieves.’” (Mathew 21: 13;
Luke 19: 46) Mark 11: 12-18
indicates that Jesus might’ve gone back the next day and kicked over some more
tables.
At
the time, the Promised Land was a series of provinces in the ethnically and
religiously diverse Roman empire. The
Jews were the most prominent religious and ethnic group locally, but Judaism
was by no means the only nationally recognized religion. The Roman-appointed Jewish kings, the Herods,
funded expansions to the Jewish temple
in Jerusalem, but they also built numerous temples to Roman idols, including a
pagan temple in the suburbs of Jerusalem.
And there were other pagan temples and shrines all over ancestral Jewish
land.
This
means that Jesus frequently encountered non-Jewish religious rites, but He
never publicly called out pagan religious leaders for being hypocrites.
In
the markets, Jesus saw vendors selling icons and food dedicated to idols, but He never whipped
their butts while calling them a den of
thieves.
In
the Temple, Jesus attacked the sellers and vendors, but He didn’t drive out the
Gentile visitors or the sinners coming to inquire about sacrifices.
Jesus
regularly passed by pagan temples. But He never went into those places and
kicked over the tables.
He
set the same standard for His followers.
When some Samaritans rejected the gospel and the disciples contemplated
their destruction, Jesus rebuked----- His
disciples.
They said, “Lord, do You
want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as
Elijah did?”
But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner
of spirit you are of. For the Son of Man did not come to destroy
men’s lives but to save them.”
And they went to another village. (Luke 9:
54-56)
Jesus
commanded His followers to take the gospel into the highways and hedges, to
Judaea, to Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, but Jesus only ever kicked
over tables in His own Temple.
The gospel is for the
whole world, but internal Christian accountability is only for the church.
Sin
is sin no matter what theology you’ve adopted, but the church’s authority to
hold sinners accountable is specifically and Biblically limited to the church.
The
Apostles of the New Testament cast out demons among the nations. They healed the sick in uncoverted land. They debated and disputed the worshippers of
false gods, but the apostles never claimed moral authority outside of the
church.
They only ever kicked over
tables in their own Temple.
In
the midst of a Roman empire that culturally and legislatively endorsed and
encouraged idolatry, homosexuality, slavery, misogyny, materialism, and the
ruthless, violent pursuit of wealth and power, New Testament Christians were
commanded If it is possible, as much as
depends on you, live peaceably with all men (Romans 12: 18); while
holding their lifestyles to a standard different from the culture around
them.
And do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove
what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. (Romans 12: 2)
Jesus
didn’t call for political rebellion against Rome.
Jesus answered Pilate, “My
kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants
would fight.
(John 18:36)
He did
provoke a spiritually revolution in His faith.
Do not think that I came to
bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. (Jesus, Matthew 10: 34)
Kick
over your own tables.
And
that’s nothing new. Even when Old
Testament Israel was geopolitically unified under the Mosaic law religious purity was confined
to their borders. Israel never had
permission to invade outside the borders laid out by God through Moses and
Joshua.
They
could only ever kick over their own tables.
That’s
always been the policy, and it still is.
America’s
founding documents espouse Christian principles drawn from the Mosaic law. But the United States is in reality a lot
more like ancient Rome than Israel under Moses.
Historically Christianity was the dominant religion, but it is by no
means the only or even the ruling faith.
America has culturally and legislatively endorsed and encouraged
idolatry, homosexuality, slavery, misogyny, materialism, and the ruthless,
violent pursuit of wealth and power.
Let me make it plain. Republican, Democrat, Tea Party, Libertarian, etc., etc.: none of them are Christian. Some of them are Christians. But none of our political parties is an extension of the church. No. No, they're not.
They set up their tables in churches but only to sell their political merchandise and facilitate the transfer of financial donations.
Citizens who aren't believers are subject to government laws and regulations, and ultimately to the final judgment of God. But in the meantime, they are not subject to the authority of the church. As a Christian pastor, I can discuss, talk about, debate with, and speak on the lifestyle of those without; but I have no real authority to demand that they conform to the standards of Scripture they don't even believe.
We only get to kick over tables in our own temple.
Jesus
has commanded us to debate, dispute, and evangelize the world; but He has also
specifically prohibited us from pursuing the destruction of those who reject
Him.
Sometimes
we get so mad at the way people
disrespect God’s name and God’s Word! But God warns us, Beloved, do not avenge
yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is
Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12: 18)
We
don’t get to kick over tables in mosques. We
don’t whip weekend worshippers in the
strobe light-lit temples of money and pleasure. We don't get to run their shows. But in the church, we do.
Surrounded by a culture and country that glories in its sin, we the
church hold ourselves accountable for living differently.
Regardless
of what Rome or Washington says is legal, we look to the Bible to tell us what
is right. Regardless what the
philosophers and pundits say is acceptable, we turn to Scripture to see what is
holy.
We
are citizens of this land. We are
residents in this society. But we are
disciples of Jesus Christ, and that last identity is where we first and finally
place our accountability.
It’s
more than an artistic decision that the halls of Congress and the Supreme Court
are decorated with both Biblical and pagan figures. When we’re called into
those places, we, like Paul before Felix, must be ready to give an answer in
defense of our hope in Christ.
Christians should fight for morally right laws. Christians should lobby for legal protection
for the faith, but look around at the decor and recognize what isn’t your
temple.
In
the church we don’t drive away non-Christians or the lost who come in to learn
and inquire about the sacrifice for their sins.
But
we also don’t let maximum acceptable sin in America determine minimum
acceptable holiness in the church.
Among
the people who call themselves followers of Christ, we refuse to yoke ourselves
to the culture of unbelievers.
So when
the sinful practices of the culture become adopted as the practices of the
church, then it might be the right time and place to kick over some tables.
---Anderson T. Graves
II is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry,
and rural leadership development.
Rev.
Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Miles Chapel CME Church in Fairfield,
Alabama; executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking
Organization (SAYNO); and director of
rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).
Email atgravestwo2@aol.com
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