Jesus Cleansing the Temple Rebukes Treating Church as a Business

The worst business anyone could possibly start or be involved in (even worse than dealing drugs or making indecent videos) is a church and/or ministry business. No one should get into the things of the Lord for money. This is not just a reference to getting rich. This is even a reference to seeking to make a living at all. Consider Jesus cleansing the Temple. The money-changers and those selling doves weren’t necessarily trying to do more than just make a living either. The financial support that anyone receives for being a Christian worker should only be because there just isn’t time for him to support himself and his family otherwise (many paid pastors do have a lot of free time and could work to support themselves and their dependents if they weren’t lazy and they used their time wisely).

It is not hard to understand why sin, false doctrine, and corrupt man-made traditions prevail in almost every church. Often, a key driving force behind this are career pastors who see themselves as dependent on, or at least entitled to, financial support from the church. They are especially prone to seek to cater to pressure to back down from teaching the whole counsel of God and enforcing righteousness among those in the church as they ought to.

Compromise often happens by not talking about the verdicts on issues which the Bible deals with- especially those in relation to issues that are on most people’s radar anyways and/or issues which are likely to demand change if the Bible’s counsel on the matter was actually set forth in the church without backtracking. Most churches are filled with people who would quickly leave if Biblical truth were taught without compromise and applied faithfully to the people. The lines of faithful Christianity won’t be set forth and maintained in a church as long as anyone’s personal gain or other agenda controls the direction of the church at all.