Luke 19:45-46

Luke 19:45-46 Then he entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Jesus was upset with the economic activities people were conducting in the temple. These transactions were necessary because the people needed to buy animals and birds for the required sacrifices. They also needed to change their standard currency into temple currency to pay their temple tax, but Jesus did not want these activities within God's temple, for it was designated by God as a place of prayer: Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations. (Isaiah 56:7b) The temple of God was not intended as a market place, but a place of worship.

In the New Testament, we are known as the temple of God; we are the body of Christ where the Spirit abides. We are an example of his kingdom. We are the living Word, his visage here on Earth. Are we that temple or have we desecrated it with the activities of commerce, with self-willed concerns? Are we more a market place than a place of worship? Are we individually and collectively a house of prayer, a people who pray and worship continually? I sometimes believe rather than being a house of prayer, Christians have become a subculture; having our own schools, stores, theme parks, books, radio and television stations, campgrounds, and so on. When the world views us in this way, we are just another group, another pathway to living with a particular lifestyle somewhat different from theirs. The world should not be able to ignore us in this manner. We are not just another subculture, another lifestyle; we are God's temple, the people of God. Our lives should depict this reality. However, if our lives are lived in a self-willed way, doing our "Christian thing," the world will never perceive the temple of God; they will see us merely as a subset to their society.

According to the Bible, our lives as a body and as individuals should be a house of worship, a place where God dwells. Out of our innermost beings should flow continual songs of worship, words of praise, and prayers to God. Each of us should be God's temple; together we should reveal God's presence on Earth. Christianity is not an activity or an attitude; it is not an alternative lifestyle: not stores, schools, radio stations, or anything else of this world. We are the demonstrable House of God on Earth. Christians are to epitomize God's nature in a dark and dreary world, a world of death. Consequently, we definitely should not isolate ourselves in our own little "Christian world." As ambassadors for Christ, intimately involved with the world, we can reveal Christ to needy and hurting people. When we desire to isolate ourselves, to run to the hills or to set up our own institutions because we are afraid of the world, we must be careful what we are doing. Instead of creating a little "Christian Oasis" here on Earth, we should let our lights shine for Christ wherever we go. To be a light, we must be in the world, but not of the world. Jesus set the example: He mingled with the sinners while sharing the hope and peace of the Father.

In the midst of the world, our lives should be places of prayer, revealing the saving grace of God through Christ. Jesus will not accept any other temple environment. Putting the Christian stamp of approval on an idea or activity does not ensure God's blessing or his presence. Therefore, in every situation regardless of what we are doing, our temples should be places of worship, lighthouses in a dark world where people's lives constantly crash into the rocks of sin. As a collective body of Christians, living in the darkness of the world, let the church, the temple of God, shine brilliantly. Lord, show us how to make our testimony steadfast and holy, so the world will recognize that we are the body of Christ, the temple of God, holy and righteous in his name with room for all in the fold.