I heard about a situation last week that made me very angry. A church leader was not happy about something, so the leader took it out on people who were not even involved. I won't go into anymore than that for sake of anonymity (not mine, but those involved), but please understand that this was the end result. I don't believe it was the church leader's desire or intention to involve the innocent, and I don't want anyone to get that idea. But the fact remains that people who were not involved in the situation ended up bearing the brunt of this leader's displeasure.
So I got mad. I wrote an angry Facebook note and pondered Todd Agnew lyrics for the rest of the night. I also looked up artwork of Jesus clearing out the temple.
I really like this painting of the cleansing the temple. Other paintings had whips cracking, people running and tables flying. But this simple oil painting shows something the others didn't: Jesus with his fist raised.
So I got mad. I wrote an angry Facebook note and pondered Todd Agnew lyrics for the rest of the night. I also looked up artwork of Jesus clearing out the temple.
I really like this painting of the cleansing the temple. Other paintings had whips cracking, people running and tables flying. But this simple oil painting shows something the others didn't: Jesus with his fist raised.Right after Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem--the week before he died--Jesus took time to "cleanse the temple." That's a nice churchy-way of saying that he kicked some major butt. He overturned tables and chased out the businessmen who had turned the holy temple of God into a profitable free-for-all. (Basically, they sold animals for sacrifice at exorbitant prices, but that gets into a long discussion about the immorality of the money changers who took advantage of the people's desire to worship, and that's not what this is about.) Needless to say, people ran away in fear and terror. After all, it's not everyday a homeless man drives business owners out of the church. But I digress. After driving out the guilty, Jesus went back to teaching and healing. He wasn't mad at anyone anymore; those people were gone. The story always reminds me that Jesus only ever got angry at people who led others astray.
I always like this story. I really enjoy it when Jesus kicks butt. (Who doesn't?) I especially like it when the story quotes the prophet Jeremiah in the Old Testament. Apparently, it was foretold that the savior of the world would throw the smack down on the unjust. Well, maybe not those words exactly. ("Has this house (the temple) which bears my name become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! decalres the Lord." -Jer. 7:11)
Sometimes, though, I can't help but wonder why God doesn't simply kick people's butts anymore. Every now and again I get into a theological debate with myself regarding the nature of God and the definition of justice. It usually doesn't end well. There's always that annoyingly unanswerable question leftover: Why. Why did this happen? Why are unjust church leaders still leading? Why did the innocent have to suffer? Why not just kick some butt and get it over with?
Underneath those unanswerable questions lies a larger church question. How do we as the church handle injustice? What does the church do with injustice inside its walls? What about outside of them? How should the church respond?
I don't have the answer to that. There are many injustices in the world, and I couldn't possibly name even half of them here. I do believe this principle, though: the church IS called to respond. As God's representatives in this world, we ought to actively be fighting against injustice, and not just political hot-topic injustice, either. We ought to seek out social, economic, racial and discriminatroy justice (among others) and find a way to right it. After all, Jesus isn't physically here. We're his hands. We're his feet. We're his body. We're his raised fist.
I just pray I'm patient enough to let him get the first hit.
All scriptural references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise stated.
The image "The Expulsion of the Money Changers from the Temple" by Giotto di Bondone was found at www.biblical-art.com
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ReplyDeleteJustice does not have to involve punishing the wicked. We must be cautious, when discussing justice, that we are not driven by passion to do something that seems right, but God would not want. My problem with the image you present is that it shows Jesus ready to strike a man. Maybe it is just a pose, but Jesus was also radical in his teaching of enemy-love and cheek-turning. That Jesus would not have struck a man, no matter how wicked the man was (a story about the Sons of Thunder wanting to rain down fire on an unrepentant village comes to mind). One job we have, as followers, is to look at the story as a whole and not just take one story as justification for whatever it appears to say. (BTW, I know you too well to think you are doing that, but how you are saying it could lead one in that direction).
ReplyDeleteMost comments I hear regard not so much the cheating and swindling, but the fact that they were going on in, for lack of a better term, a sanctuary of the Temple. People were WORSHIPPING in that space, but they had to share it with this zoo of animals and human scum. Jesus could probably have found worse cheaters and swindlers anywhere in the city, but he didn't turn their tables over. Most other swindlers (like tax collectors) we see Jesus encounter give up their wicked practices voluntarily. Only here, in an area of worship do we see Jesus act aggressively towards such behavior. I suggest two things: 1) Jesus would have behaved the same way, even if the business practices had been fair and honest, because of the location, and 2) Jesus would not have reacted this way to such unjust practices as long as they were in a space not being used for worship, even space in the temple as long as it wasn't worship space (like the Temple basketball court). It was the disruption of worship that got Jesus to act out his anger as he did.
This illustrates the other way we can work for Justice: providing for the needs of those who are unable to provide for themselves due to no fault of their own. From giving water to those trapped in the man-made desserts of Africa to housing those who are homeless due to faulty bank practices in the U.S, we can bring Justice without striking at the wicked. God will bring that justice. As Christians, I believe our involvement in that justice should be passive, but resistant, like boycotting businesses that do not promote sustainability.
It is easy to get carried away and hit someone. But in striking out, we risk the innocent. Better to help the innocent and let the wicked punish the wicked.
Larik, perhaps I'm not clear about some themes in this post. I certainly do not wish to say that every or even most injustice deserves retaliation. Nor do I believe that Jesus was a brawler. I am fully aware of his still relevant ideas regarding what to do in violent situations. However, he was also a man of action, and he did not always use nice words. He called the Pharisees a "brood of vipers" (Matt. 3:7, 12:34, and 23:33), which could be paraphrased today as "you bunch of scum-sucking snakes." He was just as vocal towards Peter when he said "Get behind me, Satan" (Matt. 16:23). Also, the nickname "Sons of Thunder" (describing the loud-mouth brothers and disciples James and John, for those who don't know) was given to them by Jesus himself (Mark 3:17). So when he went into the temple, I believe he meant business.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I do not believe that he was upset because there were animals and excrement in the temple. It was Passover, and so everyone who wanted to worship (rich, poor and otherwise) was headed towards the temple. Not only did they have to pay a temple tax, but it also had to be with a very specific Hebrew half-shekel. These coins were rare. The ones that were available to the public were usually controlled by the money changers. They would exchange foreign coin for them, but it was at unfair rates. Also, worshipers would bring a sacrifice. Some of the wealthy would bring in goats or sheep, but many times all a poor worshiper could afford was a pigeon or dove. The temple workers, called judges, would point out the smallest thing as a blemish and require the worshiper to pay a fine, which was expensive even for the wealthy. Imagine how hard it was on the poor.
Yes, you’re correct that this is the only instance recorded of Jesus acting out physically. You’re right to say that the sanctity of the temple was being disregarded, but it was more than that. The people who were supposed to keep worship holy cheated the people who came to worship God. I don’t know about you, but I think that’s pretty upsetting.
So did Jesus. John, the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” recorded that Jesus sat outside of the temple and “made a whip out of cords” before coming in and overturning tables (John 2:15). He wasn’t going in for a scolding. This was an old-fashioned butt kicking. No, I don’t think that Jesus actually struck somebody, but I don’t think you can deny that this was a passionate, physical expression of anger towards injustice.
I certainly don’t encourage violence as a response to violence. I do, however, tend to be boisterous when I’m angry. (That’s why I hoped for patience at the end of my post.) Sometimes I think certain situations call for an old-fashioned butt kicking. Perhaps I should define my kind of butt-kicking: a consequence that results in the inability of the offender to repeat his or her offenses against any other innocent people. I would be more pleased with an effective reprimand than with a termination of somebody’s job. (If they just get fired, they’re free to commit the same offenses elsewhere, and that doesn’t help anybody.)
Thank you for calling me on something that you felt needed clarification. I hope that now you understand more clearly where I’m coming from and what I’m saying.
*The history I referenced can be found at http://www.bible-history.com/backd2/moneychangers.html.
Unfortunately, A great many churches have become more concerned with increasing their membership than fighting social injustice. What they fail to understand is that Jesus was very much a revolutionary social activist in every sense of the word. He fought against political, religious, and social injustice. The current church "leaders" usually just pick a set of issues that they know strikes a chord with people and just roll with that.
ReplyDeleteYour post strikes a chord with me because I've had quite a few negative experiences with some - not all - church folk.
Your posting is very personal and flows logically. I like the fact that you included your scriptural sources.
I really like the photo of the painting of Jesus. I too sometimes wonder when Jesus is going to start "kicking butt" again. It seems as if most chuch leaders and congregations have grown complacent, if not backslided, when it comes to their willingness to address injustices. Alot of church members' ambition to do so is very misguided. Great post btw.
ReplyDeleteMeagan, we are not in disagreement; simply heading for the same destination from different directions. Jesus spoke and dealt harshly with those who were leading the people away from God (in the name of God, no less) but I imagine he did it out of love - being harshest with those who would not respond to anything less.
ReplyDeleteI applaud your use of the term 'justice'. As has been pointed out above, it is easy to get caught up in the witch hunts of hot-button issues, misguided by distinctives, or redirected by personal wrongs. Justice, true justice, is far harder. I am reminded of a quote attributed to St. Augustine: "Love God and do as you will." Sounds easy, but is very hard.