Most people have a more rounded education than mine. They read the comics - something I haven't done since Dick Tracy, Dagwood and Blondie, Smilin' Jack and Li'l Abner. I guess I just got out of the habit.
However, a few years ago Allen Isbell sent me a comic strip entitled Kudzu by Doug Marlette. Since that time I can proudly say that I read one comic strip each day.
A recent offering shows the preacher, holding his Bible, standing in front of the church house door. A rather large and aggressive lady has him cornered, and she is giving him what for. "What - No tanning salon?!... No juice bar!... No food court!... No fitness center!... No jacuzzi!... No sauna!... No skating rink!... AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A HOUSE OF WORSHIP!"
This brought to mind a time when Jesus went in the temple and found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, along with the money-changers at their business. You can imagine the noise, odor, and general commotion. The atmosphere must have been somewhat like a county fair, or carnival. Was Jesus pleased? Hardly! He cleaned them out - lock, stock and barrel.
God's intention was that the house which was called by His name should "be called a house of prayer for all peoples" (Isaiah 56:7). but in time the original purpose had been largely forgotten. God's house had become a house of trade occupied by a den of robbers.
And if we are not careful, we will repeat the same mistake and forget what God's house (the church) is all about today.
Source:
Keynoter , the weekly bulletin of the Sixth and Izard Church of Christ, Little Rock, AR; March 6, 1997, p. 1.
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