And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. John 2:16

Does this describe the goings on within the church walls today, or does it more readily  describe what’s going on in many Christian’s hearts?  Jesus clearly went ballistic when he saw what became of His Father’s House…a place that was supposed to be a house of prayer had been overturned to a house of greed, and dealings with merchants who clearly tried to take advantage of God’s desires for his people. Yet  behind the merchants, stood the Pharisees who held so tightly to the Law, they wanted to make sure the people who  wished to enter the temple had sacrifices. The atmosphere and exchange of mammon in the temple can be likened to a busy flea market on a Saturday. People looking for good deals, and dealers looking for a quick sale.

How sad that the same thing occurs in many, if not all, of the churches today. Before you can even get inside the sanctuary, you are bombarded with deals on tapes, Cds, and books, often costing in the hundreds of dollars. Not only are they selling you their merchandise, but they continue to cry about the blessings that await you if you sow a seed into their ministry. These things are merchandize; they come from a merchandizing heart, and are in a very real danger of being overturned by the Spirit of the Lord. Though it may not be in a physical sense, Pastors and Leaders are to fear what awaits them at the hour of their due judgment.  

There is clearly a time and a place for merchandizing…however the time is not during God’s time, and the place is not in God’s Sanctuary where needy people come with real problems…Problems that cannot be solved by buying Pastor’s/Evangelists’/Prophet’s self-titled book on how to “score” with God.

Church leaders should not allow any selling in their churches at all. If they do, they are blind, uneducated, and the most unfit to serve in the kingdom of God.

We should all have the same anger as Jesus has when it comes to merchandizing in His sanctuary. When presented by a church merchandizer we should be in a hurry to speak, and in more of a hurry to act. A Christian that merely stands by and watches does nothing for the kingdom of God, and is making himself a part of the problem. Even though we may not have the strength and the courage to overturn the tables, we do have, or should have, the courage to speak loudly against the merchandizing demon.