NFCC Crosshairs 3/06/22

NFCC Podcast

And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Mk. 11:17 (KJV)

Words go through evolutionary processes known as semantic shifts - where the original meaning of a word is displaced by the more used and commonly accepted definitions. An example of this is the word “dinner.” Through the evolution of use, the word “dinner” now refers to and is widely accepted as the day’s main meal or the evening meal. But the etymology of the word speaks of the breaking of a fast. Thus, the word “dinner” was originally used to describe breakfast. When Jesus said, “My house shall be called a House of Prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves.” He was referring to a similar evolutionary process. A contrary order became entrenched through consistency of practices, perspectives, and persuasions, resulting in the original intent being replaced by an aberration that Jesus called “a den of thieves.”

You have made it - This term springs from the Greek word POIEO which speaks to actions, attitudes, and habits as manifested in the formation of something tangible. It is easy to create entrenched deformity and assume it is kingdom conformity through consistent contradictory religious practices.

When Jesus went into the Temple, he engaged in a premeditated whipping of the people (Jn 2:15) and declared the House of the Lord was made into a “den of thieves”, He was making a direct reference to Jer 7:11 (NKJV). “Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes?”. Jeremiah asks this probing and rhetorical question after identifying a series of indiscretions that best characterize a Peter-Pan Church that is terrible at adulting.

1. 4- A presumption that is equally idolatrous, that believes that the physical Temple or the brick and mortar building possesses a power it does not (Acts 7:48)
2. 5- The urgency for impartiality and equity between man and his fellow man. Any spiritual grouping that gives oxygen to injustice, bigotry, tribalism, prejudice, insularity, and ethnocentricity betrays its status as God’s people. It is an indictment of our love for God if our love for one another ever comes into question. (1Jn 5:2)
3. 6- The call for empathy to immigrants, orphans, and widows. “True religion” is demonstrated in how the less fortunate are treated in the company of the redeemed (James 1:27).
4. 6- A murderous and idolatrous spirit that permeates the house of God
5. 9- A fundamental violation of the moral codes of not stealing, not committing murder, not committing adultery, and not committing idolatry.
6. 10- The assumption that indiscretions are off the radar once under the mist of religion

These indiscretions represent a deferential posture to a brand of “Christianity” that does not fear God and puts Him at the highest place of affection.

After identifying the spiritual carelessness of the people, God pointed their attention to Shiloh as an example of His response to spiritual irresponsibility (vs.12). Shiloh is the place where God walked out of His House and reduced it to a God-deprived system. Like Elvis, He left the building. When God is gone, all you have left is Ichabod.

The House of Prayer is not necessarily replaced by prayerlessness; it is swallowed up by spiritual recklessness. Prayerlessness is not just the absence of praying. It can easily be the regularity of prayer, but inner Babylonian dispositions mixed with religious posturing ultimately invalidate both the power and importance of our prayer.

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA:

1. Ukraine needs our prayer as this war can have enormous refugee and humanitarian repercussions.
2. Pray for the mind of the Lord in global negotiations and for quick resolution to the current crisis
3. Pray for Pastor Randy Thurman as he negotiates the next phase of the call of God on his life