Unconquered Territory (6)

Cast cords of love around my heart, then hold me and never let me go.

May the Saviour’s wounds sway me more than the sceptre of princes.

Let me love thee in a love that covers and swallows up all,

That I may not violate my chaste union with the beloved;

There is much unconquered territory in my nature,

Scourge out the buyers and sellers of my soul’s temple,

And give me in return, pure desires,

And longing after perfect holiness.  

The Valley of Vision, edited by Arthur Bennett, Banner of Truth, page 345.

Scourge out the buyers and sellers of my soul’s temple

Many years ago, when I was living in New York City, I looked into my wallet and saw I had virtually no money. At the time I was living in a house for ministers and missionaries operated by a church in Brooklyn - so while I had a place to stay and a place to eat (though we were expected, as I recall, to provide for some of our own meals), I really had no money with which to function - how I came to that predicament I do not recall. As I pondered what to do I thought of a church holding services that evening within walking distance of my residence and I said to myself, “I’ll go there, they will ask me to speak and they will give me an offering.” This was fairly common in those days and I had every reason to expect that I’d leave the church with more money than I had when I entered it.

That evening I left my residence with Bible in hand and walked toward the church. When I was about a block away from the church, close enough to see it, I came to my senses and thought, “What am I doing?” I turned around and walked back to the Mission House. To go to a church and speak not because God sent me, but because my wallet sent me, was a thing I could not go - God was merciful to me by convicting me of my gross stupidity.

The Bible gives us examples of men who engaged in “ministry” for money, power, and position; the prophet Balaam especially comes to mind - not only do we see him in the book of Numbers, but Jesus speaks of his nefarious way of “ministry” in Revelation - a way which has wormed its way through all generations - a maggot feeding on the sin and greed and promiscuity of fallen humanity and of “ministers” using the ministry for their own pleasure and gain (see also 2 Peter Chapter Two and Jude).

But here’s the thing, in our world of money and greed the temptation to evaluate situations based on money is great, the temptation to make decisions primarily based on finances can seem overpowering. Jesus drove the money changers and those who sold doves from the Temple (Matthew 2:12 - 17); are there things in the temple of my life that He needs to drive out? Am I using the things of God for my own ends?

This is not an easy question for me to answer and it comes up with more frequency than I care to acknowledge. Do I use the things of God to look good? To gain advantage? To seek favors? Not to mention the whole money thing - “I’ll give you a dove if you’ll give me a dollar.”

I realize that the enemy can attempt to introduce false guilt and doubt into life. I also realize that God uses us even though our motives may not always be the best. Paul was careful to distance himself from financial impropriety, and he often worked at a trade rather than receive money from those whom he was directly serving (1 Cor. 4:12; 1 Thess. 2:9).

It seems as if our sensitivity to the danger of money-motivation has diminished, so pervasive is our worship of money. Money trumps doing what is right and moral. Money often trumps Spirit-led ministry. I have been in more than one ministry setting, in congregations and in other forms of ministry, where the question has not been, “What is God saying? How is God leading us?” But rather, “What can we do to generate income?” When we exchange a yardstick for a meter-stick it doesn’t take long to forget we ever had a yardstick, so accustomed do we become to the new way of measuring life and decisions. We have become so adept at making decisions based on money that we don’t need to seek God, to trust Him, to pray - we can make it happen without His help...yes, it would be nice if He’d bless our agendas, but if not we’ll be fine.

Well, whether it is money or power or recognition or any number of other things, my desire (I hope) is that Christ will drive these things out of the temple of my soul and make my temple a house of prayer, a place where others can come for light and life and healing in Him. Deliver me, oh Lord Jesus….from myself.