The Moneychangers

Hmm.... I would have drawn the line between "choir performances and baptism classes" and "sales and fundraisers" - the former belong in church, the latter do not. I suspect you didn't mean that quite the way it sounds

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Which is why some people **ahem** harp on the importance of being a Christian - i.e. living like a Christian - instead of just appearing to be a Christian - i.e. being seen going to and from church, professing the dogmas, etc.Oddly enough, I think maybe that's what Jesus had against the moneychangers.Do you really think He cares if you're "on time" or what you wear?

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I've always been more inspired by how people act outside of church. Do you suppose the moneychangers were the "pillars of the community" who sat in their special pews, assigned on the basis of their status? How else would they have the influence to conduct their business in the temple?I'll mention it again: I think that maybe Jesus' reaction was based more on who they were and how they came to be there, rather than just on what they were doing.From Monty Python's The Meaning of Life:

quote:

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Chaplain: Let us praise God. O Lord...
Congregation: O Lord...
Chaplain: ...Ooh, You are so big...
Congregation: ...ooh, You are so big...
Chaplain: ...So absolutely huge.
Congregation: ...So absolutely huge.
Chaplain: Gosh, we're all really impressed down here, I can tell You.
Congregation: Gosh, we're all really impressed down here, I can tell You.
Chaplain: Forgive us, O Lord, for this, our dreadful toadying, and...
Congregation: And barefaced flattery.
Chaplain: But You are so strong and, well, just so super.
Congregation: Fantastic.
Humphrey: Amen.
Congregation: Amen.

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Decorum ain't everything.

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Well, He didn't just "ask them to move along":

quote:

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Joh 2:15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables;

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Whipping people is "good taste"? I thought priests and rabbis were supposed to be less angry.(I might go so far as to say Jesus sinned when He drove the moneychangers out of the temple.)

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This is the part that seems bogus to me: Misuse of the "graven images" law propped up their Temple Bucks monopoly.

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