Answer: Some people will say anything to justify their idea of how Church is done. The text of Matthew 21:12-17 involves Jesus clearing the Temple outer court where peddlers set up shop to sell the required offering items for Temple service. The peddlers were selling lambs, doves, and exchanging foreign money at premium prices. The Jews who were spread out throughout all the lands came together on the required observance day and included both rich and poor. The poor would only be able to afford a dove, in fact, Jesus’ parents were only able to bring a dove at His dedication.
The Tabernacle and later the Temple was said to be the dwelling place of God, where man met with God (Ex. 25:8; 29:43; 40:34-35; Ps. 18:6). The symbolism of the Temple was rich in the person of Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus is said to be the Temple of God (John 2:20-21); the Word became flesh and tabernacled (dwelt) among us (John 1:14); His body described as both the sacred bread (John 6:27-59), and the curtain (Heb. 10:20); and finally, His blood washes and cleanses us (1 John 1:7). For He was the Lamb of God who take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The Temple in Jerusalem was the focal point of national restoration and blessing, but that focal point has now moved to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
But it is also true that both the Church is called the temple (1 Cor. 3:16-17; 2 Cor. 3:16-17; Eph. 2:21-22; Heb. 3:6), and the Christian body, indwelt with the Holy Spirit is called a temple (1 Cor. 6:19). The basic idea is that both the Church and the Christian has met God. The Lord Jesus Christ is functioning today as the great High Priest interceding for us.
The Church is the group of all Christians and has nothing to do with a building. That is the big point of John 2:19 – that Jesus, the dwelling place of God, will be raised in three days. The object to come to is the person Jesus Christ, not a building made of hands. The Church meets in a building, or a house, or it may even be an outside court, and is just a place that is used by man to gather together to worship, listen to, and fellowship with God. The word Church in the Greek is called ekklesia a compound from the preposition “from” or “out of,” and “to call,” so it is that we are collectively called the “called out ones.” Notice the word refers to a group of individuals not to a building, further, the word is used of a local group, or universally for all believers, everywhere.
While it is true that certain activities must not take place in a modern Church building, it is also true that these activities should not take place in a Christian home either. The central question for any activity is: Does that activity glorify God?
I gather by your question that the leadership in your Church is moving beyond what is an acceptable activity and has moved to legalism. If a person comes to your Church and is not dressed according to some unwritten standard, does he or she get looked down upon? James writes about this in chapter two:
My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? (James 2:1-5)
Matthew 21 has no direct application to the Church today, but one could make a secondary application. Your Church sounds like many others who have built a building (not an insignificant thing to do, by the way) and brought together a body of believers there and leadership wants to run the Church in an orderly way with good intentions, but using Matthew 21 to base their idea of how Church should be done is the wrong way to use the Word of God. Go to the Church letters to find out how the local Church should be run.
Thanks for asking.
John Pappas, ThD
