For a woman hurting from a church policy: Christ's Response to Culturally Sanctioned Injustice

“Sometimes church hurts,” I whispered as I knelt in prayer asking how to navigate a church policy I didn’t agree with.  

When hit with this pain, rather than resentfully power through, blame myself, or abandon my faith, I’ve turned to the scriptures.  Here’s how the story of Christ cleansing the temple helped me.     

The backstory  (Matthew 21:12-16)

In ancient Jerusalem many people traveled great distances on Holy Days to obey God’s command to offer sacrifices at the temple.  The animals couldn’t make it on such a long journey, so merchants sold sacrificial animals, on temple grounds, to accommodate these foreigners.  But at highway robbery prices.  The merchants were ripping off the worshipers. 

The merchants had completely lost sight of the purpose of the worship, twisting the humble obedience of the righteous for their own gain.  

To make matters worse, out of town worshippers did not have local currency so relied on money exchangers, who set up shop next to these merchants.  These money changers also charged exorbitant rates.  The worshippers were ripped off again! 

Faithful followers didn’t really have a choice, this was the only temple:  If they were going to obey God, they were going to get taken advantage of.  And the most vulnerable, in this case the foreigners and the poor, were the most hurt.  The system was rigged.

Time for a Revolution

Now, what was happening was legal.  It was normal.  It just wasn’t right.  Worshipers should not be subject to unjust practices at the very moment they are trying to follow God’s word!  Even if those practices are culturally sanctioned.  Jesus likely witnessed His own humble family members experience this injustice, and, sickeningly, it was happening in God’s very own house.  A space that should have been a safe haven for the powerless became a place they were preyed upon.

Until Jesus put a stop to it.  

Christ made God’s practices and house safe again for the vulnerable faithful by cleansing the temple of the merchants and money changers.  The established, including the Romans and the Jewish religious elite, were threatened by Christ’s bold move, but the kids cheered.  

They cheered!  

I absolutely love that it was the kids - shouting “Hosanna to David’s son!” - who were the first to embrace with joy the radical changes Christ implemented.  (Matthew 21:15-16) They quickly recognized Jesus as the new King, the new way.  

In a no less significant, but perhaps quieter celebration, the marginalized (those who’d been ripped off, the blind, the leperous, and the sick) were then drawn back to the temple.  I can almost imagine them watching in the shadows to see if the changes Christ implemented would hold… waiting to see if it really was safe.  And then, tenderly, coming back home to Christ’s waiting embrace and healing. 

Today

Christ also sees the man-made impediments encumbering some of God’s precepts today.  He fixed it then, and when the time is right, I believe He will also cleanse our current systems of such stumbling blocks.  That belief helps me endure as I wait, hurting in the shadows.

As in Christ’s day, it may be the next generation who first rejoices in such changes; but we can all take comfort in a Savior who clears the way for lepers (and those treated like lepers) to feel safely at home again in God’s holy places and practices.  

Have you been hurt by a culturally sanctioned injustice?  Sometimes those pains have a ripple effect into our faith, relationships, and mental well being.  Therapy can help transform that suffering into a closer relationship with Christ, the ultimate healer. 

BOOK AN APPOINTMENT