OT: I argued with my pastor
Am I right or wrong?
I said it was wrong to sell stuff in the lobby during church because where things are sold, things are stole and jesus chased the money changers out of church because they turned his house into a den of thieves.
He says... well, the only reason jesus chased people out of church is because they were cheating people.
I said... where does it say that?
He says.. well if you take it in context
I said "what context" the bible says...
He says ... well, God blessed so and so who sold this
I said .. were they selling it in the synagogue?
He says we don't have synagogues now because our bodies are now the temple of god.
Anyway, the discussion ended with us agreeing to disagree.
I think he was shocked that I did not accept his opinion as gospel.. he is a good preacher otherwise so now I'm wondering if I am wrong.
What is the opinion of my OH buddies?
Is it OK to sell items in church?
I believe the role of the money changers involved changing currency (Roman and foreign) for shekels to pay the temple tax. Then they would charge the temple priests to turn it back into Roman currency. Anyway, Jesus wasn't so hip to this because they used the temple and it's worshipers to get rich. And it further denied the poor access to temple because they could not afford to pay the tax much less the conversion rate.
So I don't think it is exactly the same thing. On the other hand...you might reference 2 Corinthians 2:14-16. Because I am not sure how correct it is either.
Do you think people feel unwelcome and/or obligated to buy things? I don't think people tithe the 10% so much and churches do need money to operate.