My article, “We Need Sunday School Answers,” was just posted to the Acts 29 site.  Find it here.

Young people raised in the church call it the “Sunday School answer.”  A believer experiences an unexpected break-up, and a friend responds, “God works all things for good.”  Another Christian expresses struggles with his future job prospects, and his brother answers, “Trust in the Lord.”  The discouraged disciple becomes frustrated.  He looks at his Christian friend and says, “Well, I knowthat.  Give me something that helps.”  Or, more likely, the truths are never stated.  The basics are just assumed.  After all, people know the “Sunday school answers,” right?

Certainly we must fight against insensitivity.  It’s often appropriate to hold a hand, give a hug, lend an ear, or simply sit in silence.  Most of us don’t want to be preached at in the midst of suffering.  But the basics are truly what we need.  Truth is what comforts us.  There is a tragic sophistication and cynicism toward basic Christian truths today by many young people.  We’ve heard those answers.  They’re too simple, we reason.  But those are the answers we need.  Our need is not for a better answer.  It’s for our hearts to embrace the right answer.  Gospel truths are not simplistic.  They are rich and deep.  But they’re simple.

After all, Jesus taught us that the kingdom belongs to children.  We are to receive him with the faith of a child (Luke 18:16-17).  What’s the answer to monsters under the bed?  God is in control.  How are we comforted when someone teases us on the playground?  It’s His approval we’re after.  What do we do if we find ourselves sad?  We reflect upon our joy in Christ.  Our need is not for better answers.  It’s for our hearts to embrace the correct answers.  Maybe it’s the “Sunday School answers” we need.  Could it be that Satan wants to make things more complicated?  As I teach my three young children these truths, I’m reminded how those simple answers are what my soul desperately needs, as well.

I remember a skit, back in my college ministry days, where three Christians were competing in a game show.  One girl, trying to play the airhead, kept answering “Jesus,”  with much enthusiasm, to every question.  Everyone laughed.  But maybe it was our Enemy who was truly laughing.  If he can get us to assume gospel truths, he’s won most of the battle.  If he can get us to mock God’s word, that’s success for him.  In our counseling, in our preaching, in our evangelism, is “Jesus” our answer?  Are the promises of Scripture our comfort?  If not, we might just need to go back to Sunday School.

Recently, I preached through Luke 19:41-48 at Karis.  There we see Christ’s sorrow over the city of Jerusalem and his anger in the temple.  There, in the house of God, Christ exercises discipline upon His people, kicking opportunistic people out of the building, flipping over their tables used for exchanging currency and selling animals for sacrifice, and blocking others from entering and trying to do the same (Mark 11:15-16).  Christ looks at the worship of his people and is greatly angered.  Instead of the temple being a place of prayer, it’s a house of sin.  So Christ does something about it.  Although our Lord is dealing with national Israel here, and through his cleansing he is foreshadowing her future judgment, his actions give us a picture of how we should view the church and what we should do about her disobedience.

What here gets Jesus so worked up?  Why does he flip the tables?  I think the reasons here instruct us as to the great importance of church discipline.

Why Discipline?
First, of all, the good of our community requires it. Christ’s grief and fury is chiefly directed toward God’s people, the nation of Israel, and not toward the world, the Gentiles.  Jesus isn’t looking at those outside the temple and getting angry.  He’s not looking at Rome and weeping.  His people who were called to be holy are anything but, and He’s furious.  They were not looking like God’s chosen people.  It’s necessary at times, when the church looks like the world outside, that we get hacked off and throw some tables around.  That’s because it hinders our relationship with the world and with our God.

Second, therefore, our mission necessitates it. There are two interesting things about Luke 19:45-58.  First, most scholars think that the tables Jesus throws were located in the area of the temple called the Court of Gentiles, the place where people outside the covenant community were allowed to come and worship.  Second, the quotation from Isaiah 56:7 found in verse 46, which reads, “My house shall be a house of prayer,” finds its original context in a passage speaking of the incorporation of Gentiles in the people of God.  In fact, the end of Isaiah 56:7 reads, “For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”  Why, then, is Christ so angry?  The hypocritical worship of Israel was hindering the nations from coming to worship.  Friends, as we look at the church today, we should have the same concern.  In what ways do our sins repel people far from Christ?  Our mission necessitates that we clean out the household of God.

Third, God’s glory is at stake. John records, in chapter two, another instance where Christ cleanses the temple.  The disciples remember, verse 17 says, that Psalm 69:9 said, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”  They see that passage pointing forward to Christ’s furious action there.  What is Christ’s main concern?  It’s the glory of God.  The temple, intended as a place of worship to his Father, is a joke, and Jesus isn’t laughing.  Church, if we look at ourselves and see rebellion toward God instead of glorification of God, we have to do something about it.  It screams to the world that God is not glorious and that his gospel is not powerful.

So sin in the community hinders mission and worship.  But let me add another thought about community.  It is for our good to be missionaries and worshippers.  Only through being holy can we truly be happy.  What we desperately long for is a family, a group of people who will encourage us to live in light of God’s grace in the gospel, correcting us when we stray from His good purposes for our lives.  In other words, we need people who will, with grieving anger, dump out and flip over our idols out of love.  For our next post: love and discipline.

Austin City Life’s Jonathan Dodson recently penned this great article.  It’ll help you understand the church better.  Stop just going to church!

I’m preaching on “the table” this week, focusing on biblical hospitality. I can’t wait, although there is so much to boil down, that I’m not sure how it will happen. But here is the best article, bar-none, that I have found on this. Bookmark it. It’s by Jonthan Leeman, a friend and fellow church member from seminary. We’ve used it multiple times here in Karis, and it’s hard to not just read it as my sermon this week!