Ancient Vending Machines

There was an interesting show last week where I learned about the world's first vending machine. It was in a Greek temple, in a scheme involving Holy Water. Here's what happened:

Priests of the ancient Greek persuasion were concerned about the new Christian faith on the horizon, particularly in large cities such as Alexandria (the one with the big fat library). So pagan Greek priests started asking engineers to come up with amazing inventions to wow the public and increase their faith in the gods. Some of these were recorded and we know what the effect was though not necessarily how they worked. One temple wonder featured a statue of Apollo riding a horse-drawn chariot which was mysteriously suspended in the air, even moving across the room until it touched the head of a major god. One theory is magnetism, but it's hard to prove. Another has statues of gods dancing during a sacrifice, which are powered by heat from the fire. People flooded the temples to see these wonders.

One engineer came up with a particularly interesting device, building a device that would open a valve when a coin was dropped through a slot in the top of the box. Out of the box would come a small amount of water - "holy" water, of course. The priests were thrilled and completely took advantage of the unknowing faithful.

Maybe this kind of priestly behavior is why Jesus said to Peter, "Feed my sheep". Jesus must have known that when real power was given out to the apostles, people would follow their lead. It was important that they, starting with Peter, spiritually fed these followers as opposed to preying on them. On the flip side, Jesus snapped at the Devil, "Man shall not live on bread alone...", indicating that believers don't need much more than God. So that would mean that the church doesn't need that much either, right? If you asked God what percentage of the church's tithes and offerings should go to serving non-Christians, what do you think he would say?

Looking around I wonder how often churches prey on people. Everytime I see a new building campaign, I wonder what it will really be used for and to whose glory. Look around at what is already. Who does that Christian Life center serve right now? I think the same thing about kids and youth camps that the church outright pays for. Christian parents should invest money in their own kids in spiritual things, and the "free rides" should go to kids who are not believers.

Next time you think, "Our church should..." or "Churches should...", think about whom your idea would serve too. If we only focused on the lost sheep, we might find them and they us - and soon, Jesus.