“OH, THAT ONE OF YOU WOULD SHUT THE TEMPLE DOORS!”
"Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord Almighty, and I will accept no offering from your hands" (Malachi 1:10). The year was probably 433 B.C. Israel had returned from Babylonian exile, the temple had been rebuilt, but life was not as majestic as before. They knew they were only a peripheral province of the Persian Empire. The cult, which they offered to God, consisted only of discouraged repetitions of a formal ritual and no longer took the Law seriously.
To whom had God addressed such harsh words? The text answers: "to you priests" (Malachi 1:6). Priests no longer gave due honor to God. The text says that they despised the name of the LORD when they allowed blind, crippled, stolen and sick animals for the sacrifice, which was the centre of worship in Old Testament times (Malachi 1:6-9). The sacrifice was a ritual that pointed to the death of, no less than, the Son of God, on the cross, and therefore the animal should be without defect and of great value to the one who offered it.
From this text, it can be seen that many responsibilities weigh on the shoulders of religious leaders before God and those they lead. They are expected to be persons called and consecrated to the pastoral vocation, dedicated to the life of prayer and to the study of the sacred Scriptures. God says through Malachi: "For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many stumble; you have violated the covenant with Levi, says the LORD Almighty" (Malachi 1:8,9).
This message has always been current for the Church. But the history of the Church shows that it has always fallen short of divine expectations. However, it is on the priest that God bears the responsibility for this fact. He says, "But you have turned from the way..." (2:8). It is easy to see, today, how many religious leaders have drifted away from the Christian model of the priest and become seduced by the concept of world success, becoming celebrities. Full of themselves and empty of God, they consider that the important thing is not to evangelize, to lead people to the life of adoration of God, but to fill the temples. Their praxis aims at this: worldly success.
Far from prayer life and reflection on the Word, many religious leaders have lost sight of the God of Revelation. The god they worship and teach is but a being of their imagination, a projection of their fallen self, a customized, domesticated god. That is why they have transformed the Church into true centers of entertainment and consumption. "Churches shopping centers", where Christians no longer go to worship God, but to consume novelties such as religious articles, lectures, conferences, seminars, various courses, music, books, preachers and singers of the moment.
Greedy and desirous of power, by means of regimental maneuvers, they take the church of the church and become its owners. Many religious congregations today are the property of a religious leader who touches them as a business. With no connection to a theological tradition and even to apostolic origins, they are communities of the head of a man who, deep down, is in search of fame, power and money. The cults are full of sound and visual sensations to satisfy the aesthetic desires of those who attend. The preaching is a word of self-help and comfort, delivered in beautiful homiletical packages, but far from the gospel of the cross. They are cults not to God, but to the human ego.
"By their teaching they caused many to fall (v.1:9)"... How many people have left the Church or are leaving it at this time? These leaders are doing the Gospel a disservice. They demean and dishonor the Church of Christ. In the face of these things, it is convenient to reflect, for there is the following divine word: "And now, you priests, this warning is for you. If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name, says the LORD Almighty, I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me" (Malachi 2:1,2).
Antônio Maia – M. Div.
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