This is the final article in a series I have been doing called “Re-Thinking Church.” Throughout these articles, we have been exploring various qualities or focuses that the church oftentimes utilizes that are truly misguiding our divine efforts as the Body of Christ. We have looked at the church’s overzealous obsession with attendance and membership while neglecting to celebrate the growth of discipleship and spiritual disciplines. We talked about how obsession with buildings and programs has turned the church into brick and mortar as opposed to flesh and blood. If this is your first time reading this final article, I would encourage you to go back and read the other two. But for those of you who have remained steadfast in your readings, let’s dive into the final section of these pastoral observations. Hope you’re ready, cause we are going to be talking about money.
I pastored in a small church in North Carolina for four years while I attended divinity school. It was one of the most blessed experiences of my life being able to learn and live in ministry alongside some amazing people in the Old North State. I could take numerous articles to tell of the wonders of God I saw accomplished in those years and the relationship my wife and I made, but that will have to wait until another time. Instead, I want to share with you an experience that shook me to the core and taught me an important lesson about the church and its pitfalls. Across the street from the church I served was another long-established congregation, let’s call it Mainstreet Church (that is not its actual name) because it was located right on the main street of town. The church grounds were immaculate, and the building was always in pristine condition. It boasted a tall belfry that rang chimes every daylight hour of the week. Its chimes would serenade across the town and could be heard from miles away. The inside of the sanctuary was immaculate and beautifully arranged with pristine flooring, immaculately painted walls, polished fixtures, and a fully functioning and professionally tuned organ. It would be the envy of any tradition-loving preacher to marvel and explore. Let’s just sit for a moment in one of the pews and bask in its beauty.
I once attended a funeral at this beautiful Mainstreet Church and following the service I reached out to the pastor to just have some simple ministry talk. I went back to his office, and we sat down and began to converse. What I discovered shocked me. It turned out that he was a part-time pastor who only preached at the church on Sundays and the occasional funeral. He was retired and this was one of two churches that he would serve on Sunday morning. I complimented him on the church’s beauty and immaculate grounds. He smiled and informed me that the church had a large savings account and numerous endowments that allowed for constant maintenance and beautification to occur without any financial strain upon the congregation. He went on to comment even further on the vast wealth the church had accumulated over the years. It was the type of budget that people dreamed, hoped, and salivated over. As I was mulling over this financial dreamscape, I asked him how many people were actively involved in the church. He matter-of-factly said, “Fifteen to Twenty.” He then leaned forward and said, “I think this church won’t last much longer because the youngest member we have at this time is 75.” He also explained that there was no one to play the organ, there were no children or youth ministry, and he was only in the office on Sunday. The pastor also explained that any effort to make alterations or changes in the church was met with stern opposition from the membership. He finally said, “They just seem content to spend these days doing what they’ve always done, and they have the money to accomplish that goal.” I sat in silence for a few minutes just pondering what had just been said.
Now, as I have said before, small membership churches are not signs of failure or lack of the Holy Spirit. God can do great things with churches no matter their size. But Mainstreet Church was different. This was a church that used its vast wealth to merely upkeep the building and accomplish the needs of the congregation. This is not being faithful with the gifts God gives us and Christ warns us of this danger! Jesus addresses his followers in the Gospel of Luke saying, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near, and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Here Jesus uses the word “flock” which in Greek is the word poimnion (ποίμνιον), which has three definitions: a flock (esp.) of sheep, a group of Christ’s disciples, bodies of Christian Community (churches). Jesus is literally addressing the church here and informing them that their wealth should be going to the glory and glorification of God’s Kingdom, not their self-gratification.
Let me be clear, every church needs money to operate in some way shape, or form. Anyone who tells you otherwise is not very biblically literate. Jesus himself utilized money in his ministry and celebrated those who give to the works of God and support those who serve in His name. Money is merely an object; it is not THE object (that is Christ). It is a tool like a hammer or nail, but like anything else in this world once it becomes the focus of the church it is an idol. Any church that feels that in order to do ministry one must “wait” until all the money has come in, or that serving others must come second to upkeep buildings, or that making money is more important than making disciples, should seriously reevaluate their understanding of Christianity and relationship with Jesus.
By the way, this also applies to those who withhold their giving to God simply because they don’t like something about the church. What belongs to the Lord belongs to the Lord and utilizing one’s own funds to try and control the holy church of Christ is a dangerous precedent to set. In my own life, I simply have the church take out ten percent of my paycheck to put back into the ministry. It is not mine to have or hold, it belongs to God. We Christians must loosen our grip on what truly belongs to the Lord, while at the same time, we must hold our churches accountable for using their tithes and offerings to do the ministry of Jesus.
Money can’t save a church when its focus becomes entirely self-serving or inwardly focused. It may provide beautiful edifices or immaculate strappings, you may have the prettiest church in town with the budget to back it up, but you will be dead inside. The pews may be polished, and the organ may be in tune, but the pews will remain empty, and the organ unplayed. God will provide and sustain those communities of faith that stand by His Word and serve his creation with love and grace. He will honor and provide for those who give generously of their gifts and offerings. But once money becomes your god, then be prepared for Christ to come and overturn your tables in your temple. He will try and correct you,
try and speak wisdom to you, but if we close our ears to him then the inevitable will come. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be loved by the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
The church, pastor, or member who makes money for their God will in turn become empty themselves, as will their church. The church, pastor, or member who makes Christ their Lord, discipleship their focus, charity as their offering, and grace as their mission will never cease to experience the wonders and powers of our God. It is time we return our focus on the wealth of the Holy Spirit as opposed to the wealth of man. One will save you, the other will empty you. Whom will you serve?
—
Pastor Mike McVey
Minister – First United Methodist Church, Fairfield TX
ACS Chaplain – United States Coast Guard, Station Galveston TX
