1 Timothy 6:10
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
The main resources of the church come majorly from two sources: Offerings and Tithing. Supplementary income can also come from donations and various fund raising activities. Some churches have diversified and increased their resource base by investing in business ventures such as building schools, malls, hotels, insurance companies, owning and operating media, franchises and buying stocks and shares of blue chips companies.
Basically most churches depend on the offering and tithes of their members for the running of their churches. Even Churches which today own business concerns did so with the offering and tithes of their members and voluntary donations. Some have obtained loans from banks and other financial institutions to finance such business ventures. However, the collateral for repayment of such loans are dependent on the offering and tithing of members of the church which is the main source of income to the church.
The question is how does church leadership use the resources that find their way into the coffers of the church? Who does church money belong to? Why are the poor, widows and orphans not being taken care of any longer by most churches? What are the proceeds of those investments being used for? Are they really going into the church purse or are they being diverted to personal pockets? These and many more questions that may come up will be tackled in the hope of finding an answer through this discourse on this blog and we will also welcome comments and contributions on this topic. We do not claim to have all the answers but believe that it is important to ask these questions. Post examples of churches or ministries that are involved in practical ministry or suggest ways in which we can be more relevant as the church.
The first question is how does church leadership use the resources that make their way into the church? Is it being judiciously used? This is a very tricky question and I must say the answer may differ from church to church. The money is used to pay bills (rent, salaries, utilities and other administrative costs).
Who does church money belong to? Does church money belong to one person? Is a church or a ministry, a business of one man? If it is not, who does the money from such an organisation belong to?
To answer this question let us look at what is Church? Church is the body of Jesus Christ (John 2:19). It is the collection of the body of believers in His name or rather a gathering together of the saints of Jesus Christ. In other words, Church is the community of followers of Christ on Earth. " ... Christ is the head of the Church, and He is the saviour of the body" (Ephesians 5:23). "And He is the head of the body, the Church" ( Colossians 1:18)."... for His body's sake which is the Church" (Colossians 1:24). From this, can we say that a church or ministry really belongs to anybody? Are we not all servants of Jesus Christ? Is it wrong to ascribe ownership of a church or ministry to its founder? The bible said in
Matthew 18:20
“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them”(KJV).
If Church belongs to any other person other than Jesus, can Jesus really be in their midst? Can He be in the midst of what does not belong to Him? I seriously doubt that. Now can members of such an organisation be said to be followers of Christ? Again I doubt that too. I am sure you are aware of “churches” and I use the term loosely, where the Pastor is quoted and magnified more than Jesus Christ. This is modern day idolatry. They can rightly be said to be followers of the owner or the man or woman who founded it and not Jesus.
Another aspect to look at would be whether churches or more specifically ministries named after their founding members can be truly the property of Christ. The answer takes us back to the issue of administration. We must be careful to not throw out the baby with the bath water. What do I mean? Short of naming names there are many examples of ministries that bare the name of their founder but in terms of running and administration are controlled and steered by the spirit of Jesus Christ.
Back to our topic, now if the Church does not belong to any one but to Jesus Christ, and every other persons’ including the founders and overseers of churches are servants and worshipers, WHO DOES CHURCH MONEY BELONG TO?
I am going to sign off here and leave you to ponder on this question. Leave a comment on the blog as this is an important topic. Unfortunately there are people who will not make heaven based on the issues raised in this posting. Add your voice to this discussion perhaps your input could save a soul. God bless you until next time.
Comments
Post a Comment