Money

The issue of how money is handled in a congregation is a source of many problems, and yet God has given us this responsibility because it can be used to produce great good.

When money is thought to be a matter of concern, it often is merely the symptom of a deeper problem.

To be sure, money can be the problem, if money is stolen, for example, from the church.

But if there is a debate about how the budget of the congregation should be structured, or who is donating how much, the real matter is spiritual. Money is merely a concrete way to express a spiritual priority.

The salaries of pastors and church-workers is a special case: if there is a perception that the pastor is serving sincerely and gladly, there are usually no complaints about him being "overpaid" and raises will be approved routinely. Privately, members of the congregation will give him gifts at holidays and birthdays.

But if there is a perception that the pastor is not carrying out his job in a way which serves the Kingdom of God well, then one hears complaints about him being overpaid.

Now, to be sure, every congregation will have a small percentage of members who always claim that the pastor is overpaid, and another small percentage of the members who always claim that he is underpaid. But we are looking here at the broad middle.

It is important to bear in mind that these comments about being “overpaid” are not actually about the pastor's salary. These comments are directed toward the spiritual nature of the congregation's interaction with one of its leaders; the money here is not the issue. But the money is a concrete way to address an issue that is abstract in nature, and otherwise difficult to literally grasp: I can touch a coin; I cannot physically touch the qualities of relationships within the congregation - they are intangible. Money makes them tangible.

We keep in mind, then, that discussions about money are often not about money.

The Worst Thing That Could Happen ...

When a congregation is facing, or has faced, rough times - declining attendance, declining membership, declining revenues - people often pose the question: will this church close its doors forever? Will this congregation cease to exist? Certainly these are painful, and even frightening, questions, especially for those who seriously embrace their faith communities as a family, who find many of their important relationships within the context of this congregation.

If the course of time continues to unfold, and after a while, the attendance bottoms out and begins to slowly increase, if the losses in membership eventually stop, and perhaps even a few new members are added, and if financial losses finally begin to correct themselves as budgets are adjusted, and a few more contributions begin to trickle in, then, at such a point, some people may breathe a sigh of relief, and think, "we're going to make it! Things are OK!"

As much as we might want to believe that, we must not look to these external measurable physical variables to judge the health of a congregation. It is quite possible to see increased attendance, membership, and donations, but at the same time to have a congregation which is getting spiritually sicker and sicker.

The worst thing that can happen to a congregation is not that it goes out of existence, not that it goes bankrupt, not that it closes its doors forever. Those things are bad, to be sure, but the worst thing that can happen is that a congregation grows in members and attendance, and receives many large steady financial contributions, but remains dysfunctional. If the love and Gospel of Jesus are not clearly preached, and even more clearly lived, and if saints are not equipped for ministry (II Tim 3:17, Hebrews 13:21), then it would be better for that congregation to cease to exist, than for it to continue in a spiritually sick manner.

Certainly, we want to see growth in attendance and membership, and to see people tithing for the support of widows and orphans; but all of this must take place in the context of true doctrine and loving Christian fellowship.

Do not take comfort because your congregation resumes growth after a difficult season of internal dysfunction. Take comfort because Jesus is the Lord of the church, and He uses the congregation to show His love to all mankind.

A Good CEO

There have been many debates over the years about whether or not churches should examine business organizational charts for ideas about how congregations could be organized. This debate has been passionate and thought-provoking, and I certainly won't attempt to recap or solve it here.

One idea from the business world, however, which intrigues me is this: I heard a novel presentation about what makes a good CEO; the presenter said that a good CEO doesn't spend lots of time in his office, but rather meeting customers and meeting the press. A good CEO doesn't "hide" from the world in his office, and doesn't spend lots of time micro-managing various aspects of his business. He or she will appoint capable vice-presidents for various divisions of the business, delegate operations to them, and meet periodically with them, but not look over their shoulders during daily operations. The good CEO meets with ordinary customers, chatting with them, listening to them; the good CEO will meet with the press, and use various public occasions to highlight the good work of his organization.

This presentation was complete with concrete specific examples of CEO's who spent lots time in retail stores, conversing with ordinary customers. This correlated to measurable outcomes like stock prices and corporate income statements.

I hope that analogy between the good CEO and the good pastor is obvious. I won't belabor the point, but I'll point to one example: among the success "mega-churches", there are a number of senior pastors who spend time chatting with, not elders or church officers, but ordinary members, even those with low income or low education. They spend time in one-on-one counseling with simple lay people, spend time in hospitals visiting the sick and their families, spend time visiting "shut-ins", senior citizens, the lonely, the depressed, the physically or mentally disabled.

What kind of a CEO would Jesus be? What kind of a pastor would Jesus be?