Unhealthy Churches 101: Money Rules Instead Of Christ
Sola Scriptura is replaced with Sola Dollar or Sola Economics. Ministries and Bible teaching are suffocated under the burden of “proving that they need the money.”
The almighty dollar! So many people, Christians, and Churches have fallen victim to loving money more than Christ!
10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils, and some by aspiring to it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:10 LSB
Granted, like everything else, money, in and of itself, is not evil. For too long in my life, I assumed that money was the root of all evil because that is what so many say. However, Scripture does not say that. It says, “the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils.”
Money by itself is not evil. Scripture has a lot to say about money, and yet, it never says to fully stay away from it. It does, however, warn us from loving it. Keep in mind that anything we love more than the Lord our God is an idol. And yes, money can become an idol.
In fact, part of what can make a church unhealthy and even a dying church is the love of money and the worship of it like an idol. The love of money and the extraordinary measures taken to protect it are part and parcel with your typical dying church.
1 Timothy 6:10 is a warning to the individual Christian of how loving money can destroy one's life and faith. As is the case with those who have observed this and experienced it, those who aspire to love money find themselves pierced with all sorts of consuming grief!
In churches where the love of money is present, we find that the people come to serve its rule rather than Christ’s. Sola Scriptura is replaced with Sola Dollar or Sola Economics. Ministries and Bible teaching are suffocated under the burden of “proving that they need the money.” Budgets are created to reward the compliant and punish others.
In unhealthy churches, and in particular, congregationally ruled churches, you see “finance committees” wielding power through the economics of the church. Far too often, you hear, “We can’t afford that!” when what they really mean is “We don’t want to do that!”
Also, many vocational Elders/Pastors are punished by having their salary altered or reduced, all under the guise of “we need to save money.” Meanwhile, the Youth department or some other place that is committee-approved continues to receive funds unabated.
If the basic things that Scripture commands us to do require a certain level of money, then something is terribly wrong. There is no money needed to gather together, worship, sing, pray, preach/teach the Word of God.
I can hear it now…
BUT BUT BUT…….. We have to have a building! We have to have this and that! No, you don’t. Having a church building, especially a nice one, is a luxury and a blessing. It is not required. That is largely the problem with the typical unhealthy American church: we have become so spoiled that we assume our luxury is normative.
The next time your church associates the word “need” with proposed spending, ask if it is actually a need or not. You can find out who truly rules a church by asking how decisions around money are made.
We need to restore the proper plurality of biblically qualified Elders in our churches who will make these decisions and take these decisions out of unqualified and spiritually immature hands. There is a reason Elders are required and commanded to be qualified BEFORE conducting oversight. It is because we want to make sure they are the kind of people God wants to decide how His money for ministry is spent.
The collection and spending of God’s money should not be put to a congregational vote as a rule, so as not to upset the country club members. Healthy churches do not fight over money. Unhealthy churches die and split over it.
