Church and Ministry Economics - What Will We Do?

As a Pastor I see the weekly struggle our sluggish economy is feeding.  As a Pastor I see the daily lives of Christians moving far away from living as a Christian Steward.  I also work with Pastors and churches of all types across the country, and I see the same issues in every brand of church.  It is tough in the trenches!

There are three key points in understanding today and tomorrow in church and ministry economics.  These three points are currently at "critical mass" and little relief is seen - or is it?

Key #1
Stewardship is more than generosity. Stewardship is a state of being and a way of living.  God says we are stewards.  I Corinthians Chapter 4 drives this point home.  We may run from it or try to re-define it, but God says HE has entrusted to us the Gospel and the resources.  And in this trust we are to be found faithful!  Until we return to a Biblical view of personal stewardship, our ministries and churches will be hurting to a point of debilitating proportion.  As theological structures weaken the clear teaching of tithing and grace giving, we are presented with a huge dilemma - how will we fund that which God has called us to? 

Key #2
Leadership is everything! I was slapped in the face with this a few years ago.  I always give my tithes and offerings during the giving time in our services.  I give as I ask others to also be obedient and give.  But we had added a second service.  God showed me that one of the services was missing out on seeing this modeled before them.  So I now write two checks each week, and give in both.  It was simple.  It was no trouble.  But it was noticed!  Leaders are seen more than they are heard.  Leaders must embrace the discipline of steward living and giving just as they do prayer and other dsciplines. 

And leaders must also realize that teaching on stewardship is NOT the end of the world.  I know that this is a scary subject for many Pastors.  Why?  So what if others have abused it.  So what if others are not biblical.  Lead by teaching the whole of the Bible and your people will be blessed by it.  The promises of God toward faithful stewards are needed by every person in your services. Live it and teach it!  As one church I know of does, celebrate the giving time in your services instead of hiding it.  You and your people will find freedom and blessings!

Key#3
We are in trouble with our structures. By structures I mean buildings, denominational, and educational.  Allow me to break these down:

Buildings - many have old and worn out buildings.  Trying to address this deferred maintenance is a nightmare. Our churches and our educational institutions are all seeing this problem swell before their eyes.  Courage and change will be required to maneuver this mountain. Add to this, many churches have built too much and too costly.  Banks are no longer allowing this.  But debt will have to be eliminated.  Many secular approaches to debt reduction are leading churches down a dangerous path while ignoring the Biblical teachings and promoting an approach that will leave Pastors in trouble for the long haul.  Pastors be careful! We must lay the groundwork for many years to come.  Only strong Biblical Stewardship will accomplish this. 

And remember these two important things:

1. You must maintain what you build!
2.  Having an empty building 6 days a week does NOT bring honor to God!  Build smart and flexible!

Structure - There is much dissatisfaction with the bloated structures that are found in our religious circles.  People in the chairs and pews today are NOT sold on much of what denominations, conventions, and fellowships do.  Networking is easier today than ever.  This presents a major issue for our current structures.  Add deferred maintenance issues, lack of interest, and poor stewardship together and you will see what I am talking about.  It is NOT going to be pretty.  But remember, change is more often good than bad.  We need major change in our structures.  Follow the money and you will see this clearly.

Educational - Maintenance alone puts our religious institutions in jeopardy.   Add to that a poor economy, student loan debt from under grad schools, online and alternative sources of education, and one discovers that we are in the middle of a major shift. We cannot sustain the current model for long. Change is coming and change must come.

But all is NOT over. 

It is a great time to return to Biblical Stewardship and cast a new more effective model of how we do what we do, and prepare for it.  We  have the ability to shape a younger generation that is living in the struggles of material sin from their elders.  Their mindset is different and we must make sure we provide the resources and vision to capture and lead them to a Biblical model of steward living.  It is possible because God is still God!  It is doable because the Word of God says so. 

What will we do?

Dont Ask, Trust Us! We are in trouble!

In the convention "vetting" of the Presidential pick by the Search Team of MWBTS we have an email sent out in response to a question asking the Theological leanings of the proposed candidate. The response simply says trust us, we got this, wait until the man is voted on to learn his Theology.  Was it not the Democrats in congress who said when asked what was in the health care bill to trust us, let us vote it in and then we will see what we actually have in the bill?  Just a thought!

The heart of my concern over such a response goes to the heart of the SBC - Cooperative Program giving.  We are hearing that giving is down due to the economy.  What we are not hearing is that churches are lowering their percentages due to SBC power plays as the email mentioned above reveals.  The people in the pews are losing faith in the SBC leaders at an alarming rate.

Why?

Little occurs from the SBC anymore that really meets the needs of local churches.  The only clear voice I hear week in and out is "send more money to the IMB and forget the rest!"  This voice is from the pews of the our churches.  Even retired missionaries are sounding this call at a shocking level.  Could it be that our institutions have lost the trust and faith of the people in the pew?

When one sits back and simply lists the events, the people placed into lead roles, the sealing of documents, the don't ask - trust us approach, one sees why few care anymore.  And if someone raises a question, that person is labeled as a trouble maker and quickly attacked in an attempt to silence their voice.  Last time I checked the above did not fit the definition of accountability. 

No doubt this type of maneuvering has been around for some time.  It is almost human nature when one looks at large groups that must somehow find a way to work together.  Yet no excuse should be allowed to triumph such a conduct.  The people in the pew are tired of the junk.  The people in the pew are fed up with their churches being forced into battles over theology they do not hold to.  The people in the pew will respond to missions and ministry.  They will reject political plays every time.

It might be a more prudent decision for the search team to answer the questions now, not later.  Dr. Allen and his family deserve better than this.  We live in the age of instant information and communication.  I thought our leaders knew this.  To role this selection out in a manner that does not reinforce the selection is institutional abuse at its finest.  If the search team truly believes this is their man, then they should be out front promoting and highlighting why they believe this.  We have seen and heard little.  Sad!

Instead, we are told NO ANSWERS, TRUST US.

I have one question:  Please tell me how we can trust when you handle the process in this manner.

I think more than MWBTS is at stake in this decision.  We are seeing in a vivid way why CP giving is dropping.  The real clue is not in the total dollars but rather in the percentage that a church gives.  The percentage is the key issue and it is speaking loud and clear!

Will someone wake up and realize the damage being done?  When only Pastors care about this stuff the problem is already bigger than we realize!

My perspective on why todays Calvinism is a concern.

Comments for this post will be allowed @ sbctoday.com as they plan on posting it on their site with my permission.

I have debated writing this post for some time.  The reality that anything written can be misconstrued is enough by itself to cause hesitation.  The last thing I want to do is leave the wrong impression with anyone.  I love Calvinists and I love Traditionalists.  I work with both and even some in other groups.  So I write the following to voice concerns that I am seeing and hearing.  I write to add clarification as to why I signed the traditional statement.  I write to reveal why this issue is a growing problem.  And since I write best by making lists, I will list out my concerns while making it clear that NO priority is given other than the first one on the list.

The list will include specifics and generic issues tied to people and promotion.  Again, these are my concerns and are questions that I have yet to get consistent answers from (new)Calvinists of today.  The older SBC Calvinists that I have known and respected were totally different.

My Concerns:

1.  Ask 10 different Calvinists what they believe must occur for a person to be saved and you will get at least 5 different answers.

2.  Do Calvinists really believe that John 3:16 shows that only the elect are the ones God loves.

3.  Do Calvinists believe that some people are born with NO hope of salvation?

4.  At what point do Calvinist believe salvation occurs?

5.  How can Calvinists call Traditionalists divisive when it is the Calvinists that have web sites and blogs that specifically state their desire to change the SBC and beyond?

Here is an example from the Founders blog (knowing their website clearly states their desire to change the SBC):  "It is indisputable that we are in the midst of a reformation and recovery of the doctrines of grace, or what has historically been called, "Calvinism." Both statistical and anecdotal evidence of this fact continues to mount. I believe that this is a movement of God and that it is even more widespread than recent studies indicate. As is true with any of work of God, the devil always keeps pace and seeks to steal, kill and destroy. If he cannot keep us from truth then he will do what he can to cause us to hold the truth in imbalanced and ungodly ways."

6.  Young Pastors and staff members are speaking and writing articles that it is dangerous to lead a child to pray to accept Christ?  If this is true, what then should a child do and how should a child be lead by their parents and other influences?

7.   Why is Lifeway sponsoring The Gospel Coalition conferences?

8.  Why is Lifeway promoting more Calvinists and their material?

9.  Why are Calvinists leaders NOT doing more to instill that Pastors must be upfront with their Soteriology?  There are even manuals on how to transition a church from Traditional to Calvinist doctrine.  If there is no move to change the SBC, why are there manuals by 9Marks and others?

10.  Why the aggression from Calvinists because many in the SBC do NOT agree with them?

11.  If the BF&M is enough, why do we have two Seminaries requiring faculty to sign other statements that are Calvinists/Reformed documents?

12.  Since when did Baptist and Reform go together?  The day to day operations of the church do not even match!

13.  If there is no takeover plan, why was there a SBC Professor giving the benefits of the takover (even using a racial slur) at one of the meetings during the SBC?

14.  Why did Lifeway do a survey that gave the participants no option other than saying they were either Calvinists or Arminion?

15.  With the exception of Infant Baptism, since when were Baptist and Presbyterians so much alike?  Dr. James Kennedy was my kind of Presbyterian but today's New Calvinists are nothing close in belief and practice.  Just think back to Evangelism Explosion materials (I was certified as a trainer in an SBC church).  Today's New Calvinists would reject Dr. Kennedy's material.  How and why?

These are the questions I have.  They are simple and I think need to be answered.  We are told that we need to cooperate.  I am fine with that.  I am concerned though that the answers to the above may highlight the difficult journey that cooperation will reveal.  Some Traditionalists are even saying they will sit this discussion out.  I wonder if they would maintain that position when the real truth of the answers are shown. 

I find this issue extremely important simply by the answers to point number one.  If we cannot agree on that one, then we have two different Gospels.  Cooperation will not occur at that point.

And speaking of the Gospel, is it not odd that Calvinists/Reformed call their Soteriology the true Gospel and thus label much of their work and conferences with the word Gospel in it?

These are my concerns.

How far can we run away or ...

The more I read and the more I listen to some of today's top promoted speakers and preachers the more I hear the issues being promoted or addressed from a very strange position. It appears that people are desiring to see just how far they can go and still be "holy". This is a strange thing to me. Are we not taught that each of us is to pursue maturity in our spiritual life?

In fact the words of Romans 12: 1 keep coming back to me;

"present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God..."

Why are we leaving this command out of our teaching and pursuits spiritually? Is it an accident or is it more? From discussions of alcohol to anything else people love to claim their freedoms. There is no doubt that we are free in Christ. We must not forget the following words of our Lord;

John 8:36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed .

The problem is that this freedom does not grant nor allow for sinful practices. I think Paul made it clear when he wrote to the Romans;

Romans 6:1 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?"

In my last post I mentioned some questions that we should ask each day relating to our decisions and choices. I post them again:

1. What would Jesus do?
2. Is my life clean before the Lord?
3. Do I base right and wrong on my opinions and preferences or ...?
4. Do I base right and wrong solely on the Word of God?
5. Do my actions cause people to stumble?
6. Is Christ being lived out in all I think, say and do?
7. Am I being honest with God?

If only more of today's promoted speakers and preachers would remember these when writing and teaching. If only our Seminary Professors would teach from this foundation instead of the thought of seeing how far I can go and not get into trouble. Maybe I am not in touch with modern thought. Come to think of it, I would pray that I care more about being in tune with the Holy God above all else including modern thought. I pray a couple of our seminaries and their personnel will find this same heart in their writings and topics used in their speaking.

How far will run before someone says "let's get back to the Word of God and living it?