Influencers Weekly Devotional

Go With ME

Embracing our Sacred Responsibility with Christ

The Business of Church

He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

I read in the national news today that a prominent church in Southern California is taking bankruptcy because of its $7.5 million unsecured debt to its creditors and its $35 million mortgage on the property. There will be a trickle-down reaction, as several of the small business vendors who the church owes money will likely require bankruptcy as well. Of the many ills affecting this church's ministry is one that their leaders do not see or understand. It can be sniffed out by a comment made by the lead pastor of the church. The comment caught my eye as I read the article, and it told me there is a deeper problem developing, as they try to solve their current financial crisis. There is a lesson here for many churches. The pastor's quote was: "The reality is that the church has to be run like a business." Because I was a businessman for 40 years of my life before leading Influencers, it may come as a shock when I say that the reality is that this church, like many churches, was run like a business, and that is why it is in this dilemma now. Their crisis will not be solved by better business principals. Instead of being a church run like a business, they need to become a church that is run like a church should be run. Why do I say these things? If anyone would look at the number of businesses that have gone bankrupt in America, they would find that abusive spending practices and easy borrowing got most of them into trouble. Sure, they will rightfully claim that their markets were down and there was a change in the economy that caused their problems. I said they would rightfully say this, for there is truth in their argument. However, I believe that most of these businesses were over-leveraged with debt, and if the owners were honest, they would say that trying to service their debt is what really bankrupted them. Cash flow didn't support the increased debt they took on to pump up their business, and things moved too quickly for them to adjust. Now, listen to some quotes from some of the staff of the church referenced above: “Budgets could not be cut fast enough to keep up with the unprecedented rapid decline in revenue due to the recession." "The church’s revenue fell about 40 percent this year. From 2008 to 2009, revenue fell from about $30 million to about $22 million, or 27 percent." "The church saw revenue drop roughly 30 percent in 2009 and simply couldn't slash expenses quickly enough to avoid accruing the debt." I'm sorry if I sound critical, but honestly, every excuse for this church's bankruptcy sounded like any other businesses that went bankrupt. Then, they say they need to start running the church like a business? The sober reality is they have been doing that for a long, long time. The tragedy in my mind is that this church has had an effective ministry to many people over the years, in spite of the opulent form in which it presented itself. Most people who received its ministry never set foot in the church but were blessed by their TV ministry. The excessive accouterments purchased to build this structure and furnish it didn't do one thing to help the mass of viewers that did benefit from the ministry's message. But now, the reckless spending and debt created to support the grand structure and glamorous programs, has now forced them to reduce the ministries where they were effective. Run it like a business? I believe God is grieved over such a statement and perspective, and all of us leading a ministry or a church need to do a thorough evaluation of our perspective and our stewardship of His resources. In order to receive God's magnificent support with our purpose as a ministry, we must consider Him in all we do. We must seek His wisdom, and we must be courageous in trusting Him. I believe this church needs a miracle to deal with their crisis, and running it like a business will not make a miracle. For this reason, my suggestion to this church, and any church caught in a financial crisis such as this, is to start being a church rather than a business. “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers." Have you heard this statement before? I assure you it is not original with me, but rather, Christ said it over 2,000 years ago to the church leaders who were conducting business in His temple. It is obvious He is not happy with a fundraising strategy as this for running His church. Instead, a church in crisis should follow God's strategy by calling its congregation together for fasting and prayer, rather than going to business principals for answers. This is what a church does when it is being a church. It would also be good for the elders and pastors to lead this prayer effort, for this is what humble, godly church leadership does. I believe God responds to a church that is humbly seeking His help, and yet, we tend to do everything but this in a time of crisis. No Christian should point a judgmental finger at the leadership of a church that makes mistakes, for we all fall short of perfection. Instead, we should pray for our church leaders and hope that important lessons are learned by all. But it must be driven home that if a church ever hopes to lead it's congregation in stewardship and away from a lifestyle that is choked with debt and the worries they produce, the church leaders must also follow its own teachings. Unfortunately, we are seeing many churches, due to their own poor choices, that have lost this ministry opportunity with their people. We need healthy churches that follow Christ's leadership, for God loves His Church. But the price of trusting Him in the deepest way will be required to follow Christ. We will either follow the ways of the world and get paid back what it produces, or we will follow the leadership of our King and get Him and everything else, as well. Following the ways of the world will lead to the problems the world produces, just like the financial stranglehold experienced by the church mentioned. Following God's leadership and wisdom will require our abandonment of the world's ways, as instead, we put our trust in His ways. That is the cost of discipleship. But God is the Treasure of the Universe, and His ways lead us to His treasury. When we seek Him and His resources, we get what He can do, and there is nothing better than that. Seeking the Treasure, Rocky CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD A COPY OF THIS DEVOTIONAL