Money, Microphones and Manipulation

 

"… men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. From such withdraw yourself." (1 Timothy 6:5, NKJV)

Last Sunday after the evening service, I was watching a newbie televangelist tell people to make checks out to her personally, when she was using the church’s facilities to make the broadcast. As I was watching this travesty, a brother called to tell me to tune to the NBC channel. Here was a worldly reporter once again pointing out to the whole world how wrong the excessive lifestyle of yet another televangelist is. $10,800 for one night in a hotel’s presidential suite, thousand dollar tips, vacations in exotic places – all at the ministry’s expense. A private jet and a 3.5 million dollar manse are only two of the many perks he receives in addition to his salary which is somewhere between $500,000 and $1 million per year.

Once again I cringed as I thought about poor folk giving their last one or two dollars to these ministries in the mistaken idea that they are giving to the “Lord” or the “Lord’s work” and that this money is being used to preach the gospel. Deep-down I wept that secular reporters and auditors have to expose this fraud when the church should be holding it’s own representatives accountable. Then on Monday this preacher responded with the accusation that the report was biased and an attempt at the world to discredit “God’s man”. No repentance, no tinge of guilt, no apology. Do the unbelievers have higher standards than the church? Oh the disgrace that is once again brought onto the Lord’s name, not by the reporters, but by charlatans who parade as men of God.

Preachers must be accountable to those who give to their ministries. That is simple. Ask the ministry you support to provide you with a detailed income and expense statement. If you are regularly supporting a ministry, you are a partner in that ministry and are entitled to know how your money is being used. Where is the money going to? How much of it ends in private hands, how much is consumed by administration and how much is actually being used for the work of the ministry? Does the statement look like the truth? Many ministries are good at window-dressing their financial affairs. So look around. What kind of lifestyle does the staff of the ministry maintain? Don’t be fooled by the self-serving answer that the “man of God” is entitled to the best. Is that how Jesus and the apostles lived? Was Paul chauffeured in a limousine, guarded over by a team of bodyguards and did he live in a mansion?

And don’t give me the “once I have given it, they are accountable to the Lord” bit. By your giving into suspect ministries you are doing two things wrong. Firstly you are supporting financially and morally an organization which is bringing dishonor to the Lord. Your continued support helps to keep them operational so they can defraud more innocent people. ["Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure." (1 Timothy 5:22, NKJV)] Secondly you are robbing other ministries that really do need the money and who actually do the Lord’s work.

So is it wrong for preachers to live comfortable lifestyles, after all, they are doing the Lord’s work and, as we are often reminded, need to be in the best physical and emotional state to meet the rigors of ministry? So then Jesus could not function at his full potential because he spent nights in prayer instead of resting? Maybe that was why the trial before Pilot went so wrong – because Jesus was not fresh for this important moment because He had spent the night in agonized prayer? And His work on the Cross was flawed because He was emotionally and physically stretched to the very limits? Maybe that is why Paul made those “mistakes” in his theology – because he was always operating at the limits of his strength? No, what both knew is that it is "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts. " (Zechariah 4:6, NKJV). When we are in the Lord’s will He sustains us even though we may find ourselves battered and even beyond the limits of our physical endurance.

At the same time preachers should not be placed under more stress than is fair. "For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”" (1 Timothy 5:18, NKJV). For every fraud, who lives like a king, there is probably a hundred true men of God who work faithfully at the Lord’s work and who live simply and, who, from day-to-day look to their Master for their provision. You will never see them on the television or read their names in Times Magazine, but it is these men who deserve your prayers and support.

One of the most popular arguments that these hucksters use is that they would have made more money if they had been in secular business and therefore are entitled to this kind of lifestyle. Really? So what did they do before they entered the ministry? In many cases preachers enter the ministry because they could not cut it in the secular world. There are far too many preachers who suddenly get the “call” to the ministry having failed at their secular job. Jesus said: "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" (Luke 16:10-11, NKJV). In other words if he was no good at a secular job, God will not gift him or call him to the ministry. I personally know a number of people who are in the ministry because they were fired from their jobs – a few of them for criminal activities. Shame on them, shame on those who allow this and shame on those who support such people. Did Jesus insist on a lifestyle during His earthly ministry, comparable with His position in heaven? No, He humbled Himself!

The Bible is clear, believers have a responsibility to give of their substance to the Lord’s work. The problems come with the attitude with which we give and where we give. It is your responsibility to give as much and to whom the Lord wants you to give. So make this a matter of prayer and ask the right questions. The Lord will guide you into giving where He wants you to give. Don’t give blindly and don’t give because of emotional appeals – be led by the Lord in all things, including your giving. Never forget it is not your money, it is His and you are obligated to invest it where He wants it invested and where it will produce a return for the Kingdom.

 

Anton Bosch
antonbosch@sbcglobal.net

www.abcd.co.za/offi
www.abcd.co.za/plumbline
Tel 818 846 5520
Fax 818 846 4357
3310 West Magnolia Blvd
Burbank, California
91505-2907
USA