Friday, 29 March 2013

Cashing in on the Cross (1)



[Jerusalem’s judges] give judgment for a bribe; its priests teach for a price; its prophets practice divination for money; yet they lean on the Lord and say, ‘Is not the Lord in the midst of us? No disaster shall come upon us’.

For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain…

The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money… Deacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued, not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain…

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain…

Micah 3:11, Titus 1:7, 1 Timothy 3:1-8 & 1 Peter 5:1

The Bible and subsequent church history contain many examples of people who think that religion is an opportunity to make money. In Acts 8, we read of a former magician who offered the apostles money to be able to have the power to ‘impart’ the Holy Spirit as he had seen them do. He gave his name to the practise of buying positions of authority in the church and simony has been a temptation ever since.

This Easter weekend, the most solemn period in the church calendar, I digress from the series on Giving & Funding to explore the commercialisation and trivialisation of what Jesus Christ did when he died on the cross.

We are rightly appalled when we hear of Christian ministers who offer to pray or prophesy for people only if they pay, either a straightforward fee or by way of a ‘donation’ to their ministry. This seems quite contrary to the qualifications for church ministry and leadership that St Paul and St Peter set out. But could there be more subtle ways of cashing in on the cross that we now take for granted, because generations of Christians have absorbed the norms of capitalism and the consumer society?

Many years ago, I was struck by the distinction between ministry and entertainment made by singer-songwriter, Keith Green, who died in 1982 aged only 28 years. It is explained in his biography, No Compromise. He accepted that Christian musicians could legitimately sell tickets to their concerts but he did not think it was justified if they considered what they did to be ministry.
‘Were [his recordings] “products” or “ministry”? Keith could see where his recordings might be a bit of both, but his reason for doing them was definitely ministry. What if someone couldn’t afford to buy one — wouldn’t that exclude them from ministry because they couldn’t pay for it?’
Today, charging Christians to join in the fellowship and ministry at conferences is commonplace. But, I wonder…  Is there a meaningful distinction between charging people fixed fees to attend those sorts of events and charging them to attend church services or any other form of ministry?


_____________________________________________

You have been sent this e-mail because you subscribed to Reflections on God & Money. Copyright © All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans 2013.

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.  

Handling money and dealing with debt can be complicated and neither the author nor anyone else involved in the production of these Reflections is responsible for any action you take, or fail to take, based on what is written here. You are invited to put a link on your website to these Reflections. You are welcome to copy these Reflections for personal study or for circulation to family and friends on a non-profit basis. For any other purpose, whether or not for profit, you will require written permission in advance from the author before copying, reproducing or transmitting extracts in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or using any information storage and retrieval system.