[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?
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Copyright © All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans
2013.
Scripture
quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright
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