When I first started into ministry I wanted everything to be free and hated talking about money with the congregation. Even youth trips I lost money sometimes because I felt so bad about making people pay money for going on a misson trip. I was lucky sometimes if I covered basic costs. Luckily, I turned out to be good at fund-raising events...who knew?
But I am in a ministry situation now where money is an every day topic of conversation.
"Do we have enough to cover the budget?"
"Can we start a new ministry?"
"Can we raise money for organization x, y, z and the whole rest of the alphabet?"
"How are we going to pay the musicians?"
"Sorry, we can't give you that space because it's too expensive to have the AC on at that time."
And on and on...
I've gotten a little more comfortable due to exposure, but also I've realized reading through scripture that Jesus talks a ton about money. It's amazing, almost every parable has something about money...it's almost as if money were a prevalent thing in our society...go figure.
But I've still been stressing about mentioning offering statistics, charging people for sports activities, etc. It just seems like God's love is free, church stuff should be free too. As one person said, "It's like they have to pay to come to church. That's not right."
But I got to thinking about the old adage, "your heart lies at the same place as your checking account." The tickets to U2, my favorite band, were outrageous prices for this tour. To watch a football game at the new Cowboys stadium it will cost one person well over $100 for the worst seat and parking. Cable television costs an arm and a leg, internet is expensive, and gasoline is never going to go down it seems.
But people pay for it.
It's the old law of supply and demand. Essentially, whatever is important to people is going to cost money. So the conclusion I feel I can draw is: "entertainment is essential." People pay outrageous prices for extravagant experiences that are deemed once in a lifetime events (until they go to the ballgame the next week again).
So here's the question: Would you pay to go to church?
What about this? Would you pay to meet Jesus face to face? People pay to meet Bono, Troy Aikman, Barack Obama and Madonna...is Jesus any less important?
I'm not talking about offering money, because that is supposed to be a free gift of devotion and sacrifice that is done joyfully to show commitment to God, rather than our own bank accounts. This just isn't as common as it once was. People haven't learned about giving like they used to assume it.
And I know that if we charged admission to church, a la Joel Osteen for his conferences around the country, people wouldn't come unless it was extremely entertaining. It would have to have the lights, the show, great music and one kick butt sermon...and then it would have to be better and better each week, or people's money may start going elsewhere where their investment on entertainment is bigger.
What I'm really wanting to know is if you'd plop down any amount of money to meet Jesus Christ in person?
People say Jesus is their hero, boyfriend, homeboy, savior, lord, etc., etc. but they pay $50 to go meet a celebrity and it is the highlight of their life. And after all...Jesus is supposed to be free right? You can't take my Jesus from me and sell him, he's mine. Jesus is public property, he's for anyone and everyone. And like most public property that is free...it's not as valuable.
Sure, when you are in college, free pizza from the worst pizza place tastes wonderful...because it's free. But when you've got money to spend on pizza...you're going to Pizza Hut or some gourmet place, because the free stuff isn't as good then. You start to wake up to the taste.
I think many people feel this way about Jesus. If I need him, he's there, he's a great taste when I get in trouble...but I'm not going to spend the big bucks on him. In fact, many people skip church to go to concerts, to play baseball in hopes of the big leagues or simply because Jesus will be there next week and the week after that.
It's almost as if Jesus is old news. Churches are dying. No demand...no supply.
Should we make church more entertaining? Does it need to be more meaningful? Or should people just make it a higher priority. Maybe, yes and yes. It's our fault...and by that I think we're all to blame. From the holiest of Christians to the worst run churches in America.
I really would like to hold an event that was set up to be a "Meet Jesus Live!" Event and charge just $10 admission and see who would come. Can we really put our money where our mouths are and put our most prized assets towards the most prized Savior?
Maybe...just maybe, Jesus is too valuable for admission tickets. Maybe that's why He's free to all. He's priceless and we can't comprehend that in our value driven world. They do say the best things in life are free. And this time we're not talking about cheap pizza.
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What’s always blown me away about Jesus’ parables is His incredible disdain for money. He practically sneers at it. I mean, I understand why. We value money over and above our Creator. Pretty insulting stuff. I wonder though. I know it’s true for me and other individuals “Put Me first and all the rest will be added unto you.” However is it also true for institutions in general and for congregations in particular?
ReplyDeletePeople pay to go to Christian music concerts, where artists invariably remind the audience that we are there to worship Jesus Christ in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Is that church? If so, I paid for it.
ReplyDeleteI think this is an interesting comment about Christian concerts because I have a downloaded track of Third Day that starts out,
ReplyDelete"We did not mean to trick anyone tonight, many of you came to see a Third Day concert. Tonight we're going to have a church service y'all."
In the loose definition of church that is absolutely a church, as it is a gathering of people in a public place to worship God. But would people show up and pay $30 if Chris Tomlin didn't sing and instead they handed out shovels to start mixing concrete to build a house? I know people pay for mission trips, but not near as many that pay for being entertained at a concert. I think we have to realize that the concept of church does need to reside at Christian concerts...but it is so much more than that, because I think people still see that as entertainment. Many local churches haven't realized this even, as they put all the emphasis on their music or sermons and not the following of Jesus.