Money, Money, Money

    Let me preface this post by explaining a bit about myself. I grew up in a pastor's home, well, more like a pastor's apartment building. You see, everywhere I looked there were pastors. My dad is a pastor, my uncle was a pastor and my grandpa was not simply a pastor, but a Bishop in the Free Methodist Church. I was probably the only person in my first grade class to know what the word tithing meant. By the time I got to the fourth grade, I definitely knew what a church board was. Church politics were a part of my life, and the older I got, the more I disliked them. I had nothing against the board members or the superintendents or the bishops. They were all really nice people who loved God and wanted to do His will. My frustration instead came from their tendency to obsess over money. If there is anything I have learned from being a PK, it is that money is needed to run a church. I realize there is no way to get around that fact. However, I also learned that money is not everything, and it does not take long for a church to become so concerned with money that they loose sight of what is most important: reaching those who do not know Jesus. In the January 1924 article of The Other Sheep, the main topic of the entire edition was money. As I read, my frustration with money focused church politics that I developed as a teenager began to resurface. 
    This edition of the magazine came out right after a new General Board was appointed, and as I read the first few articles, I felt as though I was sitting in a board meeting. They were all detailed descriptions of various facets of the new budget plan the board had approved for 1924. Again, I am perfectly aware that money is needed for a denomination to function properly. I also am aware that the Bible tells us to be good stewards of what we have been given. However, the Bible also says that one cannot serve both God and money. It is a slippery slope when people begin focusing on the money needed. This can often lead to worrying. It is hard to remember that God is Jehovah-Jireh, The Lord that Provides, when one is stressing about raising a specific amount of money. What struck me as ironic is that the articles written by the missionaries who were in the field barely mentioned money. Instead, they spoke of how God always provided for them through material gifts, not monetary ones. The articles that made cries for money were written by board members. If the people in the field did not present great concern about the money needed, why are the board members highly concerned. One person stated that, "money must come, not by spasmodic efforts, but in a steady golden stream." Why the emphasis on not only having the minimum amount of money, but a large steady flow? It seems to me that they began to place too much trust in money; they valued it too greatly. This tendency to find assurance in money is one that could easily take over denomination boards today as well, and is one church leaders today would be wise to avoid. For does not our money remind us that it is in God that we trust?