Everybody needs to deal with it. This includes the church. But how are we to properly use cash? This has been one of the biggest problems for church.
First we need to say some preliminary things about cash:
- Cash is not bad – Some may think the mere talk or use of cash seems wrong for the church. The Bible talks much about its used. Cash isn’t intrinsically bad or good, it is how one uses it.
- Cash is a gift from God – All money ultimately leads back to God and he is the one that gives it out. So we need to think hard about how we are to use the money he has given to us.
- All churches will have to deal with Cash – You cannot get around it. Whether you are a complex or simple church, all sorts of gatherings will come across cash. The question isn’t “Should I deal with cash?” It is, “How should I deal with cash?”
- There is no one-size-fits-all approach to Cash – There are multiple strategies to cash. The moment some group says, “this is the only way to deal with money” then they are being extra biblical and legalistic. Some people tithe, some don’t. Some stick to a percentage, some don’t. We need to be flexible in this area and give each gathering ownership in how to deal with cash.
So with those things in mind, here are some common problems with cash in church:
The bulk of cash goes towards bosses and buildings
Due to the setup of the institutional church, having a paid pastor and an official building, a large amount of the money goes towards keeping these things afloat. Now every church would agree that paying both bosses and buildings are not essential. There is no command in the Bible to do church in that way. But the setup has forced us to play that game.
This reinforces the idea that both are needed for church to happen : A paid pastor and an official building. If one of them goes, then some see that as not church. The problem is that if you start to not pay cash towards these two things, then either the building needs to be sold or the boss needs to get another job. Both are difficult things to just stop and change.
More important ministries tend to get less cash towards them
Things like helping the poor, helping the needs of the community, or missionary work do have cash go towards it, but it happens after paying the bosses and buildings. If anything, the bulk of the cash should be used for these ministries . What this teaches our congregation is that these ministries are not as important as the wages of the bosses or the upkeep of the building.
Imagine if we had zero cash to go towards bosses and buildings? Imagine what resources we could provide for the needs of our community?
But this is difficult to do in the institutional church due to the above point.
There’s a stigma that pastors are in it for the cash
This is a huge problem. Whenever there is a time that cash is talked about at church from the front by the pastor, you cannot help but think that this guy is just interested in the cash. He says he is doing it for the Lord, but you know that this is his wage for his job. Now a labourer does deserve his wage but Paul the apostle saw this as a stumbling block for him, getting in the way of promoting the Gospel.
Some preachers in Paul’s day were asking for fees from their talks. Paul didn’t want that stigma.
Today many people outside the church see pastors as hungry for dollars. Why not take away that possibility by having unpaid pastors?
If the giving dries up, the pastor may leave
This is a problem that happens many times. Say a pastor comes to your church and you give him a substantial wage. But then the size of the church dwindles, or the giving of the church goes down. The pastor will start to panic because this is his wage. It gets to the point that the pastor may leave for another church that will pay for his services.
So it perpetuates this idea that the pastor is in it for the money and that he is the most important thing in regards to cash. Many churches may see that as a barometer of how well the church is going: How many pastors are we paying?
There may be certain denominational pressures involving cash
Some churches are forced by their denominations to pay a certain amount to a pastor. Say he asks for less, they will not allow that to happen. Even some churches that would like to hire another person to do ministry cannot because there is not enough funds to do it. What this does is put a straight jacket on the church through denominational mandates on cash. Cash then becomes king and the goal is to try and get as much of it so you can do the ministry you want to do.
The pursuit of cash can cause moral and doctrinal declines
Due to the pressure of keeping budgets afloat with bosses and buildings, it is not uncommon for the pursuit of cash to cause moral and doctrinal issues. For example, a pastor may look favourably at families that give a lot of cash to the point of tailoring church to them. If that family does not like talk of sin or they have theological hobby horses, there is that pressure to sooth the family through the teaching or lack of teaching on subjects.
Some pastors may pull money verses out of context and say that God will bless you more if you give more. Some churches, in the pursuit of more money, may fudge the numbers or ct corners on certain things. There’s always leaders in the church that help themselves to cash stored away for something else. All in all, cash can affect the church spiritually in many ways.
So there’s a few problems in regards to cash. The answer isn’t to deal with it. You must deal with cash. But be warned that there are many pangs with it. We want churches to be generous be good stewards of the cash that God gives us, so that we can further his kingdom through grace and love.