I have a love/hate relationship with money. Well, let me clarify. I have an endure/hate relationship with money. (The Bible says we’re not supposed to love it.) On the one hand, we have to have it. To live. So, I endure it for that reason. On the other hand, money causes a lot of problems. That’s why I tend to hate it. When it comes to church ministry, things don’t automatically improve just because Christians are putting money in velvet-lined stainless steel things. In fact, the arena of church giving is bedecked with controversy, hucksters, mistrust, hoarding, profligate spending; it has a heritage of disqualified pastors, filching money counters, distrustful members, and yes, wrecked churches.
A Few Clarifying Principles
Sometimes it helps to just back up and look at the big picture. It’s easy to get lost in the whirlwind of accounting software, envelopes, illegible handwriting, who’s going to count the money, complicated accountability structure, multiple bank accounts, and the fact that your budget is shot anyway. Why can’t we just be a good church and focus on worshiping God and knowing Him better? All this money stuff is so confusing. The following principles won’t necessarily clean up all the confusion, but it may provide some help. Think of your church budget (or what’s left of it) and read these…
- Glorifying God is the Main Thing. Always. Don’t lose sight of it. If you’re always focusing on offering numbers, giving charts, and thermometers on the wall, you’re going to get distracted from the main thing. Put money in its proper place, below the main headline of “Glorify God.” Okay, now you’re ready to move on.
- The Money Belongs to God. It may sound facile to say “It’s God’s money.” So before you rise up and say, “Yes, but…we are given the stewardship of it..” I know. But it helps to remember that the plink-plonk of coins in the plate, and the electronic accretions of direct deposits in the church bank account is under the grand ownership of one: God. It’s helpful to look at it that way, because a theological perspective on church money makes you think twice when you write that check, count that money, or type in that budget line item. It’s God’s. All of it. This probably means that budget decisions should be prayed over. Then, as the God-directed leadership team makes decisions, they should be made with a level of mutual agreement. In other words, one guy isn’t acting like a money dictator, limiting or stipulating purchases by himself.
- The Money Is for Ministry. What does God want His church to do? Whatever it is, it’s probably going to take money. Money is spent when people come to church–gas money, transportation, etc. Money is often spent to buy a place to meet. Money is often spent to support a person to teach and preach. Money is often spent to provide tools for worship–music, instruments, media like Sharefaith provides, and other stuff. Money goes to missionaries, charity, the homeless shelter, the electric utility company, a church planter, and needy churchgoers. Money is important. So what’s the best way to spend it? Here’s where it helps to have a church mission or vision statement. Put the money toward those things that your church regards as most important–the ministry features which you have determined are the ones you want to focus on.
Some Other Important Features
Those are just three basic, plain vanilla kind of principles that may (or may not) help to un-blur your vision on money matters. But what about the down-to-earth, practical, money-hits-the-plate issues about your church, your budget, and your fiscal confusion? Well, allow me to sidestep the issue (slightly) and suggest yet another level of principles.
- Accountability. Whatever you do, make sure that there is someone looking over the shoulder of someone else whenever it comes to money. One guy controlling the whole money scenario is a recipe for disaster. It doesn’t matter who he is, someone is going to get distrustful. Make sure you have multiple levels of checks, balances, and full disclosure about all things money. One day, you’ll be glad you did.
- Budget. And you need a budget. It may be that you barely have enough money to pay the mortgage and keep the lights on, so what’s the need for a budget? That’s exactly why you need a budget–to control, maintain, structure, and elucidate what’s happening to all the money.
- Get some software. It’s the electronic age, folks. If you’re reading this blog, you probably know about Sharefaith, and our impressive selection of church media. Money matters happen online, too. If you don’t have one already, buy a simple and inexpensive money management software tool. We’ll suggest some good ones in an upcoming post.
Money is super important. It’s an important part of ministry. Sharefaith is concerned with making churches successful. That’s why we blog about money, and that’s why we’ve made our media library so inexpensive to churches and ministries. If you’re not yet a member, find out how you can keep your media budget low, and keep your media quality high.