leading a church (2/3) - churches + $

What does the Bible say about churches and money?

Read Part 1 on Church Governance here

This is the same intro as part 1, but it still applies. So if you read part 1, feel free to skip it.

Social media is the wild west of philosophy. It’s made even worse by the fact that we tend to believe that following size = expertise. People with no credibility/wisdom frequently make unverified claims. These claims are then taken as fact because of their following size. Few people are willing to do the research to see if the claims being made are actually true.

I ran across a guru the other day who said: “if you go to a church, and they don’t have a board-run leadership structure, they are an apostate church who is actively practicing heresy.”

On top of that, this same person went on to say: “before you give to a church, the Bible says you are supposed to know what they are going to do with the money.”

That led me down a rabbit hole that you’re about to join me in.

I want to look at a few things:

1. What does the Bible say about how a church should be structured (Part 1)?

2. What does the Bible say about church finances (Part 2)?

3. What does our church, Elevate Life do (Part 3)?

You might not know what an apostate church is. “Apostasy” is when a person turns away from, or renounces a faith. In this case, the Christian faith and practice.

It’s easy for people to throw these terms out or to say things like “this is what the Bible says” without actually providing references. I’m not going to do that.

I’ve realized there are a lot that “lay-people” - read: not professional church people - don’t often know about the Bible. I live in the United States, where 68% of people identify as Christian. Simultaneously, only 6% of these people have a biblical worldview (Source).

So, 94% of Christians don’t have much clue of what the Bible says about anything. Then they go to church, the internet, books (or anything that is not the Bible), or hear what their friends say, and somehow think by hearing what other people say the Bible says, they know what the Bible says.

I say this frequently, but every perspective you hear on the Bible is just that. Perspective. It may be accurate, it may be inaccurate. You won’t know unless you weigh what people say according to what Scripture says. 94% of self-proclaiming Christians don’t do this. So on the subject of church governance, the handling of money, (or anything else) their understanding is misguided and flawed.

Everyone has a perspective and interpretation on Scripture. That’s unavoidable. But if you always go to the source, you can start with the purest source. And I believe God will speak to you through his word in the way you need to be spoken to. You can also determine what kind of church, and what kind of leadership you would like to align your own life with

Today, let’s look at what the Bible says about churches + money.

What does the Bible say about money and the church?

There’s really two questions related to money in churches:

1. What should the church do with money?

2. How should the church handle money?

What should the church do with money?

There are some clear things that we see in Scripture that churches should see as requirements:

It should pay those who preach, teach and lead well (1 Timothy 5:17-18, Galatians 6:6, Luke 10:7-10)

There are quite a few people who don’t believe that pastors or church leaders should be “honored” or even paid. These people obviously fall into the 94% of Christians who do not possess a Biblical worldview. 1 Timothy 5 gives us the picture that those who lead, preach and teach are actually worthy of “double honor.” Those who lead in the church should be compensated and supported financially by the church. Especially when it is their full-time job.

It should pay for evangelism and missionary work (Acts 18:5, Philippians 4:15-16, and 1 Corinthians 9:4-11)

The Church must support the people who are spreading the gospel financially and logistically.

It should take care of the needs of those within - and outside of - the Church (Galatians 6:10; John 12:8; Luke 10:30-37; Matthew 19:21)

The church has a requirement to care for the needs of people who are a part of the church. And it also has a requirement to care for all people who are in need.

In my perspective, these things are the biblical requirement for churches. Can churches do other things? Absolutely, and they probably should. But if a church doesn’t do these things, it is not functioning biblically.

How should the church handle money?

The church should regularly collect tithes and offerings (1 Corinthians 16:1-3, Hebrews 7:5-9)

Many people consider the tithe an Old Testament command. Volumes have been written about tithing vs. not tithing. Hebrews 7 shows us the connection to the Old Testament. Just like the first tithe was given from Abraham to Melchizedek, New Testament followers of Jesus - who are “grafted in” to the family of Abraham (Romans 11) - tithe to his church. It is not a tithe to give to ministries and organizations outside of the church. Jesus - as our High Priest - founded the Church, and we must tithe to the church. In addition, people are to give over and above “in proportion” to how God blesses them. There are many things about the church that have been created by human beings, there are also things about the church created by Jesus. Too many people forsake Jesus’ church because of human dynamics; financial and otherwise. Deconstruction is a departure from following Jesus in a biblical way. There are many expressions of The Church and many human systems that are a part of churches. Disliking a certain expression doesn’t give us permission to abandon biblical truth.

But hey, let’s say you don’t buy in to tithing. Then that must mean that you subscribe to the kind of giving mentioned in Acts 2 and 4. Where the church gave so much so that there were no needs. Unless you’re a multi-multi millionaire or a billionaire, that would mean giving way more than 10%.

That’s amazing that you would sell your home and all your possessions to give the money to the church! /s

That’s what the early church did, they gave everything they had to the church. And if they didn’t have enough, they sold everything that was worth anything and gave some more.

Here’s the truth: people that don’t believe in tithing are mostly selfish. They don’t give according to the “Old Testament”, and they don’t give according to the “New Testament” either. Most “christians” don’t give. Christians only give 2.5% of their income to charity. The least in history. During the Great Depression, christians gave 3.3%. Only 5% of christians tithe (Source). Isn’t it interesting that only 6% of christians have a biblical worldview too?

A tithe shouldn’t be a sticking point for us. Because for God, its a starting point. The spectrum of giving extends from tithing on the low end to “giving everything away” on the high end. You and I get to decide where we fall in the spectrum. We don’t get to not give.

Those who lead the church spiritually should lead the way financially (Acts 4:35,37; Acts 11:29,30; 1 Timothy 3:3,8)

Pastors and church leaders should tithe and give themselves as they expect those in the church to tithe and give. My personal minimum as a leader within a church is that 20% of my income goes to Elevate Life. In some years, I’ve given as much as a third of my income to the church.

Money should be handled in a way that is defensible from accusations (2 Corinthians 8:18-24, Acts 6:1-6)

People within the church that handle money should be trustworthy. The church should have great “control” over what happens with money so that there is accountability.

The church must teach people the Biblical reasons for giving (Romans 12:1, Philippians 4:16-19, 2 Corinthians 8-9, Matthew 6, Luke 12, Romans 15:27, Luke 16)

The Bible teaches various reasons for financial giving within the church. Giving is seen as a response to God's grace emphasizing gratitude for what God has given through Christ. It's also a practical means to meet real needs in the name of Jesus. It increases our commitment to God, fulfills a moral responsibility to support those in leadership, is essential to ensure the success of church missions and maintains integrity in the church. The leaders of the church have the responsibility to teach those within the church why we give.

Just like we see when it comes to governance. The Bible doesn’t give a whole lot of specificity regarding what kind of ministries to support, how much church staff should be paid, who should make that decision, and how much transparency a church should have regarding its finances. All of these things are important conversations, and they are good, and beneficial. But there is a difference between something being required biblically, and something being a good practice.

Unfortunately, with governance and finances, there are people who want to use the Bible to “punish” pastors and church leaders that they believe to be in wrongdoing. This happens in all churches, regardless of size or budget. In some ways this kind of behavior is justified. In many ways, it’s wicked. There are a lot of examples of ministry leaders and pastors doing it wrong. There are just as many, if not more examples however, of ministry and church leaders doing it right.

There are as many different approaches to finances within churches as there are churches. However, a church that will tell you exactly what happens with every dollar, and the staff salaries are all made public is no more biblical than a church who will tell you nothing. I’m not saying that best practices don’t matter. What I am saying is that just because human beings want something from a church, doesn’t mean that God requires it.

We need to be careful about conflating the opinions, and structures of human beings with the commands of God.

The majority of church structures and governance are human’s attempts to manage spiritual things. Whether its money, leadership, or people’s souls, the church is a place where we imperfectly attempt to partner with God to fulfill what Jesus commands. All manmade structures are flawed. All accountability methods have holes. There are ways around every command and every requirement in every system.

God commands us to be a part of the church, and give financially regardless of what they do with it.

In Philippians 4:17, Paul is talking about people giving financially to him personally and he says “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit.” He was telling the church that when they give - even towards an individual in full time ministry - God credits them in heaven. When we give towards the church and God’s work, God makes a record of our giving. Jesus also commands us to store up “treasures in heaven” in Matthew 6. This makes it clear that earthly giving has heavenly - and eternal - significance. And as soon as you give to God and his Kingdom, he records your giving.

“What about making sure that the church isn’t misusing my money?”

This is a valid concern. Think about giving financially to the church like a two-step process:

1. We give

2. The church does something with the money

As I have shown, we have a command from God to give, and the church also has requirements of what to do with the money. Many people have valid concerns about what the church does with the money they give. However, the biblical truth is that God does not make that a condition of giving. Look at the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13). Jesus makes it clear that the sower sows on all kinds of ground, not just good ground. God doesn’t ask us to make the quality of the ground a condition of our sowing.

Does that mean that we should sow indiscriminately? Of course not, I am not advocating for a lack of wisdom. It just means that “I don’t know what the church will do with the money” is not a biblically qualified reason to withhold giving financially. There are many reasons the Bible gives as to why/when not to give, and this isn’t one of them.

If we truly believe that God places all authority, including church leadership. Then what we also must submit to is that God is the only one who will hold them accountable when it is all said and done. Believe it or not, God is really good at promoting and demoting people and he probably doesn’t need our help. Most of us know what has happened to pastors and ministry leaders who have misused church and Kingdom funds, and it has never been pretty. There’s a lot of bloggers, podcasters and influencers that disagree with me. I can’t say their opinion is really all that important, or making a positive difference in the church. It’s definitely exponentially increasing the level of dishonor and cynicism for the church and Godly leadership. I’ll probably take time and address whether or not that’s biblical another day.

The justice of God is pure justice, he does not have bias, he is not ignorant and he cannot be manipulated. All human accountability structures can, will and have failed. But God is sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. Jesus said in Luke 8 “all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.” If the church does something wrong with the money, there’s strong evidence over the past 2000 years that God will handle it.

Regardless of how we think things should work. We only have one financial responsibility, to give. The church has its responsibility as well, and God reigns over it all.

Part 3 - what does Elevate Life do? coming tomorrow.