Not that long ago, I was talking to another Christian about a certain well known church leader.
I won’t mention the
name of the leader here, for two reasons. First, naming him won’t be necessary
for me to make my points in this article. And second, just in case the
information I have about him is not completely accurate, I don’t want to
misrepresent him.
I am pretty sure that
what I have heard about him is correct, but even if it isn’t, there are other
church leaders who are in the same sort of situation anyway, and my aim in this
article is to make points about church leaders generally.
The situation of
this leader
The leader in
question is someone who rightly opposes the so-called Prosperity Gospel, which
says that a Christian who is living in a way that is pleasing to God should
expect to be financially well off. Nevertheless, he has written many popular
Christian books that have earned him a great deal of money. And with some of
this money he has apparently bought three luxury homes.
The issue
When I was discussing
this with the other Christian, we took different views on whether this leader
had done the right thing in buying these three homes.
I forget the precise
words that each of us used, but the other guy argued in the following sort of
way:
The Bible makes
it clear that it is the love of money that is sinful, not being wealthy in
itself, and there is no evidence that this church leader loves money.
Besides, he
clearly works very hard, and he deserves a big financial reward for doing that.
There is also every reason to think that he gives away a lot of what he earns.
Therefore, he has
done nothing wrong in buying three luxury homes.
I am not persuaded by
this argument. I think this leader has made a big mistake in buying three
luxury homes, and in what follows I will explain why.
Points of
agreement
Before I give my
explanation, I want to note some points of agreement with the man I was talking
to.
First, it is true
that the Bible condemns the love of money rather than money itself.
Second, I don’t know
if this leader is guilty of the love of money, but in the absence of clear
evidence for this, I am happy to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume
that he isn’t.
Third, there is no
doubt that this leader works very hard, and that he deserves a financial reward
for this, as 1 Timothy 5:18 says.
And fourth, I am sure
that he gives away a lot of the money he earns.
Nevertheless, I don’t
think these things justify buying three luxury homes.
Basically, I think
this leader is missing a golden opportunity to steer his flock away from the
love of money by setting an example of being content with few things. Let me explain
why I think this.
The love of
money is a serious and very common sin
To begin with, we
need to be clear that the love of money is a sin.
In 1 Timothy 6:10,
for example, the apostle Paul says:
‘For the love of
money is a root of all kinds of evil.’
This should leave us
in no doubt about the seriousness of this sin.
Similarly, in Matthew
6:24 Jesus teaches:
‘You cannot serve
both God and wealth.’
Given that our whole
aim in life as Christians is to serve God with an undivided heart, these words
underscore how harmful it is to love money.
As far as the
frequency of this sin is concerned, I think it is obvious that in society
generally it is an extremely common thing to find. In fact, I would say that
all over the world it is very rare to find a non-Christian who doesn’t love
money.
We can just tell,
can’t we, by the way so many people speak about possessions, that they are
lovers of money?
Love of money
inside the church
Importantly, wherever
there is a sin that is widespread in a country, it is always the case that this
sin will significantly affect churches in that country. I don’t think there is
ever an exception to this.
So, because the love
of money is so common throughout the world, this means that the love of money
is a big issue for the church in every country. Many Christians love money, and
many others are fighting the strong temptation to love money.
If we were to make a
list of important things that Christians in leadership positions need to do in
their ministry, I would suggest that steering their flocks away from the love
of money is in the top ten things, or maybe in the top twenty, for virtually
every church leader in the world.
In other words,
helping Christians in their churches to avoid the love of money is a key part
of the job description of a Christian leader.
How do leaders
steer Christians away from the love of money?
So how do leaders
help their flocks to avoid the love of money?
Well, firstly, they
need to teach on this subject. And the Bible is full of teaching on this.
But there is a second
way in which church leaders should influence Christians in their churches for
good, and that is by setting an example. And as far as loving money is
concerned, the example they can set is one of being content with living a
relatively simple lifestyle with relatively few luxuries.
In 1 Timothy 6:8 Paul
says to Timothy:
‘If we have food and
clothing, we will be content with these things.’
This is a wonderful
attitude to have, and it is certainly one that church leaders should aspire to.
Giving up what
we deserve for the greater good
But there is another
important point to bring in here, which is the principle of giving up things we
deserve for the greater good.
In 1 Corinthians
9:3-23 Paul talks at length about how as an apostle he deserves to earn a
living from the gospel, but how he has not taken advantage of this because it
will help his evangelistic work not to. He says something similar in 2
Corinthians 11:7-10.
It is too simplistic,
then, to say that if a church leader works hard, he should automatically take
advantage of what he earns.
Summing up
Getting back to the
leader I mentioned who owns three luxury homes, I find it very difficult to
believe that he has got this right.
Given how common the
love of money is, even among Christians, in his church of over a thousand
people there are bound to be many who are either guilty of loving money or are
battling temptations to commit this sin. And in that context, I just can’t see
that he should have three luxury homes, especially when most of those in his
church won’t even have one.
I think he is missing
a golden opportunity to set a fantastic example by living in a relatively
modest way. I am not saying that he should avoid all luxuries all the time. I
think that would be going too far. But to have three luxury homes is to my mind
very poor leadership.
If I were a church
leader who earned a lot of money, I think I would set a little rule for myself that
my standard of living would not be above the average of the people in my
church. I am not saying that every leader should do precisely this, but this is
what I would aim to do.
See also:
Is It Always God’s Will for Christians to
Avoid Poverty?
The Prosperity Gospel Is a False Gospel
