Budgets in Crisis

2009 January 29

by Tyler

Yesterday I read this by Pete at Without Wax:

“What a sad thing it would be if during this economic crisis all the world saw was a bunch of churches worried about meeting their own budget and a bunch of well off Christians only being concerned about their own personal financial set backs.”

Part of me doesn’t like his comment because church budgets greatly affect my life. Rose and I are able to do most of the things we do because of my job at a church.

But most of me really loved what Pete said. The #1 thing I hear people talking about the economy and rightfully so, we are in a crisis that shows no signs of getting better, only getting worse.

Within the story of the Bible I see God showing up in the midst of need. When I look at most American churches and most American households the need is typically very minimal, at least on the financial end.

Out of all the negatives the economy presents us with, the key positive for me is that people are in need, and I worship a God who rescues the needy that call out to him. God has given Christians a WIDE OPEN DOOR into many hearts. I can’t help but wonder if we aren’t so focused on ourselves that we haven’t seen that yet (I say that mostly to myself).

What do you think of Pete’s quote?

Filed under: the rest...

http://ryanguard.net ryanguard

the rest of the world is looking at us and saying, “You call THAT a recession?”. most Americans won’t miss a meal this year.

i do like what you’re saying though. fits nicely with your URL! if we were all just a little more deprived then perhaps God would heed our call. for now He’s just waiting on the call I guess.
http://www.withoutwax.tv Pete Wilson

I’m with you bro. I wrote those words out of a conviction of my own heart. I’m embarrassed at where my focus has been the past 6 months.

Praying for you guys.
http://newheights.wordpress.com/ Darin

amen.
http://ash-nits.blogspot.com ash

i just suppose it’s time for the church to go outside their four walls, split the bread and pass it around. that’s what they’re supposed to be there for. we can all learn to live w/ a little less.
http://ricwild.blogspot.com Ric Wild

I know my church has had it’s own financial struggles. As we’ve been taking a closer looking at pledges and overall giving, I find myself embarrassed. I’m embarrassed because the average pledge unit is only about $1,800. That means the average person or family living in our affluent coastal community gives 3% or less of their total income. That’s pathetic. What’s worse is that most churches only allocate about 10% of their total budget to actually caring for people in need. The other 90% goes to paying salaries and the utilities. So if my math is right, most people in our church give about .3% or less of their total income to the people Jesus called the “least of these.” Can this be right?
http://chadsblog.net chad

Ric, I would point out that by paying salaries your church is giving your staff the ability to minister to the needy. Last night we had nearly 50 kids at youth group. Most of them come from some difficult family situations. Those situations have only gotten worse with the direction of our economy. I have the opportunity to minister to them because I am paid by New Harvest to do so. Would I do it even if I wasn’t paid? Well, I would want to, but the reality is I wouldn’t be able to put near the time into their lives or the lives of our leaders. I have no problem with a church investing in staff. As long as they aren’t paying higher salaries than is appropriate and as long as the staff is actually willing to use the time their position allows them to reach out to the “least of these”.

Jess says you’re loving your Mac. I knew you would…
http://www.thriven.org Jonathan Brink

Ric, you said, “So if my math is right, most people in our church give about .3% or less of their total income to the people Jesus called the “least of these.” Can this be right?”

Perhaps the problem is perception. When we’re giving 90% to the system running the show, some are going to ask if this is a productive use of funds, when they could technically give 100% to the poor directly. I would suggest that when pastors take the risk to encourage their flocks to give directly they will likely encounter a resurgence they are not prepared for, because they will then empower people to be love to the world around them.

And Tyler, I don’t think the original quote was aimed at you.
http://manofdepravity.com Tyler

Ryan- I hear what you are saying, part of me wonders if something really bad wouldn’t be good for us, but another part of me wonders if I could handle it.

Pete- Thanks for the challenge brother.

Ric- I don’t think you can ever do too much to that end, but I don’t think we need to be legalistic about it either. We should give to noble causes as The Spirit leads us. With that said, I would agree that most churches do not do near enough as they could.

By the way…we need to get Slaton to switch to a Mac now.

Chad- Good point, that is definitely one way to serve people in need.