I recently read an article that talked about the cost of each baptism (or Christian conversion) to be $347,000. I can’t make this stuff up. Basically it says that for all the money Christian organizations and churches bring in, about $347k is spent on each baptism.
Now certainly the value of eternal life for a person doesn’t have a dollar amount, so I’m not trying to argue from that standpoint. But, that dollar figure just blows me away.
I first read about this a few weeks ago and even now I still can’t wrap my head around how much money that is. Even if the number is wrong and it is closer to $100,000 per baptism, that is still an overwhelming number that doesn’t make much sense.
Here are a couple thoughts the come to mind:
- When Christians give money to churches and organizations are they giving to disciple believers or to reach unbelievers? Obviously the answer is both, but what is the ultimate goal? I wonder about that. For me personally, I give to reach the lost.
- A number like $347,000 per baptism screams inefficiency. I come from a business background so I tend to think of being efficient with money, so this one stuck out like a sore thumb. In the business world, a lot of people would get fired for this kind of inefficiency.
- We must be wasting a lot of money on pointless things.
- We need 100x more transparency in our churches. It is the congregation that is giving the money. Our congregations need to see things like this so that their money will be driven to the things that matter. Churches need to see the “rubber meets the road” kind of numbers like this. How effective is the money that is given?
- For those who criticize the people who say we need to re-think how “church” is done in today’s world, seeing numbers like this should make them shut up a little.
What does $347k a baptism mean to you?
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