Originally Posted by
Char-Gar
I agree completely with your major premise that it takes the financial support of Christians to make Christian ministry happen.
Now here are my questions about "the Church".
1. Is there such a thing as a church that is faithless to it calling to ministry?
2. Is there a church that is irresponsible with the money it's members give?
3. Are we required to support religious organizations that are involved in 1 and 2 above?
The typical American "church" will spend over 85% of the funds it receives on salary and just keeping the building standing on the lot. How much of this can be justified as ministry and how much is just institutional survival.
At one point, I used to consult with local churches on what it means to be a valid scriptural "church". I divided the group into tables of eight and ask them to write down everything that came to their mind when I said the word "church". I gave them a few minutes and then went to the board and consolidate the lists from the various tables.
I then asked them to take the list on the board and strike off everything that was not found in scripture. It didn't take very long for somebody to say..."We just struck off the entire denomination". That was the point of course. We throw the word "church" around and assume that everything we associate with that term is actually part of being an authentic scriptural church.
Yes, it takes financial support to do as Christ wants us to do. That means we should be very careful about where we put that support, least to much of it funds non productive things. Dollars are precious things, that God can use for wonderful ministry, we should treat them with the respect they are due.
The institutional church, or at least what we associate with it, is a scripture aberration. It came into being centuries after the death of Jesus and has morphed into some very funky notions and concepts that have zero to do with our Christian scriptural mandates. These types of discussions, while uncomfortable for some, do serve a valid purpose in thinking about the vital issue of how a Christian uses their money and where it goes in the cause of Christ.
The blind knee jerk reaction that you should/must give 10% of your income either gross or net, to your local "church" is a simple, and often wrong answer to a very real and complex issue of faith. It is more than wrong to extort dollars from members through guilt and manipulation. I don't think that is a God thing.
Being a faithful Christian is a serious thing, that require much thought and prayers. We should not just follow the ruts in the road, other have placed there. They may have been going to the wrong place.