Posts Tagged ‘stewardship’

Some Nagging Thoughts in my Mind

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

- Giving to the poor
The concept to support the poor through offerings is reiterated in the New Covenant, so why wouldn’t tithing be reiterated to support the spread of the gospel even just once?

- In regards to tithing and the New Testament:
The number one problem i had when i once believed in the tithing mandate was that all i could see was the consistency and repetitiveness of tithing. I could not see the other inconsistent, and incompatible errors it has under the new covenant. Anyone can see the similarities of any screwdriver and any screw, but it’s inconsistencies that will tell you whether or not a screw driver will fit the screw.

- To those who hate when I condemn prosperity preachers and their self serving ministries:
“God put this religious system here. But when the nation became so sinful, He sent the Babylonains in and they destroyed the very system which he had setup.” – Jim Gables, Vineland Park Baptist Church

- In regards to former multi-millionaire Mark Brunnel’s bankruptcy:
Why are people allowed to tithe while in bankruptcy proceedings?

- Why require Tithing and not Circumcision?:
Circumcision does not raise money. 1 Timothy 6:10

- Tithing and Debt:
I forget which is right and which is wrong – to tithe while in debt, or to gain debt while tithing?

- Tithing Money, Food, & Corruption
It’s important to note the reasons why the tithe was only food in the bible. It’s hard to hoard food when you can only eat so much of it. It’s quite the opposite with money . . . it seems you never have enough.

- Tithing to your neighbor
If i told you to tithe to your neighbor, what would your giving look like? But if i told you to love your neighbor as yourself, now what would your giving look like?

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Tithing Sermons – Should or Shouldn’t?

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

  1. Why you should: Your Church is broke.
    Why you shouldn’t: Your church will be more broke
    I understand that the utilities, rent, and honorable salaries need to be paid. But we need to learn to cut expenses. The “American Greed Dream” can’t creep into homes without it creeping into the Church.
  2. Why you should: Your pastor wants a new car
    Why you shouldn’t: Someone else needs a car more
    A little perspective goes a long way. Look at how others poorer than you live their lives and try to imagine your attitude under their circumstances. Determine your wants vs. needs.
  3. Why you should: Your Church wants a coffee shop
    Why you shouldn’t: Your coffee shop is only open 1 day a week
    A majority of Church buildings are largely under-utilized so let’s get smart about what were spending our money on.
  4. Why you should: You want a new building
    Why you shouldn’t: Can i remind you that were in a recession?
    I’m not saying that great sacrifices can’t be done during hard times, but let’s not forget that a recession means 10% unemployment, higher taxes, forecloses, and salary cuts. Let’s not forget that your biggest need might be to expand your walls, but, someone’s biggest need this week may be what they are going to give their kids for dinner. Once again, a little perspective.
  5. Why you should: You want to buy new drum set for the band
    Why you shouldn’t: Bongo’s are soooo much cheaper!
    This may be just my pet peeve, but I’m kind of getting tired of seeing 5 guitar players and a drummer on stage. Can’t anyone play anything else?
  6. Why you should: You want people to be blessed
    Why you shouldn’t:     People will be cursed instead
    I’ve said it once, I’ve said it twice. . . Shoot! . . . I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, but tithing is an Old Testament law.
    Galatians 3:10 – “For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse“
  7. Why you should: It’s Stewardship month
    Why you shouldn’t: Why spend time talking about 10% of our money?
    Am i missing something here, or is there a reason why churches are concerned about the 10% that they get from you and spend very little time advising you on the other 90% that they aren’t getting from you? I’m wondering if they take the time to advise you on the 90, I’m sure there would be less problems collecting the 10. Like i said above it’s hard for greed to slip into the home without it slipping into the Church. The apple does not fall far from the tree.

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Christian Financial Counselors V. Tithing

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

I’m sitting here right now trying to think of a way to transition all the thoughts going through my mind, so this post might get a little bumpy and random. I have Google tithing alerts sent to my email every day. Whenever someone in the news or on their blog mentions tithing, i receive an email of a list of those websites. I try as best as i can to visit as many blogs and news sites as i can to place comments that refute tithing, and support Spirit led giving.

I am somewhat picky about the blogs i will comment on. I try to comment on blogs that seem to get a little more traffic because i don’t have much time to comment in the first place, and wish to share my thoughts with as many as possible. There are certain types of blog posts that i  usually do not write on regardless of their website traffic – and that is blogs that give personal and emotional testimonies about tithing.

Trying to reason with someone about their personal experiences with tithing is like trying to take a child away from a mother who has carried for nine months and has given birth. You cannot take those experiences and emotions away from people. They will take those emotions to their grave. The best thing i’ve found is to state a few verses to counter-balance their emotions, plant a few seeds in forms of questions, and then be on your way. Side note about internet debating – you have no personal rapport with anybody. They don’t know you, so you aren’t going to change their mind anyway.

History proves over and over that you cannot persecute or beat ‘faith’ out of anyone. It only makes them more stubborn, stronger, or turns them into martyrs. Many people believe tithing out of emotional faith, and not because of reason. This is one of the reasons why I try to stay away from the tedious, long, relentless banters towards any ‘opponent’. If you stay in an argument too long, both you and your opponent will be going around in circles while placing more and more bricks on each of your castle walls.

(So here’s one of those weird transitions :| ) This is going to seem awkward to say but we need to take these emotional experiences away from people. I first was thinking about all this when i was reading Dave Ramsey’s website. On there it had someone’s testimony about tithing and then getting out of debt. It made me think that when they’ve gotten out of debt and the emotional relief they felt was all attributed to tithing. Unfortunately, this is false advertising for tithing because Dave Ramsey is a financial counselor not a tithing counselor. People have to change their buying and saving habits in order to get out of debt.

Tithing never got anyone out of debt, and yet you hear of thousands of testimonies every year who attribute financial success to tithing advice from a financial counselor. You will always hear a testimony such as this – ‘We were in up to our necks in debt. We met with a Christian financial counselor. Someone challenged us to tithe. In one year we paid off $20,000 in credit card debt.’ Even hearing the story, we get so caught up in the astronomical achievement that we don’t even wonder what tithing even has to do with spending, credit cards, and materialism?

(another awkward transition) Since i want to take the focus of financial success stories away from tithing, here’s the bottom line -  I wish to support Christian financial counseling ministries that does not support tithing. We need stories that include financial success while people gave freely without tithing.

Your Help is Needed

All of this encouraged me to go on a practical but seemingly unrealistic journey to find a Christian Financial Counseling Ministry that does not support tithing. My search has almost come up empty, so i am going to ask all of you if you are familiar with a christian financial ministry that does not support tithing in their counseling plans. I was fortunate to accidentally come across http://www.providentplan.com/.  They provide great Christian Financial Counseling services, but we need to find as many others as possible.

Crown and Dave Ramsey are great counseling tools but they both support tithing in their financial counseling plans. I am looking for a company that provides similar services, but I want to partner with or promote a Christian financial organization that does not support tithing. If we are to eliminate the false teaching through tithing, we need to promote organizations that do not teach tithing in their financial foundations. We need to create Christian financial success stories that show tithing is not a magical formula that gets you out of debt.

If we do not support the ministries that teach the right thing, then Dave Ramsey and Crown will still pump out people who will be permanently rooted in the tithing doctrine. If we can get people to see that it is sound financial principles that creates good stewardship, then there will be less and less work for us to do in the long run. We have to get people at the roots. Crown and Ramsey’s converts makes their pupils into tithers for life.

If we can all band together and promote a third financial ministry, one day it may turn out to be a huge competitor to crown and ramsey. This will be a great way to get the truth about tithing out there.Yes, I think my vision is somewhat idealistic, but we’ve gotta be realistic that every one that ramsey and crown covert to tithing will be near impossible to change back.

THE GOAL: Find financial counseling ministries that do not teach tithing and post them in your comments. I would like to compile a list of all these organizations in a blog post.

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The Church is a Spoiled Brat

Monday, March 29th, 2010

“If everyone in the Church gave 10% of their income, the Church would have an additional 50 billion a year to do missions, feed the poor, provide clean water and medical supplies, etcetera . . . etcetera . . . etcetera.”

Sound Familiar?

Why is it that every time you hear a challenge to tithe, you get slapped with the guilt that your current endowment efforts aren’t enough to give some clean water or even a band-aid? You begin to feel that as soon as everyone started giving a tithe, that we could solve the depravity of basic necessities in the world.

I wouldn’t dare question that we wouldn’t gain an additional 50 billion if we all tithed, but i do have to question if food, medical supplies, and clean water really would be administered with that 50 billion.

Why don’t we admit the truth – that if we gave 50 billion extra, we would spend the majority of it on ourselves for building projects, salaries, church events, and theatrics.

We don’t admit the truth because, the truth doesn’t guilt people as much as the lie does. Who could deny water, food, and shelter to anyone while i sit at home in my comfy house with central air, and a supermarket down the road? Seriously, what type of human being are you if could deny someone just the basic necessities for survival?

One thing you will never hear is that if all of us gave 10% of our income, the Church would actually spend about 80% of that 50 billion on internal operations.

“If only i had a little more money then i could tithe?”

Does that sound familiar? well that doesn’t sound too far from saying “If only we had 50 billion more, then we could . . .”. Can we say that the apple does not fall far from the tree?

Anyways, the point here is to expose the lie that frequently proceeds the tithing challenge. The truth is if we had 50 billion extra, we wouldn’t provide water, food or shelter. Let’s face it, our tendency has been to hoard it, so why would we change? In actuality, the Church takes in over 100 billion a year, but you won’t hear this number out of anyone’s mouth. The constant whine of what we don’t have as opposed to what we do have, is what i call a ‘Spoiled Brat’. Let’s not use crying babies and starving families as a ploy to get people to tithe unless our money is actually going towards them.

P.S. I don’t believe tithing is commanded anyway.

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Bible Verses on Spirit Led Giving

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Because of my stand against the tithing mandate, many have asked me for bible verses that support Spirit led giving. So I’ve compiled a list of the more obvious bible verses that i believe support Spirit led giving as opposed to tithing. There are definitely other verses that may support Spirit Led giving in an indirect way, but i do not feel that they are as obvious as these bible verses below. I have included a monetary offer at the end to the best one who contributes an additional bible verse on Spirit led giving.

  1. Galatians 5:18
    But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
    Um, need i say more? Sure, because there are 10 more bible verses still to write about.
  2. Romans 12:6-8
    Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, [let us use them]: if prophecy, [let us] [prophesy] in proportion to our faith; or ministry, [let us use it] in [our] ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.
    This just plainly states that our giving is a Spiritual gift, not an action that is determined by a numerical calculation.
  3. Matthew 10:8
    Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, [fn] cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.
    With this verse in correlation with other spiritual gifts, such as healing, we should see that our freewill, spirit-led giving is a command and is a spiritual gift as well.
  4. Acts 1:8
    But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;
    It is the law and sin that no longer has the authority and power over our lives, including our giving.
  5. Acts 5:3
    But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself
    In this passage Ananias disobeys the Spirit of God and convinces himself into believing a lie that he should keep back part of the price of land.  If the Holy Spirit was not responsible for instructing Ananias to give everything, then Ananias had no reason to hide part of the price. The guilty need no accusing. This is why i believe that Spirit led giving is not an easy way out of giving. There are direct consequences for disobeying the instructions of the Holy Spirit. With tithing in the Old Testament, you had some idea of what the consequences of not tithing were.  I would think that the worst part about some types of punishments is not knowing what the consequence would be.
  6. 1 Peter 4:10
    As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
    Many times we pray and plead for an opportunity to minister our gifts except when it comes time to minister our gifts of giving. It seems that we have the opportunity to bypass the intense pleading and praying part because the ministry of giving is calculated through tithing, not prayer.
  7. Acts 2:44-46
    Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need. So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
    This is not a verse that even mentions the Holy Spirit, but can we deny that the leading of the Holy Spirit is not upon them? Can we deny that the worries of possessions and materialism have faded into the gladness and simplicity of their communion?
  8. 2 Corinthians 8:1-9, 9:7
    Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia: that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God.
    So we urged Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also complete this grace in you as well. But as you abound in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us–see that you abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but I am testing the sincerity of your love by the diligence of others. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich.     . . .[So let] each one [give] as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity[law]; for God loves a cheerful giver.
    Yes, this is one of the more vague passages to support Spirit led giving, but in this whole passage about giving, i have underlined 2 phrases to summarize this passage on giving. After Paul’s admonishment on liberality and freewill giving, he states, “I speak not by commandment” and “not of necessity”. These phrases should strike a stake into the heart of all tithing supporters, and should make it clear that no standards or laws are a substitute for the Holy Spirit.
  9. Acts 11:28-30
    Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.
    Here we have a man/woman who revealed through the Holy Spirit that a great famine was going to come. And because of what the Holy Spirit had revealed, the early Church was able to prepare relief for those who would be most effected by this famine. The Spirit led gift of giving many times is not so much the ability to give, but more or less the ability for one to see a financial need that should be filled.
  10. Luke 4:1
    And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.
    Do we see giving mentioned in here, no. But we do see the Holy Spirit as a leader, and a guide.
  11. John 16:13
    Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
    I think we need to realize that Holy Spirit isn’t just this being that puts a permanent smile on our face. Many people believe that Spirit led giving is just simply performing the action of being cheerful. This is not the truth. We not only should be Spirit filled with our giving, but also Spirit led. The Holy Spirit is an instructor, and brings revelation for our lives.
  12. 2 Corinthians 9:7
    [So let] each one [give] as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

We need more verses that support Spirit led giving, SO PLEASE ADD SOME SPIRIT LED GIVING VERSES IN THE COMMENTS. I would definitely love old or new testament verses. There are lots of bible verses on giving in the new testament but it’s hard to really pinpoint that a spiritual gift is being used or that the Holy Spirit is guiding someone. So take that into consideration if you wish to add a verse. Also, please add your own little commentary to the verse as well, so i can add your explanation. I don’t want my voice to be the sole interpreter of scripture on this blog. I will send $15 through paypal to the best new verse and explanation of Spirit led giving.

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New Blog Design

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

No your eyes have not deceived you – we have a whole new look. We even tweaked the name and changed the logo! Here’s a list of changes we have made already this year for those who have not noticed them yet

  1. Changed the comment section so that comments are threaded so you can reply to specific people.
  2. Enlarged the width of the website to enable easier reading and cleaner space
  3. Added subscription buttons to both the google and yahoo groups
  4. Added a multi-language translator
  5. re-enabled commentluv so that your most recent posts are linked automatically inside your comment. Can’t say no to a little publicity for yourself.

I am always looking for ways to improve the blog. If there are any suggestions out there that you would like to input, i would greatly appreciate your advice. Thanks for all your support, and participation for this blog!

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Incompatible Systems: Tithing v. Holy Spirit

Friday, February 19th, 2010

Could you imagine if God told the Israelites to use the laws in the Roman tax code to pay for the Levitical service in the temple? I’m sure a lot of objections come to mind right now. here are a few of my objections:

  • The Roman law does not know how much resources are needed to run the temple operations
  • The Levites have no influence or authority over the Roman laws
  • Old Testament laws and the Roman laws have 2 different duties to fulfill
  • The two different statutes are just incompatible, so there would be no way to merge Roman law with the Levitical laws

Using the laws in the Roman tax code to pay for the services of the Jewish temple seems ludicrous. But, as bizarre as it may seem, the Church today is financing it’s ministries in this same bizarre fashion. We are using two separate statutes that are incompatible with one another to either govern or finance Church ministry. The Church body uses the Holy Spirit as our guide and our counsel. He is responsible for ordaining evangelists, teachers, apostles, and prophets; and yet we use a different tax code to pay for the service of these offices.

Instead of allowing the Holy Spirit to finance the same ministries that He governs, we use the tithing tax code to pay for them. Since the law used tithing to support the Levites and a type of priesthood that does not exist today; why do we use tithing to support ministries that have no connection with the law still? Here’s my objections:

The tithing law does not know how much resources are needed to run Spirit led operations.

Let me give a practical example. The U.S. Constitution delegates specific powers to our government. So naturally, our constitution delegates funding for it’s own operations. We couldn’t use the financial data from European laws to pay for U.S. government operations. So, how can we use tithing laws to finance the operations that the Holy Spirit has delegated? Tithing has no ability to predict the amount of resources that the Holy Spirit needs.

Also, what better way to confirm that a ministry was  called by the Holy Spirit, then by the same Spirit calling us to give to support it?

The Spirit led Church has no influence or authority over the tithing laws

Let’s just hypothetically say that in the Old Testament, Roman laws distributed a tithe proportionately to 10 levitical districts. What influence would the Levites have over these Roman laws if they felt a change in finances was necessary? The Levites do not have any authority over the Roman government, let alone any of the benefits of Roman citizenship. The needs of each levitical district varies year after year, but the Levites are stuck with the proportions delegated by the Roman laws.

Today, the Spirit led church has no influence over where their tithe must go. You may think that my claim is biased since the church leaders distribute the tithe and offerings after each Sunday. But I’m not talking about what Church leaders do with what others have given. I’m talking about what you do with what God has given you. You and I are the Church. Pastor Bob and his staff is not the entirety of Church operations.

According to most tithe teachers today, our tithe belongs in the local church storehouse. So, if we were to give our 10% anywhere else besides the local church, then we would be in danger of putting ourselves under the Malachi 3 curse. In some cases, our extended family could use some help with groceries this week, but choosing where our tithe can go is not our decision to make. We have no authority to change where the tithe must go, because neither the Holy Spirit, nor your ambitions have no authority to change it.

Even though Christians are to be led by the Spirit of God, what tithing really means is that once you’ve achievedthe minimum guidelines and standards, you are finally free to be Spirit led. Until then, you are under the authority of something other than the Holy Spirit.

Both the Old Covenant, and the New Covenant operations have different duties to fulfill

I’ve already stated that tithing was used to support the Levitical system and a type of priesthood that does not exist today. Tithing financed the duties of Levites in the Old Testament who held governmental positions, couldn’t own land, were guards, and also treasurers of the cities. The tithe in the Old Testament was their government welfare system and also funded multiple yearly festivals. The tithe did not pay for any salaries, nor did the tithe did not go towards any buildings or programs.

There is no way that tithing could have been integrated into a completely different New Testament system without any instructions in the bible on how to modify or migrate tithing into the Spirit led Church. The new testament Church is not the old testament system donning a new costume; so why should tithing be slipped under the cloak of the New Covenant legislation?

In the Old Testament, worship for the Israelites, Levites, and Priests was instructed through the Law. There was no question as to who was to serve, where you were to serve, and how long. This systematic worship, and governance made it quite simple to use a tithe to finance these straight-forward instructions. If the new covenant had laws that dictated who the ministerial class was going to be, as well as where and when they served; then i could see no problem with implementing a systematic way of financing that legalistic operation.

In the New Testament, because we all participate in the operations of priestly worship, our duties are not clear-cut for us. We are all given gifts that differ according to the delegations of the Holy Spirit. Since we all have duties of the priests, there is no Levitical class, there is no priestly portions. We do not have instructions written on who is to serve, how long, or where. The Holy Spirit is spontaneous, and radical. But please take note, that we have the responsibility to develop plans and create order. Spirit led giving is not the presence of anarchy and chaos.

The Holy Spirit and tithing are just incompatible

You cannot use water to fuel a combustion engine, and neither can we expect tithing to fuel the Spirit filled Church. The restrictions of tithing make it impossible to coordinate with the spontaneous and radical movements of the Holy Spirit. You cannot expect a dead, static law, such as tithing, to be fully compatible with a living, spiritual organism.

God’s children are born of the Spirit, so the letter of the law is dead. Nothing screams “letter” more loudly than prescribing a mathematical formula for our worship towards God. Seriously, what other aspect of our worship are we obligated to perform a minimum standard? Name me one – praying, serving, preaching, witnessing, attendance . . . ? Also, name me one spiritual gift, besides giving, where there is a minimum standard attached to it? Could tithing be any less discreet about it’s form of legalism? Tithing IS the definition of legalism! The letter and the Spirit do not mix.

Conclusion

Could you imagine if God told the Church to use the laws in the Roman tax code to pay for the ministries in His Church? It sounds ludicrous! So, stop trying to be a church that is governed by Julius Caesar and be a Church that is governed by the Holy Spirit and the Word of God – Jesus Christ.

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Is Church Marketing Right or Wrong?

Thursday, January 21st, 2010

In my opinion, Church advertising is one of those gray areas. depending on which angle you look at the way some churches advertise, you can make a case for unethical practices or just poor stewardship. The hard part is figuring out if there is a line to draw or even if there should be any boundaries at all. It’s hard for me to determine at what point do we treat the church like a business, or treat it like a family? I mention four questions below that i believe could help us determine some boundaries.

Do we rely on it too much?

How much is too much? Truthfully, I don’t know. I believe that God gave us resources to use as tools to reach people. So, I’m not one of those who believes that we shouldn’t advertise or build church buildings just because you can’t find a verse for it in the New Testament.

I am worried that we rely too much on our advertising to attract others to the city on the hill instead of using the light to attract. What i mean is that our actions should shine a light that reflects Jesus Christ onto the world. Advertising is not bad as long as those who come get some light when they show up. If you use advertising to bring people there, and promos to keep people there, then that’s when i believe we rely on it too much.

Wood, hay, and stubble make can make a lot of light when they are burned, but the fire only lasts for a few moments. On the other hand – gold, silver, & precious stones emit an everlasting glow, and do not decay. How much light would your fellowship have once the flare, and blazes of your promotions burned out? If i say it more directly. . . how much light does your fellowship once the flare of the Sunday performance ends?

Do we spend too much on it?

I realize there is no price limit on how much we should spend to gain 1 soul. But the opposing truth is that if all we had to do was spend money, then i think we would be a lot more successful then we have been. As stewards of God’s kingdom, i think there’s one word to sum up our role – investors. A steward is much more than a person who can keep his master’s possessions safe. A good steward uses wisdom to multiply his master’s wealth.

This is my opinion, but i believe we spend too much money on those who we think are going to deserve God’s grace. We love investing in the middle-class American. If we had to advertise to the poor, then our advertising would be most effective through charitable actions. Advertising to the poor takes a lot of humility, time, and has very little recursive benefits.

One of our struggles as humans is to see the potential that some earthly investments have over others in heaven. That’s why I think most of us are complacent with putting more  money in advertising dollars than in humanitarian efforts. The truth be told, if we wish to advertise Jesus the Christ, find out how Jesus asked us to advertise. And then advertise your advertisement. Make sense? :)

Is Marketing Evanglism?

I don’t think that advertisements need to have a gospel presentation embedded in it. So, maybe this is one of those gray areas. I think the bottom line with advertising is that we should be seeking the lost, or those who need Christian fellowship and accountability. It seems that some churches really lose site of that.

Some churches think their advertising campaign is a PR tool to promote their popularity. It says nothing about Jesus Christ, and when you go to their advertised events, still nothing is said about Jesus Christ. More or less, it’s either a self help seminar, a warm and fuzzy message, or a concert. I think my statement above applies well to this. Find out what Jesus asked us to advertise, then advertise that.

Maybe it’s OK that our goals are strictly for social reasons instead of Gospel reasons? Maybe we can advertise concerts just to break down social barriers – so that people know Christians can have fun as well? Must we always be on the offensive as Christians? I know I am asking a lot of questions, but like i said, there can be a lot of gray areas when it comes to this topic. I don’t think i have this all figured out yet.

What are the pros and cons?

The Pros

1. It spreads awareness – There’s nothing wrong with telling people – this is what we do, and this is where we stand.

2. It nags people – The consistent reminder here and there wouldn’t hurt.

3. You can focus on certain demographics – Targeting age groups and certain cultures is an effective way to communicate that visitors  will feel welcome and comfortable around those who are like them.

The Cons

1. It costs money – According to Center for Church Communication in 2005 “80% of churches spend less than $10,000 on marketing and promotions each year (includes bulletins, newsletters, web sites, mailings, etc.)”. That figure seems lower than i expected. Don’t know how they come up with their numbers.

2. It’s used as bait – Usually you are not going to advertise the penalty of sin, and that we all deserve to burn in hell. More than likely you are going to advertise a concert, some self help sermons, or a pot-luck dinner or something.

Conclusion

I don’t think I’ve come to any solid conclusions here. Like i said, i have questions, and i see a lot of gray areas. I think this is partly because i don’t believe that Church is an event that occurs on Sundays. So, why should we judge how we prepare for that day different than we would any other day. The important thing is that we are a family, but there’s no laws against using business techniques. Bottom line- Christians have a job to do,- we have the liberty to use resources to get the message out- and we should be wise stewards.

Do you have any Pros or Cons that you wish to add to churches spending money on marketing? Do you think i was wrong with my analysis anywhere?

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