“Pastor, why does the church need to have so much money?”
First we need to understand that the church isn’t just a kingdom system, it’s also an economic system in this world, and the goods and services we produce is simply The Lord Jesus. But the challenge is, anything that doesn’t have a contestable market value in this world may not attract potential clients. As much as we’d want multitudes to come to Christ, it’s important that they see that beyond meeting their spiritual needs, they’re also coming in contact with wealth and abundance.
Measuring the size of a country’s economy involves several different key factors, but the easiest way to determine its strength is to observe its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which determines the market value of goods and services produced by a country.
Don’t get me wrong, money is not all we need to make up a good GDP, the anointing, the love of God and everything that Christianity represents merge together to make up the church’s GDP. However, if you take money out of that equation, the market value of our gospel may be affected.
Recall the times of George Whitefield’s open air crusades as far back as 1735, right in the heat of his crusades, he’d encourage participants to make contributions towards building an orphanage home for those kids who were abandoned. Even after building the orphanage home, he had to endure alot of pressure to keep feeding those kids.
At that time, people had their doubts in making contributions to the church, most likely because the church wasn’t a financially prosperous place. A story was even told of how Benjamin Franklin attended one of the crusades and made up his mind that he wasn’t going to give a dime if the sermon tilted towards making contributions. If it wasn’t that the words of George Whitefield carried power, Benjamin Franklin would have left that crusade without giving even an offering. According to Benjamin Franklin, he had in his pocket a handful of copper money, four silver dollars, and five pistols in gold. As he listened to the sermon, his heart began to soften, and concluded to give the copper. As he listened the more, he got ashamed of himself and determined to give the silver. George Whitefield finished the sermon so admirably that Benjamin Franklin emptied all he had in his pocket into the collector’s dish.
Imagine what the church had to go through to prove that Christ is real. If Whitefield appeared in the crusade with a show of wealth and abundance, I’m quite sure that Benjamin Franklin wouldn’t need a sermon before committing himself to what was happening there.
Now you’d understand Malachi chapter 3 and verse 10. It says, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house…”. The reason why the church needs money is first for storage, which ultimate increases the church’s financial strenght and market value. The church should have a store of money, so that when the people of the world sees the church, they’d be interested to come.
Ask rich men why they store money, they’d simply tell you that it’s to remain valuable to society. A rich man would have so much money stored, yet go and take loan from a bank to execute contracts. They’d do anything to maintain what they’ve stored, nothing must tamper with it. A change in what was stored will immediately affect their status. That’s how important storage is. A church should involve in charity and the likes, but a church should also have storage. A church that spends all it receives will certainly struggle financially.
Believe it or not, the church of Christ will be valued differently as long as there is money there. The reason why many social clubs and places are doing really well is simply because people are spending their money there. Why wouldn’t the cinema do well if you keep spending your money on tickets? Why wouldn’t stadiums do well if you keep spending your money on tickets and football related matters? Why wouldn’t hair makers do well if you keep spending your money on wigs? If you want the church to stand out, be deliberate about spending your money in church. The more money the church has, the more influence it will command.
As believers, it’s our responsibility to push our funds to the church of Christ. I’m glad that my financial contributions to the church has always been the highest among other things. As we speak, 30 percent of all my incomes goes to the church. Asides that, I still give weekly worship offerings that would comfortably pay somebody’s monthly salary. I don’t do these things because I have so much, I do them because I understand that it’s my responsibility as a Christian to ensure that God’s storehouse is full.
I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.
Remain ever blessed, in Jesus precious name!
#EmekaAnslem
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