Merchandizing the Faith

“No margin, no ministry.”

I heard that first from my good friend Walt Brock who has built a remarkable Christian Camp in Southern California. He is right. You cannot run a financial deficit and have a ministry very long. However, the real ethical concerns are about how we meet the financial demands of ministry. The Bible has something to say about this. I think there are some principles we should keep in mind.

Money is not the measure.

Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. (Revelation 3:17)

The Catholic Church has lots of money, so do the Mormons. In neither case is their wealth confirmation of approval by God. Jesus ministered in poverty as have many, many faithful servants of God throughout Church history.

In fact, well-monied ministries are often in the most danger of doctrinal and spiritual corruption. There is a great benefit in understanding our daily need for God’s provision.

The only example of ministry financing in all of scripture is giving.

We spend way too much time trying to fund ministry rather than just doing ministry.

For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, 4 imploring us with much urgency [a]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. 2 Corinthians 8:5

Throughout my ministry, I have consistently underestimated the power of simple giving—which means that I have underestimated God’s people and the wonderful way that God supplies through the giving of His people.

Find me a way in scripture God chose to finance ministry other than giving (and the occasional miracle). Scripture does not record raffles, giveaways, concerts, speaking events, businesses, or daycares. Paul did tent-making to supplement his personal needs, but that was just plain work, not fundraising. I know that most of these things are modern inventions, but the Bible has no ancient counterparts for them. When the ministry needed to be funded, God’s people gave. They did not have to be manipulated, enticed, or entertained in order to move them to give of their divinely bestowed financial resources.

When the project is worthy, God’s people give, and they usually give generously. We often have to ask them to stop once the need is met.

Christian businesses should be run on good Christian principles.

For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” (1 Timothy 5:18)

We do have parachurch ministries and Christian businesses and they do need to run on Christian business principles. These would include publishers, educational institutions, camps, and more. When service of value is provided, it is only reasonable to appropriately compensate those who render the service for their work and expenses.

Pay an author for his book. Camps deserve to be compensated for feeding, housing, and ministering to your child for a week. In spite of what some politicians say, college should cost something, and colleges and their teachers have a right to be equitably compensated for the service they provide. This is not merchandising ministry. This is not the pursuit of profit. This is the laborer being worthy of his hire.

Monetizing the faith is dangerous.

Money should be a tool for ministry, ministry must not be a tool to raise money. The switch can happen subtly. It is so easy for money to become the primary focus. It takes exceptional care to keep perspective.

This can happen with church daycare ministries. I am not trying to make enemies here, just trying to think through a ministry that many of us have. I have no problem with a church having a daycare ministry for the purpose of reaching its community with the gospel. But I have heard way too many in ministry leadership justify daycare ministry on the basis of the money it produces. Christian moms should, if at all possible, be home with and care for their small children. This is a fairly clear biblical mandate. The outreach reason makes sense if you are reaching connecting with unchurched people for spiritual purposes. The cash purpose is not purpose enough.

The Christian entertainment industry is another example. Should “worship” be a money-maker? If it is just a tool for wealth-building is it still worship? False worship is –well—blasphemy. Christian entertainment itself is not a form found in scripture.

We might want to have a detailed discussion regarding whether Christian entertainment is a legitimate form at all. The arts are valuable and legitimate, but in their purity, the arts are about aesthetics and human development and not about money. For Christians, they are about glorifying God through human artistic expression. There is certainly a place for producing art and evaluating aesthetically from a Christian perspective and using it for the Great Commission. However, that seems a far different thing than the present-day multi-billion-dollar Christian entertainment industry.

The bottom line is glorifying God and the Great Commission, not the bank account.