The lore of money and fame by leaders of the Christian community has cost the Body of Christ dearly in the past few decades. Independent mega churches have increased tenfold throughout this country, and with the increase, come controversies that have caused hurt and distrust among both believers and non-believers. Televangelism and the internet have been a blessing; in fact, they have been great tools to spread the Gospel throughout the world. Unfortunately, many have taken notice of the ability for televangelists to become famous and might I say, “filthy rich” because of the vast reaches across the globe. They use it to promote themselves, to promote the sales of their sermons or books they have written, and to advertise other wares for sale. I have watched evangelistic programs with the pastors promoting items such as so called “miracle oil and healing scrolls” among other things. To obtain this precious item, all you have to do is send a “love offering” of a certain amount or more. Oh yes, if you don’t have the cash, they will take a credit card. Indeed, you can get these holy items with borrowed money! Well, even though this media form of pandering by ministers is fairly new (and I say fairly new because televangelism and the Internet started in my life time, and I am a fairly young person, thank you), this is a problem that has plagued the Church since its inception and is not limited to just churches that have television or Internet ministries. This kind of unhealthy operation is now seeping in community churches of all sizes and denominations. Ministry leaders have seen the possibilities and seek after it, and they’ve gotten quite creative. The Apostle Paul preached against this very thing in 1 Timothy 6:3-10:
If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Devastation is usually the result for this kind of behavior. Paul said this kind of wandering from the faith is like piercing oneself with many griefs. How true a statement is this? Many ministers have found themselves in a world of trouble over this very sinful mindset and subsequent lifestyle; some lose everything: spouses, families, financial stability and their entire congregation. Some have even had to serve prison sentences for their corrupt and immoral activities. Jesus also showed his disdain in using the Church for personal gain, especially when trickery and dishonest methods are used…so much so that He drove out the money changers from the House of the Lord in a physical way as recorded in Matthew 21:12,13:
Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” He said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.'”
The money changers were selling doves and other animals to poor members of the temple who felt obligated to buy these animals at high prices, only to turn around and give them back to the temple for sin offerings and other sacrificial purposes. Isn’t this behavior, this commercialization of the sacraments and other ministries of the church, similar to what we are seeing in the Body of Christ today? This same sin nature was at the heart of the conflict between Martin Luther and the Church Catholic – the nailing of the Ninety Five Theses on to the church door, triggering the Great Reformation. The main issue on the thesis was Luther’s opposition to the sales of indulgences so the church could rebuild the St. Peter Basilica. The Church leader got the people to cooperate by teaching false theology. Roman Catholic theology stated that faith alone, fiduciary or dogmatic, cannot justify man; justification depends only on faith that is active in charity and good works and the benefits of good works could be obtained by donating money to the church. In other words, faith alone was not enough…it had to be accompanied by good works, particularly that which involved sums of money. How wrong is that? The Bible clearly teaches us that we are justified by what Christ did for us on the cross; all the work was already done by our Savior. There is such a huge historic graveyard of seismic church collapses that have made headline news, exposing the Body of Christ to public scrutiny and ridicule all because of careless, greedy and selfish, unchecked ambitions.
As congregants, we cannot afford to be oblivious to this kind of operation by our spiritual leaders. Too often, we are so charmed by these magnetic, charismatic personalities that we end up missing the obvious signs until the backlash squares us up. How will you know that this is happening in your church? By their instructions! Are they giving sound instruction from our Lord Jesus Christ and giving in to Godly teachings, or do they often use the word of God to promote the cash flow of the church? Do their antics seemly point to self aggrandizing behavior and grandiose ambitions? These traits are easily detected, and if you take note of such behavior, you should challenge it in a respectful and godly way, even at the possibility of a cost to you personally.
Let’s stay alert so we can be that viable instrument for the Body of Christ, ensuring sound instructions with godly teachings, solidifying the Church’s divine purpose of taking the Gospel to the world, and staying true to this declaration by Jesus in Luke 4:18,19
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
JR Tracey
The Branch Life 
Well said, Pastor Tracey! Preach on!
I will sure try to keep it going…with God’s help.