Gospel.com Blog

There’s a fascinating and disturbing new article by Hanna Rosin in The Atlantic that wonders if popular Christian teaching about money and finances contributed to the recent economic crash.

I’ve read many critiques of “prosperity theology” over the years, and tend to agree with claims that it’s a dangerous and unbiblical twist on the Gospel message. And most of the critiques I’ve read have focused on the phenomenon’s theological merits. But what are the real-world results of applying prosperity theology to your life? Are you more likely to take out a mortgage you can’t afford? Are you more likely to live beyond your means? The Atlantic piece finds some evidence that there’s more than just theology at stake:

More recently, critics have begun to argue that the prosperity gospel, echoed in churches across the country, might have played a part in the economic collapse. In 2008, in the online magazine Religion Dispatches, Jonathan Walton, a professor of religious studies at the University of California at Riverside, warned:

Narratives of how “God blessed me with my first house despite my credit” were common … Sermons declaring “It’s your season of overflow” supplanted messages of economic sobriety and disinterested sacrifice. Yet as folks were testifying about “what God can do,” little attention was paid to a predatory subprime-mortgage industry, relaxed credit standards, or the dangers of using one’s home equity as an ATM.

In 2004, Walton was researching a book about black televangelists. “I would hear consistent testimonies about how ‘once I was renting and now God let me own my own home,’ or ‘I was afraid of the loan officer, but God directed him to ignore my bad credit and blessed me with my first home,’” he says. “This trope was so common in these churches that I just became immune to it. Only later did I connect it to this disaster.”

The article also points out some truly disturbing instances in which banks and churches collaborated to pitch “financial empowerment.” The article is worth reading in full; it does not leave one feeling very positive about the prosperity gospel, but it does give adherents a chance to defend their beliefs.

After you’ve read the article, I also recommend a follow-up post at the Kruse Kronicle blog which cautions that Christians shouldn’t pin all of the blame on prosperity teaching. Mainstream churches too have failed to help Christians discern and follow Biblical teachings about money and finances.

What do you think? Does the church bear any blame for Americans’ poor financial habits and the economic crisis that continues to exact its toll on millions? What could or should the church be doing to help, now that the crisis is here?

Pastor Eugene Cho of Quest Church out in Seattle has a heart for the impoverished. He cares about them so much that’s he’s giving away his entire 2009 salary.

It’s all part of the kick-off for the site One Day’s Wages, which is devoted to connecting donors with organizations who are actively involved in combating global poverty and injustice. The site frames giving in terms of what you earn in a day, which is about .4% of your salary for the year.

By now, you’ve all heard the statistic that billions of people are living off of less than 2 dollars a day, which—to be honest—is staggering in itself, but really hit home for me after I used ODW’s calculator to determine how much I made in a day. It’s sobering to think that in one week I’ll make more than many people do in an entire year. I absolutely can afford to give up one day’s wages, no matter how tight my budget might feel to me.

You can hear more about One Day’s Wages from Eugene in this introductory video:

The Movement of One Day’s Wages from One Day's Wages on Vimeo.

Obviously, addictive gambling is a major problem—and one not to be taken lightly—but what about the person who buys a lottery ticket now and then? Are they sinning?

Can Christians gamble in good conscience?

What do you think?

Unsurprisingly, there are a range of opinions on how Christians should handle giving. Some think we should give as we feel led, others think it’s a strict pretax 10%, others think that 10% is just a starting point.

What do you think? How much money should you give to the Church?

Share your answer!

There’s no telling how severely, or for how long, the current economic downtown will affect giving to churches and ministries. While some experts suggest that church giving may remain stable for the near future, others are suggesting strategies for churches and ministries to adopt in anticipation of a crunch in giving.

It’s interesting to see some novel approaches to ministry fundraising in this climate. While reading through a list of online ministry tips for ministries at UrbanMinistry.org, I noticed an interesting new site that aims to help ministries raise funds by letting its supporters do the talking: MinistryAmbassadors.org.

MinistryAmbassadors lets your ministry set up a fundraising page where people can donate online to your cause, as you might expect—an idea spearheaded by sites like Fundable. But MinistryAmbassadors adds a new twist to the idea of online fundraising: anybody can put together their own fundraising page where they can sing the praises of, and raise money for, the nonprofits they love. It shifts the focus of fundraising to the people who already support your ministry, on the theory that people who are excited by your ministry will make better ambassadors for your cause than yet more fundraising letters or email appeals from the organization itself. (Note that MinistryAmbassadors retains a small portion of donations it processes, to cover the cost of the service.)

It’ll be interesting to see whether or not the concept takes off. Are your ministry’s supporters excited enough about your ministry that they’d become online ambassadors for the cause? Time will tell if the idea is sound, but regardless, it’s an intriguing effort to combine the vast reach of social networking with the age-old challenge of ministry fundraising.

It probably comes as no surprise that the way the Bible defines wealth contrasts with the way the world defines it. Wealth—according to the world—is based upon accumulation and comfort. Wealth—as defined by the Bible—is concerned with everything God has given us: our friends, family, and opportunities. God is not just concerned with the size of our bank accounts, but with every blessing He’s given us.

Here’s an excerpt from the article God’s Gift of Wealth by Woodrow Kroll:

When we understand wealth as the gift of God, we understand that it comes from God and it belongs to God. This is a very difficult attitude for the world to adopt. But the Bible makes it clear that God created everything, God sustains everything and God owns everything. Psalm 104:24 declares, “The earth is full of Your possessions.” In 1 Chronicles 29:11 we read, “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours.” Haggai 2:8 reminds us, “‘The silver is Mine, and the gold is Mine,’ says the LORD of Hosts.” Everything in the ground, everything above the ground, everything in the air, everything that passes through the air ultimately belongs to God. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, the wealth in every mine.

Read more over at Back to the Bible.

A new year is right around the corner. The New Year holiday is the perfect time to take stock of your life and think about the year to come—with the hectic Christmas holiday is behind us, January 1 offers a chance to reflect on what you’d like to change in your life in 2009.

One of the most common resolutions that people make at the New Year is to get their finances in order. In the current economic climate, that makes more sense than ever. But spending money wisely isn’t just a good, practical idea; it’s an act of service to God! These articles walk through the spiritual aspect of money management, and offer some useful guidelines for making 2009 the year that you get your finances under control:

• Cindy Summer has a good short article at MOPS about making a financial fresh start. There are several other good articles on the topic of money as well, addressing topics like money management for couples and keeping careful track of your finances.
• If you want to jump right into the big topic of stewardship and what it looks like in everyday life, you can’t do better than Ray Porter’s essays about Christianity and personal finances. Porter explains the spiritual angle of financial stewardship, and then provides a lot of detailed and practical advice for creating a financial plan and using your resources wisely. (You might find the other articles about finances at the site useful, too.)

That’s a lot of information, but if you’re thinking about getting a grip on your finances in 2009, these are a good place to start.

While you may not find it interesting, one of the realities of doing church in the United States is the need to have some sort of administrative staff. Sometimes it falls to the Pastor, but if you’re lucky there’s a designated person for the job. If you happen to be in one of these church administration positions you know that it’s not exactly a piece of cake keeping all the legal, tax and money stuff straight and accounted for. And the last time you want to be asking questions like, “Does that income fall under Unrelated Business Income Tax?” is not when the IRS is asking the same thing.

Church Law & Tax Report “exists to provide church leaders, staff members, and volunteer workers with extensive legal, tax, and risk management resources and training at an affordable price.” They offer extremely practical advice and articles on everything from tax status to church safety. It is a pay site, but the resources are extensive.

Check out a few sample articles:

Negligent Supervision Part 2

Preparing For The Unthinkable: Violence in the Church

The Unrelated Business Income Tax and Publishing

How should a church treasurer respond to a donor who demands a refund?

And here’s some more about the services they offer.