One of my favourite bloggers is a fool. Sorry. I mistyped. He's a holy fool. He thinks he can sustain (and even grow) a church while giving away 50% of it's budget to missions and another 10% to church planting. What complete and utter nonsense.
How will they ever be able to afford to build a fantastic, air-conditioned building with theatre seating by giving that much of their money away? How will they be able to purchase the necessary laser light-show to entertain the masses whilst Jared preaches? (They won't even be able to afford 10 minutes of consulting time with Cirque de Soleil.) How will the church be able to pay Jared the salary he deserves so he can live in a gated community safe from the prying eyes of his parishioners? And what about the lease on the new Porsche SUV - a hybrid one, of course? (Wouldn't want to be seen wasting money on gas.) The church will never be able to pay for it.
Listen. I can understand the desire to give to missions. We all wish we could do that. But. There are realities of life in North America. We have real needs that must be met. Comfort is critical to the successful selling of the gospel in our culture. So. You have to make a choice. And. Really. Most of that money would probably get wasted on the mission field anyway. Those people don't know how to handle money. Not like us, anyway.
If Jared really wants to be successful in Nashvegas then he needs to read and study this very important post of mine - Suggestions from the Consumer-driven Life. I'll show him a little more action!
UPDATE: Of course, Michael Spencer has a completely different take. But then he would, wouldn't he.
