Biggest Nickel produces the Wrong Nose

I get to thinking about it. Money is the least effective evaluation of ministry there is.

I have had personal experience in two churches where a wealthy man, in one case a very wealthy man was made an elder and his influence sourced in economics split the church.

This happens all the time. My friend Bob F who is in finance at the local church tells of a big church in the NW Chicago suburbs controlled by a well meaning man who has a large concrete company. His giving has undue influence. Therefore he has destroyed the spirit of the Church. It is a stagnant dead economically live church.

In one case of my personal experience, this wealthy man came into the church I was attending. His giving sometimes was over half the weekly offering. He was also a strongly opinionated man. He at the insistence of the pastor who I am confident was insistently pressured by the rich man, was made an elder.

This was the beginning of the end of that church. The rich man took advantage of his position and split out people. That resulted in failed marriages and failed ministry.

The other case was a multi millionaire who was an elder in a church where the pastor died. The orderly transition to a new pastor would have been easily made. But, this elder decided otherwise. His giving and influence caused other more fearful people to go along to get along.

Within a year the church staff diminished, the church lost many members, essentially a split and is now a ghost of it's former self.

That's one reason I NEVER want to know what individuals give. I know all the heart and pocketbook teachings. "Show me your checkbook and I'll show your your heart and all that". I've been there and have the tee shirt.

I want as pastor to believe that everyone is giving their fair share. I only want to appoint elders based on what they bring to the congregation spiritually. If they don't' or aren't bringing it or were spuriously put in place earlier, I would remove them forthwith. When an elder no longer has the spiritual authority to be an elder he should be removed.

No church can stand long bad leadership because of giving or any other reason. Take the hit. Get leadership that leads and cares about leading. Get RID of the rest. They are a drag.

I write this in particular to a pastor friend in a Church in Geneva who reads this blog from time to time and to anyone else who takes this warning seriously. You have a man on your board who splits churches. He will kill the church you pastor if you don't get rid of the cancer now.