$34 billion. $34 billion each year. That’s 377 times more money than Lady Gaga, the world’s richest entertainer, made in 2011. $34 billion. Yup, we could squeak by with that.
You probably could, too, so keep that figure in mind as we discuss the role of money in the Christian church.
Jeebush, not another anti-religion/pro-religion/crap-I’m-tired-of-religion tirade. Nope. This time it’s just a brief discussion of money and religion as viewed by a group of about 200 homeless American citizens living on the streets in Tucson, Arizona. We’ve spent the past year doing our own little investigation and thought we’d share some of our hard unearned info with you.
End crime in the Gingrich/Romney/Santorum Church and end world hunger
First, did you know that some historians believe that money was invented to help make religion rich? True. To start with, the word “money” is derived from the word Moneta, a title given to the Roman goddess Juno. Juno Moneta was the Queen of the Gods and pilgrims would travel to the temple of Juno to make their all-important sacrifices. Over time, the operators of the temple got tired of accepting fetid hoards of animals, so they devised a system of trade using handy dandy little coins. Those coins could then be exchanged for other necessities — like sex at the ever-popular cultic temples. Boy howdy, religion would never be the same.
This system continued quite pleasantly until approximately 30 CE. That’s when an obscure group of Galilean Jews started to really screw things up.
30 CE – Money and the Mission of Jesus
Many historians who study the earliest moments of the Christian church (known as the primitive church), will tell you that the role of money in the early church was simple: it was non-existent
“How can this be!” we hear you cry. Well, pick up your remote, turn off Benny Hinn, and we’ll gladly give you the scoop.
First, these historians looked in this thing called the Bible. For example, in the sixth chapter of Mark, the first of the Gospels to be written, Jesus sends out the disciples with “no copper (money)”. To make this point even clearer, later Gospel writers added to this passage from Mark. In the tenth chapter of Matthew, for example, Jesus commands His disciples:
“And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts…”
This same command to keep your grubby hands off of money is also found in the tenth chapter of Luke and in the sixth chapter of Matthew where Jesus famously warns:
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
Not convinced? You’re sure that Jesus never meant for money to stay out of His church? Well, what would you think if Jesus Himself came over and kicked you right in your comfy pew cushion? Here’s how the scene is described in Mark:
“Then they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling and those who were buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves; and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. He was teaching and saying, “Is it not written, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And when the chief priests and the scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him; for they were afraid of him, because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teaching.”
The crowds were spellbound because this was a stunningly original message. Imagine, no money in church. Why this would mean there could be, at long last, a religious leader who could not be controlled by greed. (Insert your own incisive and snide remarks about Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar, John Hagee, Charles Blake, Joel Osteen, Eddie Long, and Ed Young here.)
Yes, we know, some of you are still not convinced. You are completely content with the way things now are in your church. All we can say to that is:
“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.” (1 Timothy 6:6-11 NKJV)
Speaking of televangelists and righteousness, the earliest know document from a Christian church should be of great interest. It’s called “The Didache” (aka “The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles”), and it tells Christians what to do if someone asks them for money in the name of religion:
“Now, as concerning the apostles and prophets, according to the teaching of the gospel, so do ye; and let every apostle that cometh to you be received as the Lord; and he shall stay but one day, and, if need be, the next day also; but if he stays three days he is a false prophet. When the apostle goeth forth, let him take nothing but bread, [to suffice] till he reach his lodging. If he ask money, he is a false prophet.”
It seems that there are an awful lot of false prophets walking around these days. And speaking of false phophets, that brings us back to the $34 billion.
That $34 billion is from a single line item from the global Church budget in 2011. It seems that, in addition to educating newly-minted pastors, the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachussetts also does a worldwide survey of the spending habits of churches. This evangelical seminary (established with the help of Billy Graham) found that the Church as a whole spent $34 billion in 2011 on just one budget category.
Yes, that is the global Church as a whole. Protestants. Catholics. Evangelicals, etc.
Now, admittedly, this is actually just a small part of the Church’s global budget. But $34 billion is no chump change. In fact, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that just $30 billion a year could feed 862 million hungry people, thus ending world hunger. And, speaking as a group of frequently very hungry homeless citizens, we’d be very much in favor of that.
So, what would the global Christian church have to give up to end world hunger? What would the great trade-off be? Surprisingly, the Church would not have to give up a single cathedral, or a single television program, or a single Gulfstream G550 jet (at only $59.9 million each). The Church would just have to give up one thing: stealing from itself.
Yes, you read that correctly. According to the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, the Church lost $34 billion in 2011 to “ecclesiastical crime” or, as the footnotes explain, good, old-fashioned embezzlement.
Now, what were those words again? That’s right, they went something like:
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.”
See you out on the streets.
(OK, we know you’re not going to believe us, so here’s the link. The report is called “Status of Global Mission, 2011, in Context of 20th and 21st Centuries” by the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. “Ecclesiastical Crime” is line item 56. Please download the pdf at: gordonconwell.edu.)
This blog is a team effort by members of the WORKship Movement in Tucson, Arizona. WORKship is a primitive church movement started in July of 2000 that is dedicated to helping the poor and the sick without taking money of any kind. Last year, WORKship in Tucson provided over 15,000 meals to the hungry without touching a single dollar. To learn more about WORKship, download the free Google eBook “The Greatest Religion Never Tried” at:
The Greatest Religion Never Tried