“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.” (1 Timothy 6:10)
Recently, a good ministry friend of mine sent a video clip to me that had me shakingmy head. The clip featured a mega-church pastor telling of the church elders’ decision to sell seats at their worship services to help pay for a new sanctuary that was being built. Think of it as a religious form of Frontier Airlines selling seats on their flights, higher-priced for prime seat locations. The idea would raise money and take care of any confusion about where someone should sit on a Sunday.
I was pulled into the story as I listened to the pastor’s rationale. I was envisioning names for the different tiered seating locations, such as “Saints’ Seats”, “Club-Level Christians”, and “Upper Level Lepers.” Perhaps communion would take different forms, depending on the area in the sanctuary: French bread and French wine up front, Welch’s white grape juice and sourdough in the middle, and those pre-packaged juice and cardboard cracker crumbs up high.
It wasn’t until I received another text from my friend that I realized the whole production was a put-on, a spoof. I had fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.
Maybe!
Future Church could take on financial weirdness like that. Years ago, I remember a TV evangelist/pastor having crutches nailed to the front of his church’s balcony. It was a motivator for people to send a “seed promise offering” to his church. It was slick and effective and manipulative. Future Church may look for other creative funding options to keep the lights on, considering the church-in-general’s shrinking base of financial supporters. We have not moved so far into the future that the words of Reverend Ike are no longer remembered. Reverend Ike would say, “The Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil. But Reverend ike says the lack of money is the root of all evil.”
In Future Church, if it comes down to having to prioritize one capital “M”, “Money” will take center stage over “Ministry.” I fear that some mega-churches and centuries-old churches will, out of necessity, pivot towards unique funding models, especially those that heavily rely on their pastor’s popularity and pulpit ministry.
Future Church may also look to create a “rah-rah” environment that rivals an NFL fan base. Translated: an emphasis on the superficial that doesn’t seek to touch the soul. People may look to identify themselves with a high-energy, flashing-lights-and-smoke, popular church more than Jesus. The unspoken rationale could be “Jesus saves, but Faith Fellowship gets my foot tapping.”
The heartache for me is the sense I have that our population’s inner spiritual void seems to continue to look for something that will satisfy their emptiness, but are hesitant to see a relationship with Jesus as being able to fulfill their need. It’s as if our culture has limited the gospel in a time where they look for things that go outside their limits.
Could it be, could it really be, that Future Church will take online reservations for Sunday’s prime time worship gathering, just like our local movie theatre does? Don’t even get me started on church cheer squad and flag corps tryouts!
Words from WW Blog 