Why is the church broke?

Last Sunday service was not particularly lively. The pastor came down hard on every one who was in attendant.  He was practically shouting at the top of his voice, screaming that the church finance was in red. He has spoken on several occasions that people are not paying their tithes. The offerings have been very poor and those who made pledges and vows are not redeeming anything.

This scenario is a common phenomenon in many churches today. The issue of money! Quite a lot of churches are finding it difficult to cope with the little resources that are coming from members. Most of the projects on ground are not been executed. Some of the church properties which are out of vogue are still there. Not only the pastor and the council members that are feeling the pains, even the members are getting frustrated because each time they come for counseling with the hope of receiving some cash from the pastor the story is always a sad one. Nothing to give!

Today there is no doubt if many churches are broke. And there are so many reasons for this. But before going into the reasons, we need to understand one thing here. With all sincerity of purpose the church may not be a full-fledge charitable organizations but down the ages it has been a place where people find help, succumb and hope. The church has been the last hope for the poor, orphans, destitute and internally displaced person. That is why no one should be confused when one hears how some churches are thrilling financially.

The church is going broke today due to many factors. Like what we know of the early Christians, the Bible says there were closed links among the believers. In the book of Acts they showed quite a lot of love among themselves, even to the extent of sharing their personal wealth with one another. Today the story is not the same. There is a big gap between the rich Christians and the poor Christians.  The brotherly love which extends to being one’s keeper has diminished, if not eliminated. Now, it is God for all but each man for himself. So the help that members are supposed to enjoy among themselves which can also fall back on the church are no longer there.

The second factor responsible to why the church is going broke today is the attitude of the church leaders. Many pastors are living above board. Concerning the issue of money they are the alpha and omega. They decide on every issue. The consequence does not only lead to crisis but also reduce the perception of member about how their money is being spent.

The third factor is the economy situation in the society. Faith apart, every church member is feeling the bite of poor economic challenges. Many people are losing their jobs. Contracts are no more forthcoming. Buying and selling are no more thrilling. And there is general poverty in the land. So the usual church offerings have got down. The same with tithing, pledges, levies and vows.

The forth issue that could be responsible why the church is facing hard time may be due to lack of foresight of the church leaders. There are some projects that may not be necessary at a particular time. But the pastors may insist of embarking on them. Every penny of the church is sunk into them. The result therefore is that the members are push down to the wall.

The ways out are not farfetched. The church must fall back to the old religion. The love that once heralds the birth of Christianity should be rekindled. Church members must start to stand for one another. They must stop being for themselves alone; they should learn to extend their benevolent to their fellow believers. It will not only put more money back to the church it will really prove what the Christian faith stands for.

Secondly church leaders must learn to be cautious with church finance. The money in the church pulse does not belong to them; it belongs to God. The view that those who live in the temple feed in the temple should not be misinterpreted. Before embarking on a project pastors must be very sensitive to the situation on ground. There is no point of allowing every penny in the church to go down into one project. It could lead to a lot of embarrassment and chaos.

Finally, the church must assist members to beat the present economic challenges. Whatever it can do to restore that member who have lost his job or that member whose business has collapsed, it should go ahead to do it. The period of sitting down doing nothing should be seriously avoided. This is one sure way of putting money into their pocket and subsequently gives room for the church to grow.