I am a firm believer in the principle: “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much.” (Lk. 16:10) I believe that the same principles that govern “faithful management” in the micro setting are fitting and proper in the macro setting. Therefore, the concepts a Christian finds in the Bible to instruct his personal finance can be applied to small business, big business and yes, churches. From this viewpoint, I believe you can apply personal principles on the corporate level. (Aside, I highly regard and respect the financial decisions being made at my own home church.)
Mistakes Churches Make with Money: Leveraging
“The borrower becomes the lender’s slave.” (Prov. 22:7)
“Say to the people, ‘Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat; for you have wept in the ears of the LORD, saying, “Oh that someone would give us meat to eat! For we were well-off in Egypt.” Therefore the LORD will give you meat and you shall eat. You shall eat, not one day, nor two days, nor five days, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole month, until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the LORD who is among you and have wept before Him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” But Moses said, “The people, among whom I am, are 600,000 on foot; yet You have said, ‘I will give them meat, so that they may eat for a whole month.’ Should flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, to be sufficient for them? Or should all the fish of the sea be gathered together for them, to be sufficient for them?” The LORD said to Moses, “Is the LORD’S power limited? Now you shall see whether My word will come true for you or not.” (Num. 11:18-23)
The church is just as likely to make the same mistake of the individual Christian: Likely to believe that borrowing money is a must for success. Leveraging your future is a cultural norm that has crept its way into church theology. New members arrive, space is tight, and a new building must be built. Before the attendance figures are in for this quarter an elder who has a friend in banking has gotten a quote.
Now, before going any further I must clarify that I am not making the argument that it is sinful for a church to take out a loan or that building a bigger building is evil. What I am trying to argue is this: churches are just as likely as an individual to rationalize themselves into unreasonable amounts of debt.
The Bible clearly teaches two things: debt can create unnecessary bondage and God’s power is never limited to accomplish His purposes. In light of these two truths, I would challenge churches to handle debt with a lot more caution and consistency than is present in contemporary American church culture.
Just as the over-leveraged congregant has spent too much money his car, house, vacation, and college degree and thereby has no money left after honoring his debts, several churches do not have funds available to give or support their members after paying their bills. Small groups pay for their own Bible study materials because the church is footing the bill for the Youth Complex that was supposed to draw in a new wave of younger attendees. Sadly, most churches do not recognize this mistake until it is too late.
I challenge all church leaders: Look to the Lord before the lender. “Is the Lord’s power limited?”
I dream of churches that refuse to borrow money on the grounds that if the Lord really wants them to build, expand, or take on a new initiative they will wait for Him to bring the funds. Some may argue that it is a matter of faith to build a new building and trust that God will provide. I disagree with this on the grounds that there is not a single instance in the entire Bible where God asks His people to borrow money to do His work. In fact, upon entering the Promised Land God instructs His people not to borrow (Deu. 15:6) Instead, I believe it takes more faith to wait for God’s provision to make His will known.
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