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Over my years serving in ministry, I have noticed a trend in the church to focus on numbers, both in the pews and, especially, in the budget. Now, that is not to say it is wrong to pay attention to money. After all, there are expenses when it comes to “doing church”. Whether it is having a place for worship or serving God in the world through our time and attention towards the widow and orphan, we have to fund these activities somehow. Even Jesus relied on others for fishes and loaves.
But we need to ask ourselves, ‘what are we raising that money for?’ Is it to further the spreading of the Good News of Jesus Christ in the world? Is it about serving God’s will? Or is raising money something we do in-and-of-itself? Do we want to actual pastor to the flock, provide worship, and teach people the ways of God, or do we simply want to keep the lights on, the air-conditioning going, and money in the bank and nothing more?
When it came to the Temple worship in His day, Jesus clearly saw that the focus was much more on keeping the Temple life going and not so much on deepening relationship with His Father. Jesus shouts to the people, “Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” as He drives the sellers and money changers out of the Temple. This is not what worship is supposed to be about. It is supposed to be about coming closer to God.
If you feel that your small group, ministry, parish, diocese, or even denomination focuses more on money and less on the reasons we are using it, that is God, then Jesus’ words and actions are ones to listen to closely.
What I have witnessed in many parishes is that this over-focus on money and attendance stems from fear. That fear is if we don’t raise the numbers of our attendance or our budget, then our parishes will go away.
If this is your fear too, then pay attention to what Jesus says to the religious leaders of His day: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” We are told in the Gospel that when Jesus says “temple”, He means His body, and that is certainly what He did on Easter. We should also not forget that the Body of Christ also refers to us: the community of the followers of Christ Jesus throughout all time and space.
In other words, Jesus doesn’t need our parish structure to complete His work. He will always find a way. If the parish-model of Christian life were to die tomorrow, then the Body of Christ would raise up another means of serving God in the world to take its place. We should find great hope in that. Jesus’ work in this world will never end, at least not until the world does.
But if you want the parish-model to continue to stay, there is one simple solution that Jesus Himself tells us: serve God, not Money. If our focus is on serving Christ Jesus instead of just keeping everything running, then we will have a true focus. We will have purpose. Our money will actually have value because it will not be in-and-of-itself, but it will be a tool to better serve God. If our focus is on Jesus, then we will continue to persevere because it will no longer be about us; it will be about God.
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