It is fair to say that the church has a reputation of being greedy and money grabbing. Although like many preconceptions this is not completely accurate, too often this reputation is well earned. The American hip-hop group Public Enemy gives a damning indictment of the church in their song 1 Million Bottlebags
one side of the street is the church
across is a liquor store
both of them keeping us poor
keeping us down
As Christians, it's no good bleating about unfair reputations, it's simply our responsibility to ensure that our behaviour is so radically Christ-like that any allegations fall on deaf ears. In fact, in my opinion this reputation is now so ingrained within the culture that only a radical return to biblical church life will suffice.
The first thing we can do is stop taking money from non-Christians - period. At Church on the Rock, I am delighted to say that, although we pass a collection bucket around, it is made very clear that this is for church members only and visitors are under no obligation to contribute. I don't think this goes far enough though as we still charge non-Christians to attend certain events. I think the time has come when we should stop charging non-Christians to attend any church event with church members covering all costs. Why? Because this demonstrates the Gospel.
The Gospel message is that God's grace is available as a free gift however it cost Jesus his life. Jesus paid the price in full so that we could receive his grace freely. By paying all monetary costs for non-Christians attending church events or using our facilities we are demonstrating that, although this is free to them, it has a cost which has been borne by someone else.
What better way to demonstrate the Gospel message and begin destroying a cultural preconception that has plagued the body of Christ for far too long?
one side of the street is the church
across is a liquor store
both of them keeping us poor
keeping us down
As Christians, it's no good bleating about unfair reputations, it's simply our responsibility to ensure that our behaviour is so radically Christ-like that any allegations fall on deaf ears. In fact, in my opinion this reputation is now so ingrained within the culture that only a radical return to biblical church life will suffice.
The first thing we can do is stop taking money from non-Christians - period. At Church on the Rock, I am delighted to say that, although we pass a collection bucket around, it is made very clear that this is for church members only and visitors are under no obligation to contribute. I don't think this goes far enough though as we still charge non-Christians to attend certain events. I think the time has come when we should stop charging non-Christians to attend any church event with church members covering all costs. Why? Because this demonstrates the Gospel.
The Gospel message is that God's grace is available as a free gift however it cost Jesus his life. Jesus paid the price in full so that we could receive his grace freely. By paying all monetary costs for non-Christians attending church events or using our facilities we are demonstrating that, although this is free to them, it has a cost which has been borne by someone else.
What better way to demonstrate the Gospel message and begin destroying a cultural preconception that has plagued the body of Christ for far too long?
1 comments:
Good overview Paul, and I'd agree in principle. Nevertheless after a couple of decades in pastoral ministry I have noted (along with some others who manage to engage with culture whilst remaining godly) that sometimes seeking to make an event free to non-Christians causes an unintended stumbling block for them. This can happen in at least a couple of ways, viz.
- being treated differently makes them feel excluded, odd or judged in someway (when they want to be a little anonymous - especially true of prodigals)
- free entry can make the event seem 'cheap and cheerful' and so they are put off coming altogether,
Moreover, on the positive, some genuine seekers want to contribute in some way, and, knowing that they are not believers they can sometimes feel that the only way they can do so is financially. This can actually help win their trust because they relax and own what's happening more if they feel they have contributed in some small way.
I say this because we have tried all sorts of things over the years and taken note of the responses. In some case we have come full circle! Eg. When I first came back to the island the GCF used to take a regular offering (ala Methodism) ie. the receptacle was passed around to all without differentiation. Pretty soon I introduced the idea of no offering bag being passed around, simply a receptacle at the back along a note on the bulletin indicating that it was for visitors. I noted that often visitors would sheepishly sometimes approach me asking if I could put £1 in the offering as they couldn't find the box or hadn't read the sheet. Discouragement and explanation only seemed to serve to embarrass them further as now I also knew how much/little they were putting in! Similarly when we did not charge for certain activities (men's events, ladies events) fewer came. On investigation we found out that perhaps it was because our culture associates 'free church events' with 'crappy events'. Also it has been pointed out to us (by Terry Virgo no less) that giving is part of corporate worship and it is good to find ways of encouraging others not to feel excluded whilst recognising that not all present are believers. (This applies to singing, prophecy and prayer also as 'parts of worship' and we would not seek to exclude these.)
The Alpha org has pointed some of these things out also. So with our Alpha in recent years we have funded it entirely but pointed out to all those present that they can donate if they would like to. Some do, some don't.
Finally I noted at Hillsong Australia they charged for pre-service coffee. This I discovered was because a) it is provided by Gloria Jeans - the Starbucks of Oz - and everyone knows it's good quality. However b) it is subsidized, so you don't pay quite as much as you would down the road. And c) other things are free - water, children's drinks, cakes, biscuits, etc. For them they have found that this method is the best way for making Christian and non-Christian alike feel at home.
All this is why we try and adapt and develop methodology which aims to serve people in the culture. Eg. On a Sunday I try and say things like "This offering is part of our worship, it is intended for members of the church and those who love Jesus, if you are a visitor or a guest today please feel under no obligation to give." Hopefully this means that someone who is a guest BUT who wants to express his/her love for Jesus (however nascent that may be) is able unashamedly to do so, whilst another guest can let it pass them by without any awkwardness on either part!
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