A brother became the leader of a church shortly after conversion due to his fortune and good reputation in society.
I met him once and admired him for his donations. After he became a Christian, he offered the church a new house, so it moved there from another believer's house. He also donated a car to the church for convenience and has never been stingy with his donations.
What made the believers most grateful was that he founded a local market to give many of them jobs and they were all able to become affluent. Because of this, he was well-respected in the church. Even though he has little Biblical knowledge, he was made a church leader.
Gradually, he began to replace the original church leader until everything in the church had to be approved by him. Just as there cannot be two tigers on one mountain, a dispute grew between them and factions arose in the church. Eventually, those who benefited from him suggested driving the others out of the church.
That man with little Spiritual life took back all he had ever donated to the church and got his wish. By driving out the original pastoral workers and believers who disagreed with him, he set up his own church, and now there are two churches in that one small area. There is a rich one led by him and a poor one led by the original pastoral workers. These two churches not only do not interact with each other, but they attack each other in secret.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated case. Some churches draw successful people in and offer them positions in exchange for money. However, these self-righteous people, who lack Biblical understanding, tend to go back on their promises when things don't go their way and it can divide, or even destroy, the church.
And this phenomenon not only harms believers, but also has a terrible influence in society.
Churches nowadays rely mostly on donations from believers for revenue, and when they face challenges, some leaders look to bad solutions. One such solution is to draw believers from other churches, which can work because more people means more donations. Another is to cling to highly successful people, offering them positions in exchange for large donations.
The danger in these solutions is obvious: to have more people requires catering to popular taste; including a lower standard of faith, sermons that are little more than feel good messages, pop music instead of hymns, and sometimes, even rock music.
It is even more dangerous for wealthy people donating large sums of money to the church if they do not have a clear understanding of their faith. There was another example where a brother stole the church to himself.
That brother also received a position in the church after donating a house to it. The church grew and he became its leader due to the generosity he showed in his donations. He was very insightful, not only donating his own property willingly, but also his relatives' property. It was wonderful, but the problem was that no one was as spiritual as his own family members. All the important positions in the church were held by his own relatives, and they would not accept others "spiritually," no matter how gifted, educated, or devoted they were, saying "God does not value these". A church that is managed by a single family is greatly hindered in its development.
Both of these cases present a warning for churches. When it comes to large sums of money from regular believers, church leaders cannot focus solely on the money and ignore its potential influence on the church.
I think that the church must be careful when accepting large sums from believers with little faith. These believers may not understand the fact that giving to the church is different from donations which can be given or taken back at any time.
The tithe is commanded by the Bible. One should consecrate his or her life and be committed to the church as a decision from God's love, not as an exchange of money for spiritual position. Otherwise, it will bring ruin to the church.
(The writer of this article is a believer in Liaoning.)
Translated by: Grace Hubl
