The Business Meeting. The Money

In '89, I remember my roommate and I trying to get tickets to the Atlantic 10 Basketball Championship Game between Rutgers and Penn State. Didn't happen. We had to watch our school (Rutgers) beat Penn State from a television set. So, what's the big deal about that? When our school didn't have that great a team, we could find a seat anywhere. And we were regular attendees. Along came the championship, and Rutgers suddenly had a lot of fanfare. We tried to argue our case at the ticket booth. No luck. Didn't matter that we came to the games consistently, even when they were losing. It was the championship. ESPN. Nationally televised.

Our voice went unheard.

Enter the church business meeting. Have you ever felt your needs go unnoticed and your voice unheard at a business meeting, though you attend faithfully and tithe consistently? For some odd reason, the phrase "business meeting" brings out members you've never seen before. New faces. Same agenda. Some of them wackos. Doesn't always happen...but it happens often enough to make you feel uneasy. And dig this...

Most of the fighting is about MONEY...another sensitive topic.

Don't you hate when those who never come to church and never support the church financially get crazy about what the church is doing with the money? It's like Monday Night Raw in some spots. Some even demand the church shell out. Now, what bank do you know will shell out dollars from an account that doesn't exist? Just a question.

Now, when it comes to our money, we all get funny. Seriously, we do. When a music producer I worked with took off with $5,600 of our money, Sandra was about to send the sherriff to the church during worship. Dead serious. When that money is acting funny, our minds switch out sometimes. Mine does. Overworked, underpaid. It's taxing. But just like any business needs money to operate, so does the church. That's why God says, "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house..." (cf. Malachi 3:10a). It's His money, so He's going to get it one way or the other. Don't get amnesia and think that God can't take it from us (i.e. broken down car, another bill you thought you paid, water heater springs a leak). A brother at a church I once attended told me that if he won the lottery, he'd make sure he'd pay the government, because THEY DON'T PLAY. And...ummm...God does? It's to our benefit to tithe. God commands it.

Let me paint the picture for you. It's 100 degrees outside and the a/c in the church is busted. Or what about below freezing weather and the heater is on the fritz. Can't pay the custodian on staff, so when you enter the restroom.....well...you know. (...that'll really mess up your worship experience. Who's thinking about the Word at a time like that? Nah...we're thinking about that nasty bathroom. Can we keep it real?) Not enough coming in to keep the pastor on full time. He needs a job, so he works 40 hrs a week. But the same members that crash the business meeting demand he spend more time visiting the hospitals, nursing homes and prisons. Electric bill? Can't keep the lights on without paying the electric company. Sunday School and Bible study literature? How do the active members get these? What about the hospitality committee? Food? Beverages? And the moochers always seem to walk away from a fellowship with 4 or 5 plates of food they didn't help pay for. I mean, even the preacher in the movie Friday couldn't get any weed from Smokey, cause he hadn't put anything in. So, it takes money.

Back to the business meeting thing.

Our voice is unheard and our needs unchecked because it's similar to the Rutgers/Penn State game. Church be packed out at business meeting. You can hear crickets at Bible study. Sunday School? Don't even think about it. 9 o'clock in the morning? Get real. And most inactive members who crash the meeting are there for one reason...to raise HELL. And many of them do. Cussin' in God's house, fussin' about what they're clueless about. If we ain't careful, we'll be cussin' too. If not out loud, we're thinking it, which means God can hear us.

I ain't particularly concerned about what the pastor is driving, unless of course he's ripping off the church. So what, he's driving a Lexus. Who wouldn't want one? If he can afford it, what's the big deal? "How much did that suit cost, Pastor?" Well....how much did YOURS cost, pew member? Those issues are really trivial.

What should concern us at a business meeting is GOD's business. Nothing else. We shouldn't leave the business meeting ready to knife somebody, shoot somebody. If we spent more time studying the Word, we'd spend less time arguing. I'm going on record...I need to tighten up my private time with Christ. So, that when the business meeting commences, I know how to act. And whatever God decides to do with HIS money is HIS business. What am I going to do about it? Fight Him? Box Him? (...you know my arms are too short) Make Him bow down to me? Give Him an ultimatum? Come on, God Almighty? Gonna lose that fight....every single time. That's a knockout before I even enter the ring.

The inactive members may act crazy at a business meeting, but that doesn't mean that we have to respond with insanity.

Stay tuned and stay prayerful

Your brother,
Sid