A few weeks ago, I visited a friend's church while out of town. I've been to this church before. I've heard the Pastor teach on more than one occasion and usually enjoyed his message.
On this particular Sunday, the Pastor taught on tithing. I've studied this subject and taught on it myself, so I know it can be a ticklish, if not downright hard message to deliver even under the best of circumstances. The Pastor has shepherded this flock for many years, so he was not covering new territory with the message, or this body.
He used a couple of standard references to open - Deuteronomy 14:22-23, and Leviticus 27:31. Then he launched into a practical application on being frugal, using these illustrations:
Illustration #1: The Pastor's car had 150,000 miles on it. Someone saw a need and gave him a newer van. His point: You don't need to buy a new car every two years. FYI: I know very few people who can afford to trade up every two years like our fathers did.
Illustration #2: One of the Pastor's dress shoes had a hole in the sole. He went to a parishioner, who was in the trade, and had him re-sole the shoe at no charge. His point: Even though he needed new shoes, he spent no money on a pair, nor did he pay to have his old shoes fixed.
What occurred to me during the service was how completely out of touch this Pastor was with his flock financially. He had given them two illustrations that applied to his circumstances as a Pastor, but probably to no one else sitting in his congregation.
For his 3rd and final illustration, the Pastor brought out a prop - a six foot long $1 bill. He peeled away the outer shell, one pre-cut section at a time, explaining where each percentage went in a family budget. He began with housing, then insurance, then auto expenses.
At that point, a man sitting in front of me leaned over to his wife and said, "What about taxes?" His observation was correct; in fact, I was sitting there thinking the very same thing. Where was the section that represented taxes? Had this Pastor's illustration been accurate, he would have started by removing half the $1 bill to illustrate how much of each dollar goes to the government in one form or another.
At the end of his presentation, the Pastor calculated that everyone in his congregation had a whopping 32% of every dollar they made left over for discretionary spending - vacations and luxury items.
I did my own quick calculations - using his illustration and adding in taxes - and found that each and every person sitting in the room was 18% in the hole before they ever tithed! The murmuring going on around me told me I was not the only one who had come to this conclusion.
For years, this Pastor had enjoyed the many financial perks of being a clergyman - housing and vehicle allowances, paid insurance, reimbursements for everything from utilities to birthday gifts, plus a regular salary and bonus. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for this. Everyone who has the calling to teach and preach should have these perks.
In the meantime though, his flock struggled to stretch every dollar a little bit further. Things like health care costs, fuel and utilities have put a big crimp on many family budgets. Yet, because those things (and many tax-related expenses) are provided for him, this Pastor forgot they impacted most, if not all the members of his flock.
I know Pastors struggle with finances like the rest of us, but his view was clearly askew. I shook his hand after the message, but did not say, "Great message!" because it wasn't. But, it was a wake up call for me. As I drove back home that day, I wondered how many church leaders are as disconnected from their flock's financial health as this Pastor was? And then I started thinking about ways to help fix this problem.
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