As believers, each one of us has been called to the ministry of reconciliation in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19. We are called to go to all ethnicities, cultures, and different nations. Being called to “go” means we are to engage with people about the good news of Jesus. The cultural and religious landscape was changing when Jesus became incarnate to live on earth the first time. The Jewish believers were waiting for a king-like Messiah that would conquer and redeem, yet what they met was a child wrapped in ragged towels. The expected violent take over was completed instead by a baby that demanded all of heaven to pause and say, the Kingdom of God is here, and no earthly nation could do anything about it. I will dare to say that the second coming will not look like what we are expecting either. I would suggest we also expect revival to resemble something powerful and glorious. In the same way that human pride led to the construction of the tower of Babel, we often seek the satisfaction that can be found in having church services in powerful looking buildings or stadiums. But maybe it is not supposed to be all about us. Maybe, just maybe, God is willing to use the foolishness of this world to confuse those who think they are wise. Maybe we are acting just like when the church was first born. Jesus told his followers to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations. Instead, they stayed in Jerusalem until Rome began to persecute them horribly, causing them to flee to the outside regions. This is why God takes great pleasure to remind us in Romans 10:15: “And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news.’” I am all about GOING and DISCIPLING and I believe each one of us has been activated by God the Holy Spirit to go! We are so caught up and distracted by wanting our churches to look the way they use to. Or maybe we want our church to be able to compete with other majestic venues. However, in my opinion, God wants to prepare us for what the next revival is going to look like and it is probably not what we are expecting. What I want to have is an honest conversation about the business of pastors who travel and book speaking engagements and why we are not activating our people to “go”.
This subject of pastors turning speaking and traveling into a personally profitable business is causing them to lose their apostolic potency. But just like any addictive drug, it’s hard to give up the love of money, influence, selfish ambition, and the pride that comes with notoriety. It’s hard to break these habits because the business of traveling to speak in distant locations is masquerading as fulfilling the Great Commission. This may not apply to every pastor who travels to speak, but it does not take much effort to figure out who is using this model to pursue personal gain. To clarify my observations on this topic throughout the years, I have categorized them as the following: Commodity-Commercialize-Capitalize, The Affinity Circle, and More Conferences. There are many tricks of the church trade when it comes to making money but for now let’s start with these.
Commodity-Commercialize-Capitalize refers to when a pastor organizes his/her ministry and platform to personally make money while the church covers all hidden costs. Just like in baseball, this becomes more of a science of how to generate personal income with the least amount of personal expense. It is sad when a narcissist discovers the potential of how much money they can make when they know that their council/board do not have the time nor the desire to properly investigate financial expenses. Even if the council/board wanted to keep proper track of these expenses it becomes nearly impossible because of the hundreds of transactions that are logged on the pastor’s personal credit card, often tethered together with church expenses. Add in the fact that there are often no guidelines that dictate what is a personal expense versus what is a church expense. In this scenario almost anything can be justified as “ministerial expense” when it’s really just a case of taking advantage of an anemic accounting system. For example, if a pastor has a speaking engagement in another country this is what the expenses can look like:
Church pays travel and accommodations: $14,000
Senior pastors take unlimited PTO for 2 weeks: $10,000 (later we will talk more about wages)
Discretionary Spending: $$$ thousands on credit card
Cost for guest speaker in place of absent pastor: $6,000 to $10,000
Speaking Income: $25,000 to $50,000 (while still accumulating their normal wages from Paid Time Off)
Make it a family vacation scheduled within speaking dates: $$$ paid by the church
Gifts: $$$ This is when the pastor says, “I didn’t pay for these shoes/watch…they were a gift.”
This is just an example for illustration purposes, in actuality costs may be higher or lower. The trick of the trade is that the church pays for many of the auxiliary expenses as the pastor travels to paid speaking engagements so there will be no personal cost to him/her. I never realized that Hawaii, Australia, and Phoenix had such a need of pastors to go and be paid to speak because supposedly there aren’t enough competent indigenous leaders for their region. None of us believe that to be the case. And when we are in need of a guest pastor, why don’t we invite the great local pastors that are in our communities?
Commodity-Commercialize-Capitalize comes in all shapes and sizes. One of the most disheartening things that I have seen recently is how quickly our youth pastors learn to play this game, particularly when they happen to be high in charisma but low in character. They travel to speaking engagements which makes them feel significant and validated. This often takes away from their ability to shepherd, disciple, and care for what really matters…people. Instead, they learn the importance of networking, leaving others to take up the heavy load back home, all the daily work they leave behind. Most of their discipleship is more about how to speak using algorithms to capture a crowd, which could be described as “click-bait preaching” more than anything else. It isn’t surprising when we unfortunately see these pastors’ worlds implode. Everything always catches up to you.
This can even be found in what used to be considered the disciplines of the church. What was once considered pastoral discipleship has now become pastoral opportunism, just another way to make money. For example, right now there are individuals who charge a monthly subscription fee for discipleship and mentorship. This subscription comes with a bible study and an hour of time with this “mentor”. Another auxiliary income opportunity that many pastors take advantage of comes when he/she releases a new book. He/she will announce from stage that the book is free but in reality, the church paid the pastor $15 each for 2,000 copies. Nothing is free. Behind the scenes it is often the case that many of the expenses to design the book are paid for by the church, but all profits go to the pastor. It is sad to see a pastor with a six-figure church salary take advantage of their creative team who get paid barely above minimum wage or below current market price. Because my mom was an intercessor, it is extremely painful for me to see that this mindset has crept into the realm of intercessors. It made my skin crawl when I was approached by an intercessor to pay a monthly rate for him to pray for me for a specific number of minutes, just like one would pay a lawyer on retainer. There were prayer packages with varying costs to choose from. I am trying to use great restraint here because there are more good pastors than narcissistic ones. But the Commodity-Commercialize-Capitalize outlook has contaminated all aspects of the church, tempting even the most integrous pastor to want to monetize their ministry.
We need accountability. It’s not that hard to do! How often is your pastor traveling and speaking at other churches and events? Historically, this is nothing new. God, who holds the scales of justice in His hands, who will come with His refining fire, will one day sort everything out. Yet my urgency to write this is fueled by the conviction that there is change coming for the church. All of this matters because there are still unreached people groups in the world who are ready to hear about Jesus. There is much work to be done, especially with the season that is coming. We need pastors that are not distracted but are focused. We need their apostolic calling, and we need each other. Future posts we will have honest conversations about the topics of The Affinity Circle and More Conferences.
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