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Christian Leadership Training Course

By J.C. Choate

Lesson 13

The Preacher’s Use of Money

The first purpose of these lessons is to inform those of you, who may not count yourselves as leaders, what it really means to be a leader in the church of our Lord. Our second purpose is to encourage those who may be Christians already to learn what the Lord requires of those who would become leaders. A scriptural leader is not born, but he is made by study and service.

We will continue our study of the preacher, his needs, problems, and work. For our study at this time we want to talk about the preacher’s use of money.

Paul said, “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierce themselves through with many sorrows. But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, goodness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:7-12).

Preachers are like most other people. They often put too much emphasis on money. They want to preach, but in order to do so they must have a salary. If the church is not able to support them, and if they are unable to find support otherwise, they may begin to come up with different schemes on how to raise money for themselves. They may line up a number of people to visit each month with the hope that they will give them some regular support. Those who are giving may feel that they are thus fulfilling their responsibility to God. The preacher may not preach at all since the ones who give to his needs do not attend any services he conducts. This, then, is a form of deception.

But whether a preacher obtains his salary honestly or dishonestly, the sad thing is that so many don’t know how to handle their money, and this is especially so if they are receiving more money than they really need. Some find a way to get on foreign support, usually receiving more funds than they would through their local brethren. Those who are dishonest may receive funds from two or more sources, and end up with a considerable amount of money. It becomes noticeable when they spend lavishly on themselves, buying houses and property, invest in a scooter or car, and boast of their new-found wealth.

Money then, the love of money, leads many preachers to use unscriptural ways to raise their funds. They may use deception and lies. Then such dishonest men will misuse the funds they received, boasting of what they have been able to do. What will happen to them? They will destroy themselves in the end, and often times the end comes quickly, because how long can you go on deceiving people without being caught? But even while going on with their pretense, who will attend their meetings, and who will believe the things that they preach? Most who know them will realize that something is wrong.

Again, preachers are like a lot of other people in that they may fall into the habit of borrowing money from their brothers and sisters in Christ. Even those who are honestly trying to live a good life and to faithfully serve the Lord may make this mistake. They have not learned the lesson, however, to live within their means. They feast today and face famine tomorrow. They see too much that they want. They try to keep up with too many of their friends. To be cutting it close, and then to borrow money, makes it very difficult to repay the money. This can cause friction, bad feelings, and loss of confidence and respect for the preacher in the hearts of those who have loaned money he is unable to return. I would suggest to you preachers, work hard and do everything you can not to fall into this pit. Live on less and have less if you must, but live within your means. If that is not enough, in spite of everything, maybe you need to earn your living from a secular job, and then preach on the weekends and help with the work in other ways only in your spare time.

The Bible condemns covetousness, the love of money, the abuses of the use of money, the misuse of money, the waste of money, and the many other problems that grow out of managing money. The Lord would have a preacher to be a true follower of Christ in every aspect of his daily behaviour. It is great to preach, but if you can’t be a sincere Christian while you preach, it is a terrible sin against yourself, the church and especially against God.

Another problem most preachers have with money –– and I am speaking of those who would honestly and sincerely claim to be doing their best to live according to the Lord’s will –– is that of not giving to the Lord as the scriptures teach. Even though they may preach to the church on the subject of giving, most preachers do not practice what they preach. Somehow they think that they are exempt from the rule. Most would be ashamed to tell anyone what they actually gave. Usually it is just a token. As a matter of fact, they don’t preach on giving very much because they know that they themselves are not giving as they should.

Do you remember Ananias and Sapphira and what happened to them? At the time there was a special need to help the Christians in Jerusalem who had come from distant places and had stayed over to hear more of God’s word, being strengthened in the fellowship of others who had accepted Christ. As a result, the local disciples were even selling their possessions and lands in order to take what they received and dividing it among those in need. This was not something that was forced on them, but rather it was a voluntary thing. Ananias and Sapphira got in on this and claimed that they were giving all they had received from a parcel of land, when actually they were holding back part of the price. As a result of their lies, they both fell dead at the feet of the apostles (Acts 5:1-11). If the Lord was using this method today, how many preachers, as well as members of the church as a whole, would fall dead this Sunday at the time of the collection?

Preachers need to learn to give as they have been prospered, as they have purposed in their hearts, and cheerfully, in order to set an example for their brethren (1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 9:6,7). If they would do this, they could preach on giving and brethren would respond accordingly.

Yes, preachers and their families need to take some lessons on how to deal with money. If they will let Jesus help them with this, they will be far better off.