The other day Alan Knox shared with me an article written by Ernest Goodman at Missions Misunderstood. Goodman has just finished up a series called The Counterintuitive Church. This series really made me think about what Jesus did, what Jesus’ apostles wanted to do, and what I usually do. Let’s take the Parable of the Talents as an example. Starting in Matthew 25:14, Jesus tells a parable of a man on a journey with three different servants. To each of his servants he gave some talents (money). To one he gave five talents, to another he gave two talents, and to the last he gave one talent. When the man came back from his journey, the three servants brought with them the talents. The first two had both doubled the investment while the last had only hid it. The first two were praised for their faith and trust, while the last was scolded.

In today’s economy, it doesn’t really look like the last servant had done anything really bad. He was afraid that his master would have nothing, so made sure to keep at least one talent for him. It was very pragmatic. It is probably what I would do. But it is not what Jesus would expect of us. There are a number of examples in Scripture where Jesus talks about doing the opposite of what is natural for us. When the government tells you to walk a mile, you walk two. When someone hits you, you turn the other cheek. He sat and spoke with a Samaritan woman, alone. It seems like he did everything that was contrary to our nature. And to top it off, we should reflect his life in our living.

That’s really what Goodman’s series focuses on within our church structures. We have sought after pragmatism, rather than following Jesus’ nature. I highly encourage you to read this series. They are fairly short and precise, to the point, and will surely make you think.

• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 1
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 2, The Gaps
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 3, Distribution
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 4, Let’s Be Clear
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 5, What’s Wrong With Pragmatism
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 6, Impractical Worship
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 7, Impractical Spaces
• The Counterintuitive Church – Part 8, The Impractical Church Among Us

After reading this series, I thought to myself. Maybe instead of asking, “What Would Jesus Do?” and coming up with a practical answer… I should ask, “What Would I Do?” and then do the opposite. That would probably more closely reflect Jesus’ nature – rather than my own.

I use a system called Google Analytics to keep an eye on my blog stats. It tells me things like how many people visited my blog day-to-day, where people came from, and even what search terms were used to find different posts on my blog. I have found an interesting trend among the Church in these tought times. Because I screwed up my analytics, my stats don’t start until October 6th, but I have noticed an amazing trend.

From October 6th 2008 until December 5th 2008 my top ten searches were:

1. gulshan esther – 21 visits
2. the pursuit – 5
3. jesus talks about money – 3
4. lew ayotte – 3
5. the act of preaching – 3
6. the pursuit blog – 3
7. bible talks about money – 2
8. church covenants – 2
9. compartmentalize thoughts – 2
10. historic church buildings – 2

That represents 5 unique visitors who came to my blog by searching for something to do with money. If you look at all my keywords, there are 16 total visitors who used the keyword “money” to get to this blog.

From January 1st 2009 until February 11th 2009 my top ten searches were:

1. gulshan esther – 42 visits
2. jesus talks about money – 9
3. “gulshan esther” – 4
4. bible talks about money – 4
5. the pursuit – 3
6. the pursuit blog – 3
7. 2350 bible verses on money – 2
8. biblical ecclesiology – 2
9. biography of gulshan esther – 2
10. esther gulshan – 2

That represents 15 unique vistors who searched for (“jesus talks about money”, “bible talks about money”, or “2350 bible verses on money”). For all my keywords that include the word “money”, I have had 54 total visitors more than three times the amount from October-December. For some reason Gulshan Esther is much more popular too!

From October 6th 2008 to December 5th 2009 my top 10 content was:

1. http://lewayotte.com/ – 385 pageviews
2. http://lewayotte.com/2008/03/18/wine-strong-drink-part-3/ – 61
3. http://lewayotte.com/2008/12/03/contract-pastoring/ – 61
4. http://lewayotte.com/2007/06/26/testimony-of-gulshan-esther/ – 47
5. http://lewayotte.com/?p=353&preview=true – 34
6. http://lewayotte.com/about/ – 28
7. http://lewayotte.com/2008/10/10/a-modern-example/ – 27
8. http://lewayotte.com/2006/12/21/the-bible-talks-more-about-money-than-hell/ – 22
9. http://lewayotte.com/2008/10/08/the-pursuit-strip-26/ – 21
10. http://lewayotte.com/2008/02/ – 18

From January 1st 2009 to February 11th 2009 my top 5 content was:

1. http://lewayotte.com/ – 556 pageviews
2. http://lewayotte.com/2006/12/21/the-bible-talks-more-about-money-than-hell/ – 103
   
3. http://lewayotte.com/2007/06/26/testimony-of-gulshan-esther/  – 80
4. http://lewayotte.com/2009/01/26/gods-revelation/ – 78
5. http://lewayotte.com/2009/02/09/sermon-outlines-a-better-idea/ – 51

Five times as many people visited http://lewayotte.com/2006/12/21/the-bible-talks-more-about-money-than-hell/ than they did only a few months ago.

It seems like the church, is starting to ask questions about money. No wonder, given the current recession/depression. We know that church tithing/giving is down. I can only assume preachers are preaching more about tithing/giving. There are probably a number of people who are questioning some of this content, and even questioning whether or not the tithe is biblical for today.

I have written a few posts that touch on the idea of giving and tithing and a few posts that are indirectly related to money among the Church. Here is the list with a brief description:

• The Tithing Pastor – A True Conundrum
  I’ll admit it up front, I don’t think we are called to “tithe”… but many vocational pastors do. And can you blame them, that’s how they make a living, off your tithe. But you have to wonder, is the pastor truly tithing a tenth? This slightly humorous posts looks at the math it would take to make sure your pastor is practicing what he preaches!
• The Bible Talks More About Money Than Hell
  You’ve probably heard this saying, or somethign similar to it. But if you’ve read the bible then you’re probably wondering why you didn’t notice so much financial talk. That’s because it’s not there! The Bible may mention money, but it’s almost always in passing. These statistics about how often the Bible talks about money are tricks and the people who usually use them are just as tricked. Don’t worry, God isn’t going to audit your taxes this year.
• Resources, Conversions, and Priorities…
  Ever wonder where all your money goes, you know, the money you give to the church. Well this survey by LifeWay shows you exactly where it goes. About 5%-23% goes towards ministering to the lost… the rest of it goes to support your building, staff, and vocational pastor(s). I wonder what would happen if we rethought this structure and actually used our resources for reaching the lost.
• Money and the Church: A Fulltime Story
  This post was part of a synchroblog that I took part in. It is intended to question whether or not we should be paying a pastor a salary for the services they render. Since most of their services that we pay for are not biblical, maybe we can cut out the “vocational” part of the vocational pastor and save some money. If we do that, we could use our money, time, and energy towards more noble goals… like actually making disciples.

I know these times are tough for everyone. So if you find that your preacher is telling you that you need to give 10%… just look in the bible, you may be surprised what you find — or — what you don’t find.

I use Google analytics to track what is happening on my blog. I get to see which pages are most popular, how long people spend at my blog, and also what people search for to end up on my blog. Here are the top 11 funniest searches I’ve had in the past 30 days (in no particular order).

01. “what’s a handbasket and why do we got to hell in one?” – Isn’t it obvious?

02. should christians believe in santa claus – Yes.

03. muslim vs. baptist – The fight of the century!

04. i need molds of the ten commandments – Don’t we all.

05. how to have church without programs book – I recommend the Bible.

06. help, i don’t want to go to church – Help?

07. thigs to be thankful to god for – Google, peanut butter, and two-ply toliet paper.

08. notes on how to have to be a good pastor wife – Amen.

09. is it biblical to pay church volunteers? – Volunteer?

10. god bless me just a little – Me too.

11. churches say they will forgive if you pay us money – Me too!

Today’s post is part of a synchroblog dealing with money and the church. It is a pretty broad topic, and many people are writing about different aspects of “money and the church.” At the bottom of this post you’ll find a list of links of other contributors to this subject. Today, I am going to write about some news I recently heard.

The other day I was speaking to one of our brothers. I asked him how things were going with the church that he met with. He told me about a recent deacon meeting. During the meeting the pastor told them that he was being stretched at all ends and something needed to change. His schedule is pretty cumbersome, he works full-time, he goes to classes (a couple per semester), and he teaches Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings. Apart from that I am not sure he has many other “duties” required of him by the church, but still doing all those things can be quite burdensome, especially when you have a wife and a few children to take care of.

At this meeting he gave them the break down of all his monthly needs/wants; he even made it clear that he would be willing to get rid of some luxuries to lower his monthly costs. He also made it clear that he wants to pastor this group. The deacons were in full agreement, they want a full-time vocational pastor. At the next business meeting, they’re suppose to bring it for all the members to vote on.

A few questions ran through my mind: Is this where God wants this man? What will happen if they vote against this? Will he leave or stay? Are there any other solutions that will free up his time? Is what he expects as a pastor biblical? Is what the deacons expect from a pastor biblical? Is what the rest of the members expects from a pastor biblical?

Paying this person extra money will allow him to quit his secular job. This will allow him to start doing visitations, more counseling, more studying, etc. From what I currently understand about “church,” I see this as a huge waste of money. As many of you know, I do not believe that pastor’s should receive a salary. Mainly because I do not see the majority of their “duties” in scripture. If we want to pay a person to visit, to counsel, and to study, than fine – it’s a free country – but that is not what makes a pastor.

Here is a recent Job Listing I was given for a “Family Minister/Associate Pastor”:

Description:
Needed at First Baptist Church in *****, NC, located in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina: A loving, passionate and spirit-filled individual who feels called to serve God as a minister for all age groups. This individual will be asked to work with Ministry teams and councils to reach withing the church and greater *****/***** County community by planning, coordinating, promoting and executing a comprehensive program of activities. Enthusiastically develop fellowship, Christian education, evangelistic outreach and visitation.

Requirements:
* Assist the Stewardship Ministry Team in preparing and administering the family ministries annual budget
* Preparing monthly calendar and reports
* Supervision of custodial staff
* Maintain scheduling and supervision of church vehicles
* Oversee construction projects and the furnishing, maintenance, staffing and operation of same
* Attending regularly scheduled staffing meetings and Church Council
* Assisting the Pastor in planning, conducting and evaluating congregational services.
* Must have a seminary degree – be an open minded person with a listening and discerning ear and spirit who is able to take initiative in a Godly way.

I do not think this strays too far from what you would normally find in a vocational pastor’s job description. This particular job is paying “$40,000 to $50,000 (includes housing, insurance, benefits).” The sentence, “A loving, passionate and spirit-filled individual who feels called to serve God as a minister for all age groups,” is probably the only line you will find in there that can be derived from scripture. But aren’t we all suppose to be loving? passionate? spirit-filled? Aren’t we all called to minister to all age groups? If so, why aren’t all the members being paid?

Some questions I thought of when reading this listing: Couldn’t a few people do these jobs for free? Do these jobs need to be done or are they luxury? What could we do with 40,000$ – 50,000$ every year in the community?

What do you think? Is paying a salary for a fulltime position a luxury that the church should forsake?

What happens when you put two taboo subjects together and discuss their relationship with each other? Find out by following the links to this month’s SynchroBlog. Money and Church is the topic. Do you think they belong together? or is it a problem when they meet? Follow the links, and watch the fur fly!

Here’s who’s in so far:

The Check That Controls at Igneous Quill
Pushing The Camel: Why there might be more rich people in Heaven than in your local Church at Fernando’s desk
Sally Coleman at Eternal Echoes
Lord, Won’t You Buy Me a Mercedes Benz at Hello Said Jenelle
Zaque at Johnny Beloved
Walking with the Camels at Calacirian
Greed and Bitterness: Why Nobody’s Got it Right About Money and The Church at Phil Wyman’s Square No More
Wealth Amidst Powers at Theocity
Money and the Church: A Fulltime Story at The Pursuit
But I Gave at Church at The Assembling of the Church
Moving Out of Jesus Neighborhood at Be the Revolution
Money and the Church: why the big fuss? at Mike’s Musings
Coffee Hour Morality at One Hand Clapping
Bling Bling in the Holy of Holies at In Reba’s World
Magazinial Outreach at Decompressing Faith
Money’s too tight to mention at Out of the Cocoon
Bullshit at The Agent B Files
The Bourgeois Elephant in the Missional/Emergent Living Room at Headspace
When the Church Gives at Payneful Memories
Who, or What, Do You Worship at at Charis Shalom
Greed at Hollow Again
Silver and Gold Have We – Oops! at Subversive Influence
The Church and Money at Khanya

Here is the average church budget according to Lifeway (HT: Alan).

49% – Staff Personnel
9% – All Other
5% – Missions Evangelism
7% – Computers, Office Supplies, Literature
9% – Denominational Contributions
9% – Utilities
13% – Buildings, Rent, Mortgage, Capital Funds, Projects

To simplify this, I will group, “Computers…,” “Utilities,” and “Buildlings…” into one group called “Structure Costs.”

49% – Staff Personnel
29% – Structure Costs
9% – All Other
5% – Missions Evangelism
9% – Denominational Contributions

I am going to be VERY generous and say that 100% of the “All Other,” “Missions Evangelism,” and “Denominational Contributions” are used directly towards some sort of discipleship/evangelism/missions/etc. project, which we will label as “Good Works.” Thus making our statistics look like:

49% – Staff Personnel
29% – Structure Costs
23% – Good Works

So, on average, 23% of any money you drop in the offering plate MIGHT be used for some sort of “good work.” And we probably can all agree the 9% sent as “Denominational contributions” is probably cut in half by administration costs, and I have no idea what “All Other” means. To be safe we can say that of the money you give, only about 5%-23% is used for some sort of mission outreach program.

(Here is some more information about where your money goes CP, IMB)

In Masters Plan of Making Disciples, Arn takes a poll of how people “came to their new relationship with Christ and their church.” This is what the poll looks liked: (NOTE: I do not always trust statistics, but I have a feeling these are fairly accurate)

I wonder, if 75-90% of all conversions happen because of a friend/relative, why do we spend most of our resources on building buildings, instead of building relationships?

Think about it.

P.S. Geoff Baggett has some interesting posts with some more information about some of these money issues (The Great Commission (Part. 1) – More than Money?, Cooperative Program $ – Mostly Staying in Your Home State).