It's hard to get in the door: How Rich Are You?

"It's hard to get in the door" is a series of posts illustrating why those searching for Christ often have a hard time accepting the church. If you have been raised in the church, try imagining what this piece would look like if you had grown up in a world without it. If you are unfamiliar with the culture of church, this will probably seem pretty absurd. All comments are welcome!

Pastor James reminded me of how wealthy I am when he sent me the link below. Maybe one of the reasons people despise the American church so much is because of the way we who are in it use our money. What signal do we send when the most expensive building on our church campus (often a multi-million dollar building) is used only a couple of hours a week? In general, churches lock up their buildings and protect their property, secluding themselves from the world. I love the "open door" policy of the Catholic church: always open for prayer, meditation and rest, a true "sanctuary."

What message do we send when we are the richest Christians on the planet, but at the same time the most self-indulgent? Poor believers in India ask, "How can you call yourself a Christian when you have so much money?"

If you want to find out just how contradictory a theology of love is with the lifestyle you live click here. I'm guilty. No wonder so many are skeptical of our God.

Update: I just found a relevant newspaper article this morning. Click here to read about the Long Beach church (just outside of Orange County) that is being fined by the city for sheltering homeless people. "It's hard to get in the door...."

Comments

[Joy]

The issue of money is certainly a difficult one. We had a problem in our town when the parish raised enough money to build a new 4 bedroomed house for whoever the new vicar would be (and to cater for a possible family along with him.) This appeared in the paper and was meant to show how much the church had grown etc however as the vicar who now occupies the house is single and lives there on his own, alot of people thought it was complete hypocrisy, being that the same week a homeless man was been found dead in a dustbin in the city from the cold. I for one kind of agree - it looks terrible. I can see what the church was trying to do but it's still totally impractical. There's just no way to defend it.

The Rich list link is very good, certainly made me feel very lucky! Surely there is some balance though between having enough money to live in the modern world and being a Christian - is it fair to say that it doesn't matter how much money you earn (within reason obv) it's what you do with it that counts?

It's a tough one.

[Tim]

Joy, thanks for the comment. I do share your dilemma. I guess I am trying to focus more on the idea of being "self-indulgent" rather than being "wealthy." I don’t think wealth in itself is wrong, but we do find greed, gluttony and self-indulgence listed as sins in the Bible. And it bugs that I make a good salary and yet have so little to give to others in need. I wonder if that says something about my own priorities and my own self-indulgence.

[Linda]

Thanks for linking to the article about the church in Long Beach. I think it is great that the church in the article wants to allow people to sleep on its property outside, but I wonder if they could take it a step further. In our neighboring city, Springfield, OH, churches cooperate to allow the homeless to sleep inside their buildings. They provide rollaway beds and bathroom facilities. Granted, it takes more of a commitment, and church members need to be involved in serving the homeless inside their building. But it certainly would get rid of the dilemma of homeless people "mucking up" the view outside, if that should be considered a factor at all. And the people of the church would find themselves blessed in ways that they would not otherwise be. However, maybe their membership isn't large enough to support such a ministry. It is an intense commitment, but it seems that the homeless are the work that God has set before them.

Just my two cents...

[Joy]

I could certainly be considered self indulgent. As the world moves on there's ever increasing pressure to buy the lastest clothes/gadgets/ cars etc. It's very hard to separate yourself from all this sometimes, especially if you're a younger person. I really dislike myself sometimes.

Doesn't it say in the bible we are to tithe 10%or something? Is this something that many people practice? And what does it apply to? I've heard many interpretations of it - for example I thought it meant to give to charity or just anything/anyone that needs help although some believe the 10% is for the church...I need to do some research I think. What are other people's views on this? Sorry for my total lack of knowledge!

[Ilias]

I must compliment you on your web site.
I am from Burundi and learning to read in English, tell me right I wrote the following sentence: "Judee month is a escaping rock."

Thanks :-D. Ilias.