Unintended Consequences

Was reading over on Montoya’s blog and see that he is contemplating not attending the BGCT. Maybe he is seeing if enough people cry about his absence and beg him to come. Could be he is sending up a “trial balloon”, kinda like politicians do, to see how people respond to his comments.

Some say we ought to pull our money out of the BGCT and redirect it to the SBC. To that I say, ya gotta be kidding!! To do that is to bow to the gods of the BFM 2000 and all that comes with agreeing with that creed.  Then ya gotta kiss the rings of the elite at the SBC and follow the teachings of the Pharisees at the temple in Nashville. 

Having said that, the BGCT is not perfect in any way shape or form.  Over the last few years we have seen the frailty of the leadership of the BGCT. They are just as frail as you and me. Samson was anything but perfect and yet in spite of himself, God used him. In spite of all the imperfect leaders at the BGCT many are being used for His glory.  It is a human system with human tendencies and yet God is still at work.

Dropping our giving to the BGCT will have an impact on many ministries. Who else does as much great work with children and families as BGCT entities do? Who has the best Christian education in the state?  I recently learned that BGCT hospitals give on average $1 million a day in free health services.  Cutting the BGCT cuts into that work.

So by not attending the convention or withholding money and redirecting it to the SBC exclusively, there will be unintended consequences. The big guys will not be aversly impacted, it is the little guy, the ministries down the “food chain” if you will that will get hurt.

Have recently been helping a young family with finances. He works for a restuarant that has been in business for a long, long time. It’s main clientale are older folks. With food prices going up, they decided to keep them the same, so they cut staff and hours.  The unintended consequence is that he has a family of five kids and so he can’t feed them on less hours. So he has to make up that difference.

The same will occur if we redirect our giving elsewhere. Some feel like making a statement with money.  Sure it will hurt, but it will especially hurt the ministries that are having great impact, but are dependent upon our faithful giving to the BGCT.

So I say, attend the convention, speak your piece, vote and keep giving. Staying home is similar to church members who complain about everything, but never show up at the business meetings.

So David, come and speak your piece, vote and keep giving. Don’t like the BGCT, fine, pull out, just realize the unintended consequences.

Preaching for Money

Just for kicks, my wife and I sometimes watch the wild and crazy preachers on tv. They are good for a great laugh. If the hair and make-up don’t get ya laughing, then the theatrics will do ya in. Probably the most “out there” preacher is Benny Hinn.  You know, the dude whose hair looks like a helmet!

As much humor as I get from listening to them preach, it also makes me angry.   I have a habit (a good one, I might add) of always asking questions and researching subjects. So when I hear these swindlers on tv, I look them up on the internet. I go to their respective websites and actually read what they believe and preach. I then dig deeper into what they are really about.

It never fails that the majority of these tv preachers are filthy rich. They got cars and houses all over the place. They live well above the norm of most of my pastor friends.  Hmm, I say to myself. Gee, maybe I should get me a gig like those cats on tv. Gosh, Robert Tilton, the embattled dude, who spent time in jail for defrauding people, is back on the air. He has a show that comes on at 3 or 4am and is already filthy rich again.

So let’s run the math, mind you I am terrible at math, but this stuff is easy. If I get a slot on tv at say 2am in the morning and have an audience of say 250,000 and beg them to give just two dollars each on the first morning I am on the air. Gee, why, that’s $500,000 in one morning.  What a gig. And I don’t even have to look good! Just get up and slap on some make up and put on an ugly wig and I got it going on!

Preaching would be a joy. Just promise people that you can have “your best life now” and it starts with giving to my ministry as a show of faith in God. And when you do give to my ministry, why, God will bless you 100 fold. Give to my ministry and you got the “Jesus lottery” ( a tv preacher actually calls it that!).

My audience would be ready made for my type of message. The down and outers, those who stay up late and wallow in misery and hopelessness. I can preach hope to their financial distress. Who wouldn’t want to get rich, by just sending money in to my ministry?  I would “pray” over the request that they send in with the money, my prayers would be more powerful cause the bills would say “In God we Trust”.

Well anyway, it was just a thought, until I read the Bible and realized that Jesus didn’t do that kind of ministry. As a matter of fact, Jesus never once preached anything like the dudes on tv. So I will stick with Jesus and be content with my lot in life.