*** RANT WARNING ***
You know those commercials that talk about sponsoring a child for a couple of bucks a day or less? I got an email from a ministry today looking for donations to help broadcast their radio program. Their plea for money pointed out that it costs nearly $8000 every day to put their radio program on the air. I guess that is supposed to make me eager to give them money. That works out to $2,920,000 a year. It is a great radio program, very informative, but it is pretty much doctrinal teaching for existing Christians broadcast on Christian radio stations.
Let’s see. Is that the best use of almost three million bucks? I wonder what $8000/day could do for the Haiti Orphan Project? I bet a bunch of orphans would appreciate what those funds could do. I wonder how many missionaries to unreached people could be supported by that amount of money? At $50,000/year that comes to almost 60 missionaries in the field proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to the lost. An economy version of the Bible might cost $5. The funds used every year to broadcast an hour long radio program over Christian radio stations could buy half a million Bibles. I am betting that a believer in Vietnam or Ethiopia needs an actual Bible more than a middle-class American believer who has access to an infinite amount of doctrinal resources on web needs a daily radio program.
I have to ask. Should Christians be giving even one red cent to any “ministry” that is not directly involved in reaching the lost with the Gospel or caring for the widows and orphans of the world? That seems like a pretty easy to meet standard but I would argue that very few Christian ministries that I am familiar with are really engaged in those Biblical tasks. Most of them seem to be focused on equipping Christians to be better informed Christians or the “right kind” of Christians. I understand that and there are tons of Christians who have squirrelly ideas about doctrine but that is because local churches have failed to exhibit Biblical discipleship. Equip Christians, turn them loose and focus on the lost. That is the job of the local church, it is local and it is essentially free. That seems very simple so why is it so hard?
I know, I know. I crab about this all the time. But this ministry is constantly sending me emails asking for money, letters asking me for money and calling me asking for money even though I made very clear (but politely) that I was not in a position to donate money to them. There are a lot of needs in the church. A LOT. Providing “Reformed” radio resources to a largely believing audience is not at the top of the list. There is something very, very wrong with appeals for money to support radio shows targeting Christian audiences when there are people dying every day without Christ around this country and around the world.
*** END RANT WARNING ***
4 comments:
This is not a shameless plug. I don't know the ministry you received this from. They're probably good folks.
But $8,000 per day? Whew!
Yes, that would care for just over 6000 orphans in Haiti! Our ministry budgets $480 per YEAR to feed, house, school and teach the bible to one orphan. We're building an orphanage, church and school to care for only 100 orphans (and another 150 area children for school).
Somehow maybe priorities are out of whack.
6000 orphans?! I am reposting your whole comment.
The folks in question are indeed good people, rock solid teaching. Just priorities that are out of whack indeed.
There are probably 10,000 or more programs just like this and probably another 5,000 that need $4,000 a day.
This is all considered normal in the institutionalized forms of faith which puts a HUGE priority on expert driven lecture oriented "teaching" for the household of faith. I have come to see a much different story in the NT about strong teaching. From what I see, teaching that is only words and no relationship example is only half teaching. The ONLY kind of teaching I see in the NT is words plus example in personal relationship context.
American saints think if their heart was blessed and they had warm feelings, then they were taught. This does not even come close to God's design for the results of teaching.
Is this radio thing a clear example of how expert driven teaching is actually a barrier to obeying God's Word? Are God's people settling for a mediocre version of what God is asking for? I think so. I do not like to listen to endless Christian radio Bible lecture programs because of the huge waste involved.
In God's grace He is able to use some aspects of this effort but it is not at all what the programs claim for themselves.
So let's count the $8,000/day for this ministry, plus whatever other ministries spend on radio/TV, and then add all the money spent every year on salaries, building construction and building maintenance. Is it any wonder that there are poor among us? In the NT I see examples of money being given to share among the brethren, to allow those that have to help supply those that don't. I see no evidence of money spent to pay individuals, or pay for buildings (not that paying for buildings is wrong, but if a fellowship needs space, this needs to be done in a cost-effective manner, which isn't what we see today.). If we spent half of the money on taking care of one another that we spend on buildings, salaries, etc. there would be no need among us.
I agree with your statement that ministry to the spiritual needs of the body need not be expensive. Relationship is free!
Rant on, Arthur!
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