More fruit of borrowing for buildings

Another article this morning from the Wall Street Journal on the serious issue of local churches foreclosing on sizeable loans taken out to build bigger and grander buildings in boom times, Churches Find End Is Nigh. The article is littered with examples of poor stewardship and even graces us with a quote from “The Reverend” Jesse Jackson.

The article cites this example, one I am afraid is all too common across the American church landscape:

In many cases, churches ran into trouble after borrowing to build bigger houses of worship needed to accommodate growing congregations in once-booming housing markets.

Pastors Rich and Lindy Oliver decided their Family Christian Center needed more space after their congregation rose from a few hundred in the early 1990s to 650 by 2002. The church borrowed $4.2 million and began building a new 1,000-person sanctuary on 11 acres in Orangevale, Calif., including classrooms and a space for adult learning.

Shockingly, the can't pay the mortgage now. Compounding bad stewardship with bad theology, we get this line:

Bankers and lenders typically are reluctant to "foreclose on God" and seek to work out deals with churches. But none proved possible in the Olivers' case.

Borrowing $4,200,000 to build a building has nothing to do with God. Foreclose away!

I know, I know. Don’t judge these people, you don’t know their hearts, etc. I do know a little bit about what the Bible says about the church and about how Christians should view money and I have spent most of my adult life in business focusing on finance and banking. Everything about this notion of borrowing millions and going into debt to pay for extravagant buildings and then expecting Christians to “tithe” to pay for it is foolish, prideful and sinful.

If you think that your contribution to the Kingdom is so valuable that you need to build a bigger building to showcase your talents, you need a reality check from the Word. God doesn’t really need you all that much and certainly doesn’t need the local church to finance a multi-million dollar loan to showcase your ministry.