Thursday, February 4, 2010

True or False: Churches today are More of a Business for profit establishment than they are for saving souls?

I believe that is true of some churches, but not all of them. --------------------------True or False: Churches today are More of a Business for profit establishment than they are for saving souls?
This question is far to general, sorry, so it can't really be answered absolutely true or false.


It is true that many churches have lost sight of what their purpose as a church is.


It is also true that many churches have not, and continue to serve God and His people.


I think there has been a definite increase in the number of Churches who have lost sight of their purpose in this world as of late.True or False: Churches today are More of a Business for profit establishment than they are for saving souls?
No, that is false. Churches have gone away from God in these end times, and greed has certainly stepped into the picture, but there are still motives in the church to serve God, and most of those who get money hungry are deceived, and genuinely believe that what they are doing is right. They are just misguided.
Difficult question...made more difficult by your use of ';today';. It is always difficult to generalize...what's the frame of reference. Should I focus on the specific churches in my community?...and do I look at the number of churches or the relative size of the congregation (for example, would a large non-denominational church with 2,000 members carry the same weight in the equation as a small church with 50 members? Today complicates the matter...should I compare to my own experience over the last 40 years (is it getting better or worse)...or are we talking about today compared to 100 or 1,000 or 2,000 years ago?





';Profit establishment'; is also problematic. From a legal perspective, if a church is making a ';profit'; it isn't a church. If a church takes in more revenue than it pay out in ';expenses';, it violates its non-profit status. Of course, some churches justify some ridiculous ';expenses'; such as a million dollar home for the pastor, huge salaries for employees (including the pastor), elaborate buildings, art, and much more...





Given all that, I'd say that some churches are ';revenue-oriented'; instead of ';people-oriented';, but I think it is a relatively small number of individual churches (and a smaller number of denominations in general) that focus on increasing revenue. Far more of them are ';doctrine-oriented'; rather than ';people-oriented';, and revenue is a secondary consideration...they aren't focused on saving souls, they are focused on saving themselves (they need just enough revenue to sustain their membership).





Finally, I think there are a growing number of churches that ARE focusing on saving souls...they aren't trying to make their leaders wealthy and they aren't focused on ';protecting the flock';...they are reaching out to people where they live, providing for their needs, and sharing the good news that Jesus wants to give them an eternal life.
Absolutely true. But it is not a modern innovation. Religion has been used to control and extract money from the populace for centuries.





This has nothing to do with right or wrong or religion. It is about MONEY! This stuff sells. If it didn't, no one would do it. It's a business, just like any other, except it is selling a product that doesn't exist. That, however, has never stopped people from paying for it.
I think it depends upon the church. Our current church... we spent the last 2 years praying and trusting in God to make our budget every month. But more of our time has been spent praying and working on letting people know we are out there.





This year... we've been blessed by a few kind hearts. So, we stuck a little away for a rainy day and most of it's going back out to mission work.
Unfortunately, true. Very few churches nationwide have a burden for visiting and praying for others. At our church, the so-called preacher visits the same few people every week. It is a shame at our missed opportunities.
True, they have fallen into the category of business. Don't forget they have done this in the past too like when they used to sell ';indulgences'; way back when
False. I have never heard of churches as a profitable establishment. But I've heard of pastors who have strayed.
I'll put it this way: the millions of dollars thrown away on the ';Yes on 8'; campaign wasn't spent by the Freedom from Religion Foundation.
I would say some. Revelation speaks of all kinds of churches, and this fits with quite a few.
True. The vatican is the equivalent of Fort knox
';TRUE';
it is by far the LARGEST franchise in the USA . An Roman occult that has spread like a wildfire across the world .

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