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Sometimes, my soul aches so badly that I must speak; and God help that it hits the right ears.

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“A pastor’s vision will be determined by the church’s tithe”. Do you know I’ve heard that load of bull crap in many meetings and conferences designed for pastors around the country. Or something akin to its effect. How foolish and demonic! A pastor’s vision is (should be) determined by the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit does not need money or earthly resources to accomplish His work.

We may need that, but not Him. 

It is this line of thinking that inevitably drives pastors to water down the Message of the Cross and save special seats for the rich.

If a pastor is stifled by his church, it is because A: he is not ready for God’s vision to be fulfilled; B: he has the wrong vision (his own vision) for his church; or C: he has a secret sin he is letting control his life. Ministers, learn to disciple now, give now, and act now; not based on more money or giving. You don’t need any money or any building to reach people and love them. It may be that you need more money and a large congregation to become famous, but that is very different. 

The Church is still passionate about church. Unfortunately, I hear whiners everywhere sharing that they think the Church has lost its zeal, in a hope to twist the arm. We haven’t lost zeal; the minister has just lost sight of what to gauge by, and his congregation recognize his lost focus. A gauge monitored by income and attendance is a poor gauge that will always look low. The gauge monitored by discipleship and individual growth is everything. (Noah preached for a hundred years about the flood and only saved seven people.)

There are many massive congregations that are built on manipulation, greed and guilt. But they are frail at the pillars; and soon a Samson will push them over. If manipulation and guilt are building your church, then manipulation and guilt will tear it down. If discipleship and faith are building your church, then disciples and faith will hold it up forever.

I believe a detrimental proponent of this sickly mindset is social media and looking at everything elsewhere always. As a church staff compare to the “massive thing” over there and to the world showing itself ugly and dying, they are discouraged into a resolution that they must “do more and need more, here and now”. “Quick! The world is dying and we need a bigger building!” Fact: The world has always been dying and God has never needed a building to spread the Gospel.

People are taking the reins out of God’s hands and trying to control the future. But they aren’t meant to. Minister to whom you have, where you have, with what you have. And if you are successful you will see the growth in the individual. You may or may not see more money or flourishing numbers; but that’s not what it’s about anyway. It’s about the individual life in front of you. 

Never say, “I’ve got all this vision that will never happen until you make it so.” That makes you God, and everyone else your slaves. We don’t need kings, we need fishermen. 

Now for the laymen: we must learn that the notion “when I become ‘financially stable’, then I’ll become generous” is incorrect. You will become financially stable when you learn to be generous with what little you have, and comprehend that all you own is provided by God. We must tithe, and we must give generously. It is not merely the law—it is a spiritual construct designed by God and taught by Jesus. Give and it will be given back to you. 

Don’t wait until everything looks good to start following Christ’s teaching. Just as the pastor should follow the vision of God, regardless of how much the people are tithing; so should the followers of Christ give generously and live bareknuckled and on the edge of collapse, knowing the Christ is sleeping in the boat with us. That is faith.

Pastor Joe Eaton said this morning: “We give God what He deserves; not what we feel.” Amen. That is living by faith, and not by sight. A life of worship, prayer, and servitude.

What you can do for your pastor if he or she is consumed by this mindset: Pray for him or her to receive wisdom. Pray for him or her to cry out to the Holy Spirit for direction and vision. Pray for him or her to stop using social media and conferences as a gauge to determine their church’s health. Stop using social media and other tools, yourself, that tempt you to compare and contrast your church and purpose in life. Repent from the desire to control and fix everything. Study the Word of God (the Bible; not a book that thinks it’s the Bible), instead of needing to be force-fed it; and teach and disciple someone else in your proximity. Trust God instead of circumstance.

God, help us to live by faith; and not by sight, manipulation, whining, control, guilt, or comparison.

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