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I read something yesterday that really grieved me. It was an article about a well known Christian leader. The article showed a picture of and described the 4.6 million dollar mansion he lived in. It talked about the fact that the family payroll in the ministry was about 2 million dollars per year, though this Christian leader was only making a bit over 300,000 of it. Not only that but apparantly this Christian leader has a cigar boat, over twenty vehicles and ten airplanes including a cessna citation 10 jet. He has his own hangers and runway at his ministry center. For his seventieth birthday thirty prominent christian leaders flew in directly on fifteen private jets and gave him 2.6 million dollars worth of gifts.
I will say that I was grieved. When so many Christians in the world are suffering. When so many don't have enough to eat and can't afford medical care, how can any Christian justify that kind of lifestyle. I don't mind Christians living in a nice house... but 4.6 million dollars. I don't think so. How can you justify ten airplanes including a jet.
Jesus didn't even ride on a donkey on a regular basis. He and his ministry team went on foot most of the time.
I believe I have the mind of God on this issue. If we have resources available to us and we aren't using them to help brothers and sisters in need, we are doing the same thing to Jesus.
However, I also realized I did not have the heart of Jesus on this issue. He would respond to leaders like this with compassion and love because despite what they are doing, he loves them. My response was not "love" at all. I wanted to blast them. So God still has a lot of work to do in my life. I repented and prayed.... I wonder if I'll ever respond more like Jesus.
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4 comments:
I guess this guy's "perks" are a little more than even the lavish ones we shared over at the M Blog! :)
Interesting to read through several of the past posts and learn a bit more about your ministry. Keep up the good work. Is this the same COAH that Travis and Beth are associated with? If so, you guys send us $50/month to help our national missionary we sent to Peru. Thanks!
I imagine that he justifies it b/c in his mind, him having a gianormous house, and all those planes, and all those vehicles isn't really "stopping" people in Africa from eating. He probably has a view that there is not a "finite" amount of money or resources that God has...so it doesn't matter how he spends his....
Now, I actually tend to agree with that view, BUT, even so, I do my best to be frugal with my money anyway.
Hi Guy, yea I'm associated with the same COAH as Travis and Beth. They're some of our partners in crime. :-) And yes we COAH - as well as Dallas Street Church are happy to be supporters of your national missionary. It was one of our first "missions" endeavors. We really love the ministry you're doing. Thanks for stopping by.
Rhea,
thanks for stopping by. Does God have unlimited resources? Yes. Does he want us to be self indulgent or self centered - I think the scriptures clearly show the answer to that is no.
I don't mind people being blessed. But if you think in terms of the Kingdom of God, there are people going hungry every day. There are people who need medical attention every day. Where are our priorities? Jesus said whatever you've done to the least of these my brothers you've done also unto me. I take that really seriously. I mean who needs ten airplanes or twenty vehicles..... really? Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
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