It's unfortunate, but unless your ministry is independently wealthy, most organizations are forced to make ministry decisions based on business/financial decisions at some point (in addition to prayer and discernment).
In saying that, I get questions from time to time about why I need to ask for money to do ministry. In the past people have expressed opinions along the lines of, "You should not make ministry decisions based on finances", "God should be free and you shouldn't charge people.", or, "Why should you get any money for ministry, you should be volunteering".
Wouldn't it be great if we were able to travel the world to share the Good News? Wouldn't it be awesome if we didn't have to worry about how to get there, where we would stay, how we would eat, how our children will go to school or to the doctor's?
Wouldn't it be great if recording studios let us use their facilities for free? If CD manufacturers and distributors didn't bill us to create worship resources? If there were skilled professionals able to volunteer to work with our ministry partners in radio, television, print and retail to share these resources with others?
Most people's initial response is this, "You should just rely on God". Absolutely, I can do nothing without Him. But God also uses real life circumstances to guide our actions. He creates opportunity in a physical and real way. In the same way, we still need to pay for that train ticket, even if we wish it to magically appear before us until the cows come home (sorry another farming reference, I'll stop soon I promise). The ticket did not magically appear, someone gave it to us, a real live human person procured it, paid for it, and delivered it.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but many things require another resource--money. If my ministry doesn't have the finances available, I cannot provide ministry for those certain endeavours. There, I just made a ministry decision based on finances (among other things such as prayer and discernment).
A while ago I had a phone conversation with an event organizer from a Church. They had asked me to lead an evening of worship, they wanted my to bring my band along (musicians by profession who I need to pay). I would need to fly all of them, pay for hotel rooms, pay for food, rental car, gas, etc. I said I was interested and asked if I would be able to appeal on behalf of Compassion (as I do at most ministry events), they said that would be OK. I asked if I might be able to ask the congregation for a love offering, if anyone was interested in supporting my ministry. They said, "No we don't feel our congregation should have to pay to be ministered to". I politely proceeded to ask them if it might be alright if I could sell my CDs as worship resources for the congregation. They proceeded to say, "No, we don't believe you should be selling those...[long pause]... But we'd be happy to give you a $50 honorarium as a thank-you for coming". After a brief pause I responded saying, "thank-you for your interest but at this time it does not fit within the ability of my ministry" and hung up the phone in disbelief.I so badly wanted to enlighten that event organizer with all of the other expenses they obviously did not recognize or appreciate. I wanted to to let them know about the three shifts of pay at work that had to be given up, the costs of travel, hiring musicians, not to mention the tens of thousands of dollars required to provide worship resources like a CD in the first place and all of the sacrifice of time that goes into writing, recording, planning, promoting, praying, and travelling--all time away from family, and time that could be spent earning an income otherwise.
It would be great to be able to travel the world endlessly to share the Good News, but in order to sustain that ministry, you also need to sustain the income that you would have had coming in otherwsie to support your family. That's where ministries rely on the generosity of others to be able to sustain the service they are providing and being God's hands and feet.
In every decision, we always need to discern what God is calling us to do. What are your thoughts on business verses ministry?
1 comment:
Chris, I totally understand where you are coming with this post. As a musician/speaker/recording artist I have come across the same issues. At first I struggled with charging for what I do. Being that I am doing ministry I felt a little bad about charging. I do however feel that this is a gift that God has given me to help provide for my family.My wife and I are both Catholic school teachers. We have to pay for part of our health insurance, daycare, dental bills, and all other normal expenses. This year I was working on a masters degree which until recently my teacher license required. My family will often go paycheck to paycheck each month. Because of these factors I no longer feel bad for charging money for my services. I think you hit the nail on the head when discussing the cost of ministry. Many people have no idea what it costs to bring professional musicians across the country for a weekend. Many people would feel differently if they were asked to do what they do for a living on a volunteer basis.I still do many gigs for free because, this is a ministry. I dream of playing music full time to take care of my family. If I do not charge, this dream could never come true. There is also a fine line that some people cross that could be considered taking advantage of someone who does something based on faith by not paying them.
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