Money & Ministry: A Conversation On Making Money And Serving Jesus

I don’t know why, but these two ideas seem to be at odds with each other: money and ministry.

If you make too much money or have nice material possessions, some will say you are probably not serving Jesus. If you are voluntarily poor and minimalist, you’re probably living the Gospel.

Being poor is seen by many as the first sign of being a good Christian. The reason for this is not far-fetched, Christians were raised with the mindset that wealth is a prevents one from truly serving God.

At least that’s what we perceive.

It’s a tension we don’t bring up often. But it’s a conversation I want to have with you.

And I apologize up front: this post is longer than usual. But I guarantee you it’ll be worth it.

A Passion For Ministry

I have a passion for ministry.

I long to see worship leaders, church planters, pastors, and apostolic leaders released to do the work of the ministry in their generation.

I long to see the lost saved, the sick healed, and the Gospel proclaimed to all the unreached people groups.

I want to spend my life raising up worship leaders who are close to the presence of God, ushering the church into deeper levels of His presence.

But there’s a story I hear too often.

A Story We’re Afraid To Tell About Ministry

It’s the story of Jimmy. Jimmy is a fictional character, but he represents a lot of young ministers.

Jimmy felt a call to “full-time” ministry when he was at a church camp while he was in primary school

He wanted to either be a missionary or a pastor. He went on numerous short term missions’ trips through High School, maintaining a positive, youthful exuberance about his future as a minister.

He was confident God would make his path clear for the future.

Unsure of what exactly to do after high school, he enrolls in a Bible College in order to further “prepare” for God’s will. Throughout this whole process, he is waiting, stalling, longing for some shining light to direct his path.

College drags on, and life sets in. The youthful zeal he used to experience becomes overwhelmed by classes, dating, and hanging out with friends. In the end, he graduates from college with a degree he might never use, but He’s still holding onto His calling to serve Jesus in full-time ministry.

His mates were getting jobs and beginning to settle down to life but Jimmy’s options are limited.

He either goes blindly into full time ministry by erecting a small signboard, doing morning cry in the morning and hoping people will seek him out or he gets a paid church pastor work or missionary work which will pay him so little

Everybody expects Jimmy to do something tangible with his life, but nothing was working for him

He finds a woman who has a job and is desperate to get married, he marries her and they have a couple of children

The salary obviously isn’t enough to provide for his family so His wife begins to quote that famous scripture to him that a man who cannot provide for his family is worse than infidel

Jimmy and his wife get along, but there is constant strife in the home due to financial strain. The wonderful, should-be life giving, calling to “ministry” is looking more and more like curse in Jimmy’s life.

Is your story similar?

What if it didn’t have to be this way?

What If We Told a Different Story?

What if ministers tapped into the power of entrepreneurship – to generate good income on their own, not dependent on a church salary?

What if Jimmy was financially independent of the church and could spend his extra time focusing on ministry, not as a means to making a living, but as a passionate calling he could pour His life into?

What if church planters were trained on how to make a living online?

There are so many options for online business that require an initial investment of time, but can eventually run in a passive way, depending on your skill.

What if there was another way to be in ministry without running into debt

Too often, college is a form of “stalling”.

You don’t know what to do, so you go to college to hopefully discover that. I’m sorry, but that’s an expensive, bad plan.

What if our young ministers took action to start businesses with their church plants without waiting to be “picked”?

What if we weren’t so overloaded with debt but were free to be a vessel that God could give through?

What if business and ministry served one another in our lives?

Go And Glorify God

I believe God has called you. No doubt.

But don’t expect God to brush your teeth, put your clothes on, and tell you what to do today.

As you delight yourself in His goodness, He will give you the desires of your heart. He has given you passion. Pursue that passion creatively, make money, and go serve Jesus. That is glorifying God.

It’s not a sin to make money.

It’s a sin to treasure money more than God.

Having money will give you margin in your life, minimize stress, and enable you to give like never before.

To put it simply, you must have something in order to give something.

Take action. Embrace responsibility for your future.

Go and shine amazing grace into the world.

Join PSSBC today, especially if you are a minister who is struggling financially

Our class runs for three months, and the classes have been incorporated with practical wealth-making teachings that will help you as a minister

https://chat.whatsapp.com/EUtoewkLEK83bgulmAx63g?mode=gi_t

Lectures start in less than a week

-GSW-