Come on Ring Those Bells
Written by Mark Van Steenwyk : April 3, 2006
Thanks to my friend Surley Dave for bringing this reminder that it isn’t just mega churches that can be silly about money:
Five Million Dollars! What could I do with five million dollars? Better
yet, what if I had five million to donate? To give away, to bless, to
really make a difference.Let’s see…I could support an church planter who has immersed himself into an urban area that most people won’t visit. I could support him for the 92 years. (He’s trying to raise $4,500 a month for support.)
Given that, I could support 12 missionary church planters for the next
9 years! Or 24 for the next 4.5 years! Imagine the impact.I could feed 62500 hungry children for a month.
Who knows how many disabled kids
you could send to camp, or how many wheel chair ramps could be built,
or how many help dogs could be trained. Actually, nearly 1700 help dogs
could be trained with five million dollars.Or I could piss it away on some church bells, ignoring the poor and needy with in hearing distance.
Update:I want folks to know that my ire is raised up against the anonymous donor slightly
more than the church. The donor failed to see a real need in the
community, and the leadership of the church failed because they didn’t
point the donor in that direction.
for further reading . . .
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I have to admit, Mark, I like the bells. Although physical needs (like the ones you mention) are hard to bypass with $5 million…are they the only needs worth spending money on? What about aesthetics, beauty, etc.? How much money is ok to spend on those things? $5 thousand, $5 million? So…even though I am not a church goer I have to say that I like the bells. They are good for my soul.
Now that I think about it, this conversation is a lot like arguments for and against building the Twins a new stadium…while some oppose by saying that it is a waste of money that could otherwise meet some practical needs in our community, others argue that the baseball experience makes up a vital part of what it means to be a particularly Minnesotan community. For some, baseball is good for the soul (like chicken noodle soup) and others could care less about baseball franchises.
Further thought: it seems, however, that these financial decisions are frequently left up to a democratic process or are the result of pursuing whimsical pleasures in which the physically needy often get the forgotten short end of the stick.
I love beauty, but I think that the highly formalized beauty we’re talking about isn’t all its cracked up to be. I know that bells are nifty, but $5,000,000 is a big deal. There is a fine line between being artful and living in opulent luxury. We can praise the virtues of aesthetics and beauty, but why is it that aesthetics is so frequently available to those with means? Is an old woman’s knit afgan really less beautiful than a stained glass window? And when that afghan covers a child at night, does glorify God any less?
…and don’t get me started on the stadium deal!
Dude - you should have waited until Thursday to post this - then it would be six days before passover and we would all think you were doing a subtle parody of the Judas Iscariot perfume scandal!
MVS -
I have been to many cathedrals that have moved me in a way that other buildings do not. Let them have their bells -
JVD
I understand that perspective, I really do. But I think it is deeply flawed. Many people have been saved at Benny Hinn meetings, and many have been moved by his teachings, but that doesn’t validate his teachings. Validating something purely by its outcomes is flawed thinking and can be used to justify anything. The only argument that I am willing to accept for spending such a huge amount of money for a pure luxury is that God led the community to spend that money. It is quite possible that, in this case, that was exactly what happened. I bring it as an example because often times in the lives of churches and individuals, we squander the gifts of God on inconsequential things.
Many may question whether or not it is right for me to stand in judgement over a church like this. I do not question hearts, and I do not even question this church per se. But if we cannot evaluate some of the deeds of churches than we have no way of authentically being prophetic within the Church as a whole.
MVS -
Lets you and I take a trip to the St. Paul Cathedral sometime….
Hey those are the folks that thought up the “Theology on Tap” idea!
Also, Validate vs. Not Fight It - now, your Benny Hinn example is extreme, I will give you your comparison (as overly strong as you made it) But, I just think you have to pick your battles…..
JVD
Sure…we do need to pick battles. But I think it is interesting that you find Benny Hinn extreme but $5 million on decor not extreme.
The Church in the U.S.A. spends vast wealth to feed its edifice complex…yet the 2/3 world is struggling to meet basic human needs. I think that the way we use our wealth is a pressing issue and worthy of picking as a battle, don’t you?
Sure, you frame it in a way that no one can argue with. But I will say this - better 5 million on bells than on nothing at all…
Also, someone commented on the people guiding the donor - development is not an easy thing…. Donors will do what donors will do, and if the person had 5 mil laying around, they were not going to be told what to do.
So in summary - yes I agree with you that 50 million dollar churches are obscene. But so are church buildings where 50 people worship and they have millions of dollars in a trust fund that they don’t use ….
JVD
I agree…I could say more, but I don’t want to spiral any deeper than I already have