Richard Roberts - One Down, Several More To Go

It's about time. Richard Roberts did the right thing when he resigned as the president of Oral Roberts University. The Roberts' have brought shame upon the body of Christ with their lavish lifestyle, questionable fund-raising methods, and lack of accountability and transparency.

With other prominent media pastors - Benny Hinn, Randy and Paula White, Joyce Meyer, Eddie Long, Creflo Dollar, and Kenneth Copeland - being investigated by Senator Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) it will be interesting to see who will be the next to fall.

In several previous posts I have written about the need for greater financial transparency in large media ministries and in local churches (I have even posted my salary and benefits). Once again, here is my warning - if a media ministry is not a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) DO NOT GIVE THEM A DIME! (None of those currently being investigated by Senator Grassley are members of the ECFA). Do not give money to any ministry led by anyone who is leading an opulent lifestyle. Mansions, exorbitant salaries, luxury cars, private jets, and closets the size of a house are not marks of a person who is being a good steward of the tithes and offerings of ministry donors.

But this is not just a warning about large media ministers; this is a warning for local churches of all sizes. If your church does not provide regular financial information - including staff salaries - you need to start asking some questions and consider whether or not you should give any money to that church. Our church provides a monthly treasurer's report that is available to anyone. That report lists monthly and year to date information regarding all income and expenditures, salaries, mission giving, and lists every check written on all church accounts. All financial information is disclosed publicly and is distributed openly. The only financial information not disclosed are individual giving records (and by the way, as pastor of the church I do not have access to that information and do not want access to that information. If your pastor knows what you give - tell him/her to mind their own business! Church staff members have no business accessing the giving records of church members/attenders). In recent years many churches have stopped providing some financial information, primarily staff salaries. This, in my opinion, is wrong and sends a terrible message about a lack of financial transparency. I know some of the reasons this is done - to minimize jealousy among staff members and to provide privacy for staff - but none of the reasons are legitimate, in my opinion. Being open about finances extends to any minister, and any minister desiring to keep information from being disclosed must realize they are leaving themselves open to questions about financial and personal integrity.

Before you write another check to a ministry or a church, ask some questions about how the money is handled before you give them a single penny.

Richard and Lindsay Roberts - Another Black Eye for the Kingdom of God

How many more times must we be embarrassed by the (alleged) improprieties of media ministers? The latest - and most likely not the last - is the developing scandal involving Richard and Lindsay Roberts. I won't list the gory details here, as you can find them on almost any news site or in any newspaper.

The skeptics of faith are having a field day, and it's time that we as followers of Jesus start demanding better of the people who are raking in millions of dollars to fund high-flying lifestyles. No one, in my opinion, should be giving money to the Roberts' and I have felt this way for some time. Their lavish lifestyle, funded by the tithes and offerings of millions, have long been an affront to the cause of Christ. No one - and I repeat no one - should be getting rich off the tithes and offerings of people.

And it's not just the high profile of people like Richard and Lindsay Roberts where we find financial questions. I wrote a piece on this site recently about how many churches no longer list the salaries of church staff. Personally, I would never give a dime to a church that does not make such information public. Has the church learned nothing from the scandals of companies such as Enron? The church should be the most financially transparent organization on the face of the earth. To hide information only gives rise to questions, suspicion, and more questions.

If you are a member of a church staff, you will never become rich. The reality is you will probably struggle financially. Paul writes in I Corinthians 4:11-13 that to this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now. He says in I Timothy 6:8 that if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. But this is not an excuse for churches to be stingy or to poorly pay those who dedicate their lives to the cause of Christ. In I Corinthians chapter nine Paul makes a case for supporting those who are in vocational ministry - Do we not have a right to eat and drink...Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock...If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we should reap material things from you...So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel (verses 4, 7, 11, 14). The scandal of the lavish lifestyles enjoyed by a few ministers is what grabs the headlines, but a greater scandal is the number of churches who starve their staff members or seek to manipulate them by holding back tithes and offerings.

Being a minister is not for the faint of heart. It is also not for those who want to become wealthy. If you want to make a lot of money, do something else. Let's end the scandals of lavish lifestyles by people like Richard and Lindsay Roberts be cutting off the donations. But let's not forget the scandal of the scores of faithful ministers who are drowning financially because of churches that refuse or fail to meet the needs of their families.