Well March Madness just finished...with lots of exciting games...a surprising run by a little known college known as Davidson...and lots of last minute shockers! In the end of the Tournament, Kansas comes back from 9 points down with a little over a minute to play, hitting a 3 pointer with 2 seconds left to tie the game, and send it to overtime. In overtime Kansas confidence swelled to victory, as Memphis left wondering what could have been...if only? I love basketball...especially college basketball...and the pros too! The college end of season tournament, known as March Madness, is always fun to watch, and often reveals who the next players will be that make it to the NBA. Under pressure, the best rise to the top. To be considered one of the best 450 or so players in the world is quite an accomplishment and makes them worth the millions of dollars they make. It seems like crazy money to you & me, but clearly teams are willing to pay it to get the best players they can as they chase after the prize of an NBA Championship...to be called the best in the world! The March Madness Tournament decides whose the best in the United States in the college ranks...but the NBA Championship declares whose the best team in the world! As the NBA season also winds down to its last few games, I saw an interesting article. It was referring to the economics of the NBA, and examined each teams player payroll, to discover who got the most bang for their buck. From the extravagant payrolls of the New York Knicks and the Miami Heat...to the frugal payrolls of the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Hornets...the results speak for themselves. "In this league you don't necessarily get what you pay for..." the article touted. The 5 most efficient payrolls were calculated based on total player payroll divided by the number of wins, which gave you the "Dollars per win". Based on this formula the teams were evaluated. These are the 5 Most Efficient Teams:
5. Boston Celtics, $1.15 million per win
t4. Orlando Magic, $1.14 million per win
t4. Detroit Pistons, $1.14 million per win
2. Utah Jazz, $1.12 million per win
1. New Orleans Hornets, $1.11 million per win
These are the 4 Most Wasteful Teams:
4. Minnesota Timberwolves, $3.05 million per win
3. Seattle Supersonics, $3.18 million per win
2. New York Knicks, $4.33 million per win
1. Miami Heat, $5.39 million per win
As I read this article and one similar a few months back, it got me thinking. I wonder what we'd discover if we did the same type of examination for "churches"? How "efficient" are we in using the dollars God entrusts to us to build His Kingdom? How "wasteful" are we? Do we even stop to consider these questions? The bible is clear that God uses the faithful giving of His people to build His Kingdom. Throughout history, obviously money was a key resource, and necessary. The bible also says that all we have is God's and that we are entrusted with the responsibility to use it wisely. The bible also says that God does not dwell in buildings, but in the hearts of those that trust in Him. So why do so many churches have so many dollars tied up in their buildings? It's like we have a "Field of Dreams" mentality..."if we build it, they will come". The bigger and more plush the better. We're trying to gain attention and status through our church buildings. The better they look, the more people will come...or so we think? Studies show that "church people" are attracted to the cool, slick buildings...so they just hop on over to the newest one in town. But the "not-yet-believer"? Well they don't trust the church (yet), and they think we're only after their money anyway. How could you blame them when they see the "wastefulness" of how we spend money on ourselves. We stretch our church budgets to the max to keep fixing up our image, our status, our monuments unto ourselves...while through it all we are actually pushing those we are trying to reach further and further away! Then we need to dump more and more money into our programs to justify all the money we just spent on the building, and a vicious cycle begins. Unfortunately, way too many churches are trapped in it, and their budgets are stretched to the max, with constant financial strain on them as organizations and on their people who ultimately have to support the wasteful use of their faithful giving. Its a cycle that never ends. It's like those window cleaners on skyscrapers...they keep cleaning windows, every day, over and over...and when their done with one side of the building, then its another side to be done. The job never ends. In fact, many of the largest skyscrapers have full time window cleaners...because the job is never completed. It's a never ending cycle, they constantly are trying to keep up the appearances of these buildings. That's the same never ending cycle so many churches are trapped in...and because of it, the "job" doesn't get done. The job...the task at hand...according to Jesus...is to build His Kingdom...not buildings. The Kingdom is built by reaching people...and the buildings we build keep them at a distance, even less likely to be reached. Now God will honor the humble act of worshipful giving by individuals who give to their church regardless of how it is used. But the same God also holds each church responsible for how it uses the resources it is given. The bible is big on this topic, and Jesus taught on it frequently. Are they "efficient"? Are they "wasteful"? We have over 100 churches in our area...and many are trying to "keep up with the Joneses", so to speak. When one church builds a new, fancy building...then the others have to keep up...or lose their people. It doesn't matter if you are a big church, medium church, or small church, it's a matter of survival...the tendency is real and happening right now. But none of it grows the Kingdom of God...it just grows the competition among churches for the same people. This is madness...and it keeps going on and on. I have 3 pastor friends, in different states, on the edge of making building decisions for their churches. One church is looking at a 5 million dollar project, another a 10 million dollar project, and yet another an almost 20 million dollar project. Let's take a look at the $10 million church. His church is packing out 2 services at 500 people each service. His church Board wants him to do "as you are supposed to", and build a 1,000 seat auditorium. The cost estimate $10 million. Now whether its mortgaged or raised money, the question is the same...is spending $10 million to "grow your church" by 500 to 1,000 people a wise use of $10 million? Especially considering most of those "new" people are from other churches in town? Let's be very optimistic and say 10% of 1,000 new people are "new believers"...then the $10 million dollar investment yielded 100 new people to the Kingdom of God. Does that seem efficient? Is that a wise use of the resources God has given you for maximum impact? My friend is soul searching this right now...other churches do it...church growth books & consultants encourage it...yet he never stopped to think of the "efficiency" of doing it. I shared some of this with him, and he realizes that a better investment may be to find 20 top notch church starters, and perhaps give them $500,000 budgets each to start new churches throughout his area. Those 20 churches, funded that generously, will reach way more people than he could by expanding his own church. He's re-thinking his priorities. This is just an example of well meaning pastors and churches simply imitating what others have done...and the same mistake happens over and over...instead of weighing the impact of that investment, for God's sake & His desire to transform lives. In the meantime, these same churches have a hard time meeting the needs of their own people in need...and barely have a few bucks for real, genuine needs that come from hurting people within our community. If any thing is spent on the communities needs, it comes from extra offerings taken from the people...because the church budget is shot, trying to pay for the building, utilities, programs and keep people on staff paid. Any extra money that comes in goes to new signs, marketing, remodeling, decorative sprucing up? Did we miss something? The bible says throughout the New Testament that the church is to use its finances primarily for 3 things. Meeting the needs of believers (both in your church and away, i.e. missionaries etc...)...meeting the needs of those that are dedicated to teaching the bible full time (pastors)...and meeting the needs of the community you live within. Now Jesus said the "poor you'll always have with you", but He also repeated that we are to take care of "the fatherless and widows". The "fatherless and widows (or women who've lost their husbands)" were some of the neediest people of the New Testament era. But today's churches have (incorrectly) learned to budget for buildings, programs and staff...missing 2 of the 3 things the bible asks them to invest very deliberately into! Not a token offering here and there. Not a special Christmas or Thanksgiving extra offering. At ECHO we aim for a re-alignment of priorities to what Jesus asks of us, even at the expense of elaborate buildings and programs. Imagine if churches had the flexibility of using 10% of their budget to meet the needs of the people within their church and the community outside their walls? Even 20%? What if they generously gave even more than that? Thousands of dollars per church per month, would express the love of God to people who are in genuine need. It would transform Eugene/Springfield. Would people see more of Jesus in that? Would that be more attractive to the "not-yet-believer"? You bet it would. At ECHO we are committed to stopping the "madness". We choose to be intentionally different, for the sake of the "not-yet-believers" of the Eugene/Springfield region. If we remain "homeless" for the sake of reaching people with the love of God...then so be it. We'd rather fill a warehouse, and share the love of God in real, tangible ways...than try to impress people by building a monument unto ourselves. Being like Jesus is the call of the church and every Jesus follower. Finding ways to help people's needs, with the love of God as our motivation, is our dream. We choose to invest in people over programs...invest in our communities needs over buildings...by taking Jesus words seriously, instead of taking our "wants & agenda's" seriously. This is a dream ECHO chooses to pursue intentionally! Will you join us...?
be God's!
Brian O
Lead Pastor dude, ECHO
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