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Please take a moment to contemplate the following quote:

Please take a moment to contemplate the following quote:. “The Church is not a business, and should not be run like one.”. “The church is not a business and should not be run like one.”. Because :. It is a spiritual Organization , John 18:36 ; Eph.2:6,19-22

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Please take a moment to contemplate the following quote:

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  1. Please take a moment to contemplate the following quote: “The Church is not a business, and should not be run like one.”

  2. “The church is not a business and should not be run like one.” Because: • It is a spiritual Organization, John 18:36; Eph.2:6,19-22 • With a spiritualHead, Eph.1:22-23 • And a spiritualMission, Eph.2:10; 3:10; 4:11-16; 6:11-12.

  3. “The church is not a business and should not be run like one.” Therefore: • We’re not here to “make money” Mk.11:15-18 “As he may prosper” collections on the first day of the week are the only authorized “fund-raiser” 1Cor.16:1-2 • The “customer is not always right” Eph.5:10; 2Tim.4:3-4 It’s not Burger King and I can’t “have it my way”- it must be God’s way! Acts 15:5-18(an appeal was made to “the words of the prophets” to settle the matter) Elders were given us to make the hard decisions. Our responsibility is to submit to them- even when we disagree (matters of judgment), Heb.13:17.

  4. “The church is not a business and should not be run like one.” Therefore: • Qualifications for leadership are spiritual- an MBA is not listed in 1Timothy 3. Though financial decisions are included in the Elder’s responsibility, he only decides how best to distribute available funds, Acts 11:30. A far greater responsibility is the spiritual well-being of the flock, cf.1Tim.3:15. • It should not be changed to meet the felt needs of man, man must be changed to meet it! 2Pet.1:4; Rom.12:1-2 Whatever man’s felt needs have become, his real need of salvation from sin has remained the same since the Garden of Eden was closed! Rom.5:12

  5. “OK, so what? Why are you making this a biG deal?” Because “Churches” are becoming business-oriented, if not businesses outright. • “Their (“megachurches, PCS) runaway success is modeled unabashedly on business. They borrow tools ranging from niche marketing to MBA hiring to lift their share of U.S. churchgoers.” (businessweek.com; May 23, 2005 cover story, “Earthly Empires”) • “To reach these untapped masses, savvy church leaders are creating Sunday Schools that look like Disney World and church cafes with the appeal of Starbucks….To make newcomers feel at home, some do away with standard religious symbolism- even basics like crosses and pews- and design churches to look more like modern entertainment halls than traditional places of worship.” (ibid)

  6. “OK, so what? Why are you making this a biG deal?” Because “Churches” are becoming business-oriented, if not businesses outright. • “This year, 16.4 million-member Southern Baptist Convention plans to “plant” 1,800 new churches using by-the-book niche-marketing tactics. “We have cowboy churches for people working on ranches, country music churches, even several motorcycle churches aimed at bikers.”(Martin King, spokesman, Southern Baptists’ North American Mission Board) • “…there’s a hip-hop version and one aimed at teen girls. Christian music appeals to millions of youths, some of whom otherwise might never give church a second thought, serving up everything from alternative rock to punk and even “screamo” (they scream religious lyrics).” (businessweek.com; ibid)

  7. “OK, so what? Why are you making this a biG deal?” Because “Churches” are becoming business-oriented, if not businesses outright. • “Once established, some ambitious churches are making a big business out of spreading their expertise. Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., formed a consulting arm….It earned 17 million last year, partly by selling marketing and management advice to 10,500 member churches from 90 denominations….Willow Creek’s methods have even been lauded in a Harvard Business School case study.” (ibid) • “So adept at the sell are some evangelicals that it can be difficult to distinguish between their religious arms and the secular style they mimic. Last year, Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Tex., staged a spectacular Christmas festival, including a 500-person choir, that attracted 70,000 people even though the cheapest ticket was $20. Throughout the year, 16,000 people take part in its sports program, which uses eight playing fields and six gyms on its $100 million, 140-acre campus. The teams, coached by church members, bring in converts, many of them children, says Executive Pastor Mike Buster.” (ibid)

  8. What’s the Point? A couple actually, • Rom.1:16 says that the “gospel” is God’s power to save. If churches gain converts through other means, they have “converted” them only to the means utilized- not to Christ. • But, “The ranks of Americans who express no religious preference has quadrupled since 1991 (to 2005, PCS) …Despite the megachurch surge, overall church attendance has remained fairly flat. And if anything, popular culture has become more vulgar in recent years.” (ibid) • Meaning, “The fields are white for harvest.” John 4:35. • We must “convert” people to Christ, not Christ and His Church to them! This is done, not by making them feel good about themselves in their sin through entertainment and business strategies, but by “reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God”! Acts 17:2-3,17; 18:14,19; 19:8

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