{"id":693700,"date":"2018-10-08T02:00:37","date_gmt":"2018-10-08T07:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thomrainer.com\/?p=693700"},"modified":"2020-02-07T15:18:52","modified_gmt":"2020-02-07T21:18:52","slug":"one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/","title":{"rendered":"One of the Most Destructive Statements a Church Member Can Make"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you have served in church leadership for several years, you have likely heard this statement:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know who pays the bills at the church.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

The statement is one of the most insidious, destructive, and ungodly statements a member can make. It says much about the attitude of the member and the group he or she represents. There is nothing good that can come from this statement. Just look at some of the implications of this attitude:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It is an attitude of selfishness. <\/strong>The giver with this attitude looks at his or her gifts to the church with a closed fist instead of an open hand. Money is given conditionally, not sacrificially or unconditionally: \u201cIt\u2019s my money, not God\u2019s money.\u201d<\/li>\n
  2. It is an attitude of entitlement. <\/strong>Gifts to the church are more like country club dues. \u201cSince I pay my money, I get my perks and benefits. I get things my way. And if I don\u2019t get things my way, you just watch me stop paying my dues.\u201d<\/li>\n
  3. It is an attitude of divisiveness.<\/strong> Those who express such statements are already creating schisms in the church. The big givers are in one group, and the lesser givers are in another. It\u2019s us versus them. \u201cThose other people don\u2019t deserve an opinion, because we pay more than they do.\u201d<\/li>\n
  4. It is an attitude of bullying.<\/strong> The statement is always a threat. It is usually directed at the pastor or some other leader in the church. \u201cYou do things my way or just watch what I\u2019ll do to you.\u201d It\u2019s intimidation and bullying at its worst.<\/li>\n
  5. It is an attitude of superiority.<\/strong> The person who makes this statement is the Pharisee who lets the world know how \u201cgodly\u201d he or she is. \u201cLook at how much I give. I must be blessed by God. And this church is blessed by me. You wouldn\u2019t want me to withhold my blessings, would you?\u201d<\/li>\n
  6. It is an attitude of ungodliness.<\/strong> The Enemy loves to hear such statements. When he hears church members say they pay the bills, he knows they are focused on themselves and not Christ. He knows they are divisive instead of instruments of unity. The Enemy knows he\u2019s winning when these contemptible words flow from the mouths of church members.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Yes, I know churches can expend funds in imperfect ways. Yes, I know all churches need systems of accountability and checks and balances with their finances. Yes, I know some churches need greater transparency with their budgets and spending.<\/p>\n

    But there is absolutely no excuse for making threats with the money you and others have given to the church. Such an attitude gives no glory to God.<\/p>\n

    It is one of the most destructive statements a church member can make. It is spoken too often in too many churches. And, if the attitude is allowed to continue, it becomes a cancer that will kill and destroy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The statement is one of the most insidious, destructive, and ungodly statements a member can make. There is nothing good that can come from this statement. Just look at some of the implications of this attitude:","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":693701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"publish_to_discourse":"","publish_post_category":"","wpdc_auto_publish_overridden":"","wpdc_topic_tags":"","wpdc_pin_topic":"","wpdc_pin_until":"","discourse_post_id":"","discourse_permalink":"","wpdc_publishing_response":"","wpdc_publishing_error":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,195,186,177,176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-693700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-answers","category-conflict-and-people-problems","category-health-and-metrics","category-lead","category-revitalize"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOne of the Most Destructive Statements a Church Member Can Make<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The statement is one of the most insidious, destructive, and ungodly statements a member can make. There is nothing good that can come from this statement. Just looks at some of the implications of this attitude:\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"One of the Most Destructive Statements a Church Member Can Make\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The statement is one of the most insidious, destructive, and ungodly statements a member can make. There is nothing good that can come from this statement. Just looks at some of the implications of this attitude:\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Church Answers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-08T07:00:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-07T21:18:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-zeller-699374-unsplash.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Thom S. Rainer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Thom S. Rainer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Thom S. Rainer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47ecb0b82afa1c1b6a9d1003673d2e90\"},\"headline\":\"One of the Most Destructive Statements a Church Member Can Make\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-08T07:00:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-07T21:18:52+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/\"},\"wordCount\":504,\"commentCount\":75,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-zeller-699374-unsplash.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Church Answers\",\"Conflict & People Problems\",\"Health & Metrics\",\"Lead\",\"Revitalize\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/\",\"name\":\"One of the Most Destructive Statements a Church Member Can Make\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-zeller-699374-unsplash.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-08T07:00:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-07T21:18:52+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47ecb0b82afa1c1b6a9d1003673d2e90\"},\"description\":\"The statement is one of the most insidious, destructive, and ungodly statements a member can make. There is nothing good that can come from this statement. Just looks at some of the implications of this attitude:\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-zeller-699374-unsplash.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-zeller-699374-unsplash.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"One of the Most Destructive Statements a Church Member Can Make\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/\",\"name\":\"Church Answers\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47ecb0b82afa1c1b6a9d1003673d2e90\",\"name\":\"Thom S. Rainer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8c3ff1affa60c1a7bb88c4be178b40a86d32ab697f24a7e5802cc5875ab6eae?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8c3ff1affa60c1a7bb88c4be178b40a86d32ab697f24a7e5802cc5875ab6eae?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Thom S. Rainer\"},\"description\":\"With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/author\/thomrainer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"One of the Most Destructive Statements a Church Member Can Make","description":"The statement is one of the most insidious, destructive, and ungodly statements a member can make. There is nothing good that can come from this statement. Just looks at some of the implications of this attitude:","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"One of the Most Destructive Statements a Church Member Can Make","og_description":"The statement is one of the most insidious, destructive, and ungodly statements a member can make. There is nothing good that can come from this statement. Just looks at some of the implications of this attitude:","og_url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/","og_site_name":"Church Answers","article_published_time":"2018-10-08T07:00:37+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-02-07T21:18:52+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-zeller-699374-unsplash.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Thom S. Rainer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Thom S. Rainer","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/"},"author":{"name":"Thom S. Rainer","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47ecb0b82afa1c1b6a9d1003673d2e90"},"headline":"One of the Most Destructive Statements a Church Member Can Make","datePublished":"2018-10-08T07:00:37+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-07T21:18:52+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/"},"wordCount":504,"commentCount":75,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-zeller-699374-unsplash.jpg","articleSection":["Church Answers","Conflict & People Problems","Health & Metrics","Lead","Revitalize"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/","name":"One of the Most Destructive Statements a Church Member Can Make","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-zeller-699374-unsplash.jpg","datePublished":"2018-10-08T07:00:37+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-07T21:18:52+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47ecb0b82afa1c1b6a9d1003673d2e90"},"description":"The statement is one of the most insidious, destructive, and ungodly statements a member can make. There is nothing good that can come from this statement. Just looks at some of the implications of this attitude:","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-zeller-699374-unsplash.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/samuel-zeller-699374-unsplash.jpg","width":1200,"height":800},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/one-destructive-statements-church-member-can-make\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"One of the Most Destructive Statements a Church Member Can Make"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/","name":"Church Answers","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/47ecb0b82afa1c1b6a9d1003673d2e90","name":"Thom S. Rainer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8c3ff1affa60c1a7bb88c4be178b40a86d32ab697f24a7e5802cc5875ab6eae?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a8c3ff1affa60c1a7bb88c4be178b40a86d32ab697f24a7e5802cc5875ab6eae?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Thom S. Rainer"},"description":"With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.","url":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/blog\/author\/thomrainer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693700","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=693700"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693700\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":696602,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/693700\/revisions\/696602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/693701"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=693700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=693700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/churchanswers.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=693700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}