Selling Faith?

So much of ministry is in its marketing. I do a lot of thinking about that -- some talking too -- and I still don't know exactly how I feel about it. It's my job, for crying out loud. And I love it. But it's baffling.

I was talking to a retired businessman some time ago who's done quite well for himself. I casually made a sarcastic greed-is-good comment. Big mistake. He did the vocal equivalent of snapping my neck over it. His emphatic point was that capitalism is not based on greed, it's based on the freedom of mankind. Something he said formed the impression in me: greed is as much a corruption of capitalism as dictatorship is of communism. Each has a unique susceptibility to vice, but is not in itself the cause of it.

But, be all that as it may, mixing faith with money doesn't quite seem to jibe. It just sounds bad. It sounds calloused, or at the very least contaminated by the very secular ideology that we're supposed to be steering clear of. The flickery image of countless fallen, crocodile-tear-shedding televangelists appears in my mind's eye. But again, that's corruption. Is it actually possible that market forces could have something to offer the church?

All my life I've been told from countless pulpits that having money is not, in itself, a bad thing. Y'know, we're told "it's what you do with it that counts". But if you give it all away, spend it or lose it, you don't have it. That's the paradox. So which is it people?

Do you believe that the only reason that we've been blessed in rich North America is to bless others? I'm on the side of the fence that says that's a fallacy. We bless others because we should. That's the policy, and it's not supposed to be conditioned by ability, or lack thereof. And it's not being true to our own culture which was formed so long ago on strong values. Values that have enabled us to achieve so much peace, and prosperity. If we forsake that culture, what do we have to offer any other, practically speaking?

If we all threw up our hands and proclaimed "That's it! I'm giving everything I own to an African village!" I foresee at least two major issues. Firstly, who's going to continue to reach out to Canada/North America on its own terms? In its own language? Need I mention it's expensive to speak that language? And secondly, where did the idea come from that money is going to solve any problem in Africa (or wherever)? There are definite ways that money can help, but it generally causes more distress than it appeases. I'm gradually coining a phrase along the lines of "There's no sum of money so small, or so large, it can't cause pain".

And another that goes "There's no such thing as a perfect decision". I'm starting to accept the implications of that one. It's messy, but that's OK. I'll keep trying to do my best. And I'll keep doing everything I can to point people to the Truth.