Linking: "The Celebrity Pastor Factory"

Skye Jethani has written a bold article entitled The Celebrity Pastor Factory. The author discusses the way in which publishing companies have an unhealthy influence on the rise of certain pastors to positions of celebrity within the church.

The money quote:

In summary, the rise and fall of any celebrity pastor is merely a symptom of an underlying malady within American evangelicalism. Why are there now so many celebrity pastors? Because they generate a lot of revenue for the Evangelical Industrial Complex. Why do these pastors fall with such regularity? Because the Evangelical Industrial Complex uses a business standard rather than a biblical standard when deciding which leaders to promote.

Throughout the piece the author explains how what he refers to as the Evangelical Industrial Complex drives the growing trend that is celebrity pastors. At the conclusion of the article he offers three suggestions for what we can do about this mess.

I encourage you to read Jethani's post. He has a perspective on this subject that I had not previously read.

(HT: Challies)

#MildlyOffensive

How Much Would It Cost Me to Attend Ligonier?!?!

A few days I ago I received a flyer in the mail for the 2016 Ligonier National Conference. It is addressed to "Pastor and Mrs. Eric Carpenter." I guess they don't realized that I resigned from professional pastoring five years ago. That's probably because I haven't attended a Ligonier conference in five years either.

As theology conferences go, Ligonier is a good one. The line up of speakers is usually excellent, and the topics are both interesting and relevant. This year's focus - the Gospel - could not be better. Part of me would really like to attend. However, since I'll be working I won't be going (when I attended Ligonier conferences in 2009 and 2010 I was employed as a salaried pastor; thus, I had all sorts of free time to travel to Orlando for a few days).

If I had the time, just how much would it cost me to attend? Let's do the math.

If I registered right now it would cost $169.00. Prices increase as the conference approaches.

The Meal Plan for four meals is $59.00.

The cheapest hotel reservation is $79.00. However, with taxes included the cost would rise to close to $100.00. The schedule calls for two nights; total hotel cost equals $200.00.

Gasoline cost from Savannah to Orlando and back would be somewhere in the vicinity of $100.00.

Meals to and from Orlando would be about $25.00.

The cost, then, for me to attend the 2016 Ligonier National Conference would be a whopping $553.00.

That is a lot of money.

Of course, when I last attended Ligonier I was a pastor; therefore, I let the church pick up the tab since it was part of my monthly expenses. That means that hard working people back home in Savannah shelled out hundreds of hard-earned dollars for me to sit and listen for three days. It was a good deal for me.

Did I forget to mention the books? Like most conferences, Ligonier has a large room full of theology texts, all for sale. These go on the pastor's expense account, too.

Something is not right with this picture.

Meme Sunday

Not a Bad Idea...

Um...could I have Channel 3 please?

Why the Institution's Top Priority is Self-Preservation

Institutional Christianity has three non-negotiable characteristics. First, the leaders are "experts" from outside the church family who are paid salaries to preach, marry, baptize, and bury. They are administrators (otherwise known as pastors). Second, scripted religious ceremonies that take place on Sundays are the high point of the church week. These we know as worship services. Third, expensive buildings are the location for large church gatherings, but these edifices sit mostly empty for the vast majority of the time. They are so ingrained in the life of the church that the buildings are often referred to as "the church."

The above three attributes - pastor(s), worship services, and expensive buildings form a sort of unholy Trinity that stifles church life. These three go largely unquestioned by the vast majority of Christians.

One of the three in particular is the primary reason that self-preservation is the top priority for the institution. That one is the building.

Institutional thinking goes like this: Doing ministry occurs primarily in the building. A church building requires significant money. The need for money requires a focus on giving by the church to the church. This leads inevitably to a focus upon self-preservation. This is part of the reason why pastors usually preach at least an annual dreaded "stewardship series" (translated as "Why you should be giving more money to the church").

Further exacerbating the focus upon self-preservation is the pastoral salaries. This can consume a massive portion of the church offerings. The pastor, who usually does most of the preaching, therefore speaks repeatedly about how "God wants you to give to the church." After all, the pastor's income depends upon it.

The constant need for money by institutional churches actually has very little to do with true ministry. Rather, it stems from local churches needing to pay their bills; and their two largest bills are the building mortgage/utilities and pastoral salaries. This necessitates self-preservation as priority numero uno.

Many churches like to say what the most important thing is to them. Some say the Great Commission, some say caring for the poor and needy, others say preaching and teaching, while others say prayer. None of these are accurate.

When it comes to the institution, the dirty little secret is that the top priority is unfailingly one of self-preservation. Everything else falls in line after that.

Meme Sunday

A Church Budget Can and Should Be This Simple

I'm not generally a fan of church budgets. They are frequently complicated and self-serving. Too often they show what the church has become: a business.

Churches need better budgets. Well, I have a suggestion. Below is a simple and appropriate budget that I believe all churches should use:


40% to needy people outside the church
40% to needy people inside the church
20% to international missionaries


There it is. Simple and appropriate.

Questions and Answers

I've been gradually answering a series of questions that I raised back in May in the post entitled Sorry, But I Can't Stop Asking Questions. We've made it to July, and I'm still answering them. This is dragging on too long. Therefore, I'm going to finish the final six questions right now.

Why do so many simple church folks have poorly-defined doctrine?

Having swum in the simple church waters for a while now, I realize that a significant number of these Christians have fairly poor or at least poorly-defined doctrine. I'm referring to significant issues such as the gospel itself (obviously the most important), the reality of Hell, homosexuality, women's roles, etc. Why has this happened? While I'm sure many different reasons exist, the primary one may be that many simple church people tend to "go it alone" when coming to their own beliefs. They pick and choose whatever they feel comfortable with, not bothering to compare those beliefs to historic Christianity. I'm all for studying the scriptures to find what is true; however, this ought to be done in primarily in community as opposed to isolation.

One further thought: plenty of institutional Christians have poor doctrine. This stems from drinking the Kool-Aid of bad teaching from the pulpit. Denomination after denomination in this country has stated beliefs and practices that have little to nothing to do with the bible. Just take a quick look, for example, at the Episcopalian Church. They hardly resemble Christianity at all.

The truth is that poor doctrine exists everywhere. We must let the bible drive what we believe and come to those beliefs within the setting that is the body of Christ.

Why do churches spend so much money on themselves?

This is an easy one to answer. The institutionalized church has one great, often unstated goal: self-preservation. This is why it spends almost all of its tithes and offerings on paying its own bills. After paying the pastoral salaries and building expenses there is little left over to give to anyone in need. An additional factor is that American Christians like comfort; the buildings must be nice.

Why do churches deny any Christians access to the Lord's table?

I believe this is done with good but ignorant intentions. It also occurs not within the New Testament's model of a full meal, but rather during the ceremonial Lord's Suppers that feel like funerals.

Some pastors are afraid that non-believers will partake of the small cup of juice and the stale cracker. Therefore, they only allow "local church members" to eat it. In doing so, they are denying access to the table. What a mockery this is! Who is the pastor to deny access to the Lord's table to any believer? It is the Lord's after all.

Within institutional Christianity the entire Lord's Supper has become a big mess. It does not even remotely resemble the joyful family meals we read about in the New Testament. It needs an entire reformation.

Why do many Christians invest so much in secular politics?

The answer is that many believe that the USA is some sort of second Israel. "God is going to change the world through the red, white, and blue!" Wrong! God has never made any promises to America. Also, these Christians simply do not understand (or refuse to) that the church should function outside of politics. The church is a spiritual reality. It operates according to God's principles. To mesh with politics always brings harm and disappointment to the church.

Why do we divide over so many inconsequential issues?

We divide because we want to be right. We do not believe that we can stand united with other Christians who believe differently than we do on doctrines of secondary importance. Division is the easy thing to do; it's a much more challenging task to live peaceably with those who disagree with us. Also, we don't take God's commands for unity seriously; we act as if they are optional.

Why do we expect secularists to care about Christian principles?

I'm always amused when I hear Christians bemoan the state of our society. I cannot figure out why Christians think that a secular culture would care at all about what God has to say about anything. Frankly, what amazes me is that the USA is not worse off morally and ethically than it is. The fact is that man's heart is cold to the things of God until God works the miracle of regeneration. We ought to expect a lot less from society and a lot more from the church. The church alone can see with spiritual eyes. We alone should be caring for what God wants. We tend to hold society to too high a standard while we give the church a free pass. The church ought to be the beacon God intends it to be. Let's hold each other to a higher standard.

Why Are So Many Pastors Paid Salaries?

This is a question I had to wrestle with when I was a professional pastor. I resigned because I came to the conclusion that the bible does not support the practice of pastors receiving salaries. Why, then, do so many churches continue this practice? (This question comes from my prior post Sorry, But I Can't Stop Asking Questions).

Five reasons stand out to me as to why this keeps happening:

1. Church history. Roman Catholic priests received payment of various sorts. The Reformers kept this practice, as they did many other Roman aspects of church life.

2. Misinterpretation of scripture. Nowhere in the New Testament is it said that pastors should receive regular salaries. The I Corinthians 9 passage refers to traveling evangelists, not pastors. As for I Timothy 5, "double honor" may or may not be talking about money. However, if it is then it's referring to love gifts after the fact as opposed to salaries given beforehand.

3. People think they need an "expert." The folks in the pews want a person to come in from the outside who has attended seminary. He's given a salary to preach, administer, and coordinate the worship ceremonies.

4. Pastors like it. I can say from experience that it is nice to receive a paycheck for studying the bible and reading theological books much of the time. Why would pastors ever speak against this? Instead, what they do is perpetuate it.

5. "It's what we've always done." Churches have been paying salaries to pastors for so long that many people cannot imagine any alternative.


The above five reasons are not exhaustive. Churches have their combination of reasons for handing out salaries to pastors. The big problem is that they have no scriptural support for doing so.

Reason #23 - Professional Pastors Are, In Fact, Professionals

The title of this post borders on redundancy. That was purposeful on my part.

Professional pastors by definition are professionals. They do certain things and receive payment for doing them. Very few of these men would continue to do those same things if they weren't paid (they might want to do them, but they wouldn't have time since they'd be working a regular job).

When a pastor begins his time at a church he signs some sort of contract. The church agrees to provide him with a certain package (salary, insurance, retirement, etc.) while he agrees to preach, baptize, marry, bury, visit, etc. The pastor supplies the services while the church supplies the money. It is a clear agreement between two parties.

What I've described above is the definition of a professional.

It ought not be this way. Scripture shows us churches free of this sort of professionalism. Elders (as opposed to modern-style pastors) were men who were simply part of the body. They were recognized for what they already were: godly individuals who were growing to be more Christlike while helping others do the same. These men may have received some financial gifts from time to time, but nothing in the bible suggests that they ever received salaries for their actions.

Well-known author John Piper has written a book entitled Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. The book is directed to pastors. I enjoyed reading it; it's well-written and thought out. However, and this is a big however, Piper is wrong in the very title of the book. The fact is that professional pastors are, in fact, professionals.

Today is a great day for all professional pastors to resign. The church will benefit greatly from turning to a biblical model of elders and away from salaried experts.


(This is part twenty-three of my blog series 25 Reasons Professional Pastors Should Resign.)

Reason #20 - Professional Pastors' Salaries Give the Message That the Church Should Spend Money on Itself

What do today's churches generally spend money on?

The answer is a simple and profound three-headed monster: pastors, buildings, and programs. The vast majority of most church budgets go toward covering these three things. The budgets themselves may seem more complicated than this, and in detail they probably are. However, when looking at the big picture it is clear that a huge percentage of the funds are used to pay for the salaries of the pastor(s), building mortgage and upkeep, and a wide variety of programs.

What's wrong with this situation?

What's wrong is that Jesus himself instructed his followers to give to meet the needs of others.

When the church spends most of its money on itself, it is disobeying Christ's command to help those who cannot help themselves. Putting a check in an offering plate, knowing that it will largely go toward pastors, buildings, and programs, does not exactly conform to Jesus' wishes.

Professional pastors sit right at the heart of this sordid situation. They actually take home more money from the church than goes to meet the needs of those who have no where else to turn. As a salaried pastor myself, I always felt weird putting a check in the offering plate, knowing that some of that same money would come back to me in the form of a paycheck. The longer I toiled as pastor the worse I felt.

When pastors accept a paycheck for services rendered, they give the message to the entire church family that it is just fine for the church to spend most of its money on itself. It ought not be this way.

Professional pastor friends, please resign today. The message you will send will be a blessed one.


(The above is part twenty of 25 Reasons Professional Pastors Should Resign.)

Reason #18 - Professional Pastors Keep Money From Going to the Poor and Needy

Simple math: a church has a finite amount of money to spend.

If a local body decides to pay a pastor a salary, then a large portion of the money taken in is already gone. A pastor's "package" may cost the church $50,000 per year (maybe more, maybe less). That means that the believers in that church have to give over 50 grand for any money to go toward anything else.

Of course, a local body that pays a pastor likely also has to pay for a large building. There goes the next massive chunk. So before any money can be spent on anything else, the pastor and the mortgage company must be paid.

The simple math is that if a church pays a pastor a salary, then it has far less money to give to those who truly need it: the poor and needy. When we look in the bible, we see numerous exhortations to care for those who are unable to care for themselves. We see in scripture the church give its money away to those who have little to no means of making money of any kind. The poor and needy can be those inside the church or outside.

The sick irony is that most pastors are, in fact, quite capable of working real jobs to support themselves and their families. They do not qualify as "the poor and needy." I quit as a professional pastor and have held down a regular job for four years. It is not, as they say, "rocket science."

Professional pastors ought to all resign immediately because they are keeping money from going to the poor and needy. It is as simple as that.


(This is post eighteen of 25 Reasons Professional Pastors Should Resign.)

Reason #15 - Professional Pastors Preach Tithing In Order to Get the People to Give Enough to Pay Their Salaries

Institutional churches have to take in a certain amount of money to pay for their primary expenses: building costs and pastoral salaries. This is often a challenge for churches. In order to deal with this situation, many pastors resort to preaching about the tithe.

The main problem with this is that the tithe is an Old Covenant concept that has absolutely no application for those who are part of the New Covenant. Jesus Christ never told His followers to pay the tithe (in Matthew 23:23 Jesus is speaking to Pharisees, not believers). Acts through Revelation shows not even one instance of Christians paying the tithe.

Let me repeat: Christians do not have to pay a tithe.

For pastors to preach that Christ-followers must pay the tithe is a massive error. The interpretive gymnastics it requires boggle the mind. Even if they could state with a straight face that the tithe is binding, they then would need to say that payment goes for temple upkeep in Jerusalem (of course there is no temple, but I digress). Instead, pastors then say that this tithe should be paid to the local church, not in farm goods such as wheat but in cold, hard cash.

The irresponsibility of this type of hermeneutical manipulation is staggering. Pastors who do it should be ashamed. They do not interpret the rest of the bible in this manner.

One way to stop this sad situation is to have churches stop paying salaries for pastors. That would likely do away immediately with most tithe-preaching.


(The above is part fifteen of 25 Reasons Professional Pastors Should Resign.)

Reason #12 - Professional Pastors Suggest That Payment Should Be Given For Service

Professional Pastors by definition receive a salary. This salary comes in exchange for services rendered. The problem with this arrangement is that both the pastor and the church are strongly implying that payment should be given for any service done for anyone else.

When we look in scripture we see many exhortations to serve others. Jesus Christ himself was the ultimate server. Throughout his ministry he gave of himself constantly. Our Lord took care of need after need after need. He, of course, had supernatural abilities that the rest of us do not have. However, we are not expected to heal people's illnesses. What Jesus was doing was providing a model for us of serving free of charge. Jesus never expected any money from the folks he helped.

As we move through the rest of the New Testament we find numerous encouragements and commands to the church to serve others sacrificially. This is one of the marks of the body of Christ that makes it unique. The world offers services for payment. This is not an evil in and of itself; for example, I receive a paycheck for performing my daily duties at JCB. That said, we followers of Jesus are not expected to ever give of ourselves in the name of Christ for payment of any kind.

The problem of pastors serving in exchange for a paycheck stems back the modern church's idea that pastors are professionals. They ought not be. No where in the bible is it indicated that pastors are a set apart, special class that gets to receive money for doing for others. This is a man-made phenomenon.

If modern churches were to be consistent, they should give paychecks to anybody in the church who serves anybody else. I imagine that would increase the amount of service going on (sarcasm alert).

To sum up, the church sends a dangerous message when it gives paychecks to pastors. Pastors are irresponsible in accepting them. Their message is loud and clear: service demands payment. This should be sickening to the body of Christ.


(This is post twelve as part of 25 Reasons Professional Pastors Should Resign.)

Adding a Give Button to My Blog

Most Give Buttons ask you to donate money to some sort of institutional ministry. Not this one.

Instead, my Give Button is simply a reminder to give generously and freely when you see someone in need. It's really that simple. Money/goods should flow out of our hands relatively easily when we come into contact with folks who have needs that they cannot meet.

"Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." II Cor. 9:7

New Church ATM

(reverendfun.com)

Church Simply: Giving Without Compulsion. Giving to Meet Needs.

Much of the giving that takes place within the church is done under compulsion.

Most of us have been told that it is required for us to give to the church to support its ministries, building projects, etc. We've heard that we must pay the tithe in order for God to open up the store house. We've been guilted into putting money into the offering plate in order to pay pastoral salaries. This is all hogwash.

God's intent is that his church give freely and without compulsion. The passage that best illustatres this is II Corinthians 9:6-7. Paul writes the following, "The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."

Giving is important. In fact, it should be a primary mark of the church. However, this giving is far different in motivation that the usual guilt-inducing speeches we've all so often heard. We New Covenant people are not under any sort of tithe. Rather, motivated by the Holy Spirit, we are to give generously as we have decided. Paul clearly writes "not reluctantly or under compulsion." We give as the Spirit prompts.

To what or whom should we give? In the New Testament we see believers give to meet people's basic needs. Acts 4:32-35 informs us:

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

That passage still amazes me every time I read it. What a challenge to us! And what an opportunity as well.

The above photo shows a person with open hands. This represents two things related to giving. Some are in a position to give and open their hands to do so. Others need help and open their hands to receive.

My encouragement to you is to give freely, generously, and joyfully. When you see a need meet it. This may occur either inside or outside the church body. Don't feel guilty if you go a while without giving. You may at other times find yourself giving so much that you cannot believe it. Additionally, avoid the pride of not accepting gifts from others. You may sometimes or many times need the help.

Give, give, and give. Just do so for the right reasons.

Jesus Christ and the Tithe

Continuing in this series on Old Testament interpretive problems, we now come to one of the largest, most ubiquitous, and most disturbing: the tithe.

We've probably all attended worship services of one type or another where the pastor has spoken on the supposed importance of the tithe. Most of the time the audience is made to feel guilty (see above comic), being told that if they don't give 10% (before taxes no less) to the church then they are in sin. Ouch. But is this accurate? What did Jesus say to his followers about the tithe? Did he want them to give 10%? And by extension, does Christ expect us to give the same?

(As an aside, in the OT the tithe often came out to significantly more than 10%. The 10% figure is just a simplistic one that many in the church like to use today because it is simple.)

So, do we have to tithe? The answer is NO. Jesus does not expect us to give 10%. The tithe is an Old Covenant concept. It dealt mainly with giving of agricultural items for support of the temple. It never focused on money. Only those under the OT law had to follow it.

Nowhere are any New Covenant people told to pay the tithe. Jesus never instructs his followers to pay the tithe. None of the writers of the New Testament tell Christ's followers to pay the tithe. As we read through the NT, we never see believers paying the tithe.

But what about Matthew 23:23-24? It says:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel!

The key to the above passage is who Jesus is talking to: pharisees. They are part of the Old Covenant, and by extension still under the law. They are hardly Christ's followers. Additionally, note that Jesus mentions mint and dill and cumin, not money. Finally, Jesus' emphasis is actually what they are neglecting: justice and mercy and faithfulness.

What, then, are we to give? Paul tells us in II Corinthians 9:6-8:

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

Part of living by faith is giving as the Holy Spirit leads. This will differ from person to person and situation to situation. They key is that we take care of one another in the body of Christ, and that we help the poor as given the opportunity.

To sum up, we do not have to follow the practice of OT tithing. It has no bearing upon our lives. Those who say it does are interpreting the Old Testament extremely poorly; this continues to be a scourge upon the church today.

Give generously, give joyfully, and give freely! This is what it is to live in the Spirit!


To read a short, excellent book on tithing from a Christian perspective, click here.

To visit a website that deals with this topic in much detail, click here.

To read a silly comic, look below:

All Salaried Pastors Everywhere, Please Resign!

This is a call to all salaried pastors everywhere on earth: please resign right now!

Christ's church has both much potential and many problems. The church could be so much more if Christ's people en masse lived as the priests they already are. One of the biggest roadblocks to an active, thriving church is salaried pastors. I should know; I used to be one.

The salaried pastorate inadvertently keeps the church shackled. A damaging co-dependent relationship exists between paid pastors and the people in the pews: the pastor(s) gets paid to "do the work of the ministry" while the people largely sit and watch. Despite good intentions, this relationship stifles the good that the church can do and the wondrous thing it can be.

I do not sugarcoat or soften this call in any way. I believe all pastors who receive salaries from churches should resign today. This applies to all places on earth. Do not worry; you are not indispensable to the church. The Holy Spirit can lead things just fine on His own. In your absence, He will raise up elders from within the body who will lead through servanthood.

Rather than leaving the churches where you are employed, I'm simply stating that you should resign from your positions. Consider teaching about why this will help the church. Stay there. Change your role. Lead through service instead of decision making. Become one of the body, equal with everybody else. Encourage others to lead in their various areas of gifting. Stay in the background.

Please, pastor friend and brother in Christ, resign now. God will take care of you. He provides for me and my family each day. It won't be easy, but Christ did not call us to lives of ease. Rather, He called us to live as part of His priesthood and encourage/exhort others to do the same. We are all part of one body, all needed by the whole.

Resign and watch what the Holy Spirit will do. It will be an exciting ride and one that will please the Lord.