“Jesus
said, “If you want to be complete, go, sell what you own, and give the money to
the poor. Then you will have treasure in
heaven. And come follow me.” But when the young man heard this, he went
away saddened, because he had many possessions. -Matthew
19:21,22 CEB
A recent cover story on Bloomberg
Businessweek has stirred up a good bit of controversy on the question of
church finances. The story explores the
massive financial empire that is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints (Mormons). What is so interesting
is that the controversy has been more about the cover art on the magazine than
about the content of the article.
The cover depicts the moment recalled in Mormon history when
John the Baptist confers the priesthood upon Joseph Smith. The satirical scene features John the Baptist
saying, “"and thou shalt build
a shopping mall, own stock in Burger King, and open a Polynesian theme park in
Hawaii that shall be largely exempt from the frustrations of tax ..." To be
sure the parody is not as tasteless as the infamous Campari ad in Hustler magazine featuring a fictional
interview with Jerry Falwell that led to a showdown in the Supreme Court. Nonetheless, it has garnered a great deal of
conversation and comment.
The cover is in
bad taste. But it is not the issue. The issue is a church that has more than $40
Billion in business holdings not to mention the $8 Billion in tithes received
annually from the tithes of its members.
$40 Billion. For the sake of
perspective, the total market capitalization of Ford Motor Company is $35.4
Billion and the Mormon church has business holdings of $40 Billion.
Nothing the
Mormon Church has done is illegal or even unethical from a business
perspective. At least there is nothing
notable enough to make it into the article or subsequent reporting. There is nothing illegal about a church
having large financial holdings. The
issue is not HOW they accumulated such massive holdings but THAT they did. Like the old saying goes, it takes money to
make money so at some points over time church leaders chose to use the church’s
assets to buy land (more than 1,000,000 acres of US farmland), franchise
businesses and real estate holdings. In
each of those transactions a conscious decision was made to use funds to build
business assets rather than to feed the hungry, house the homeless, heal the
sick or bring comfort to those in times of need.
That should give
members and nonmembers of the church pause.
That priority
should be put on the relief of suffering in the world is at the heart of Jesus
message. I am not an expert on the Book
of Mormon by any means, but I very much doubt that it seeks to overturn Jesus’
teachings to the degree that priority is not on profit. When we, as individuals or communities, fail
to remember Jesus’ call to care for the poor we find ourselves in position of
the rich young man; fearfully clinging to the things of this world for fear of
losing them forever.
When you control
a vast financial empire that stretches into almost every part of life, can you
be an effective witness against your own interest? I other words, if you own shopping malls can
you effectively speak against over consumption?
If you own fast food restaurants can you be an effective witness against
predatory marketing toward children? It
is difficult to witness against the unjust structures of the world when you
depend on those very structures for return on your investment.
Our churches
exist in the world and we have a responsibility to act both faithfully and
responsibly with the assets in our care.
In some cases, it is the residual impact of generous gifts given in the
past that make present ministries possible.
To be foolish or wasteful with the resources at our disposal would be to break faith with those who gave them. We also break faith, this time with God, when we fail to use those gifts for the benefit of God's people.
When Jesus tells the rich young man to sell all he has and give it to the poor, the young man is saddened because he feared losing what he had in this world. He cannot bring himself to follow Jesus because the cost is just too high. What if being church meant not owning a shopping mall? Or oil wells? Or whatever other assets may need to be disposed of if we are to be free to follow Jesus. When the assets of the church become burdensome treasures and we begin to hold them back today for fear of needing them tomorrow, they cease to be a blessing to our shared ministry and become, instead, a stumbling block to faithfulness.
There is a fine line between responsible stewardship and fearful
hoarding. The call of the church is to
live into the first without falling victim to the second.
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