On Feb. 20, I announced to our employees that our income is falling short of what we had budgeted for, and further personnel reductions will be necessary in almost all departments. Most of the affected employees work in Pasadena, but a few are in the field ministry.
Fellow laborers and friends, I sincerely wish that we did not have to terminate the employment of anyone. I wish that our income were going up instead of down. I wish that the cost of following Christ were a little less. I wish that I shared a little less in the suffering. I wish that there were some other way, but I do not know of any. We must adjust our expenses to stay within the income that we really have.
Right now, we have more employees in Pasadena than we have in the U.S. field ministry. We are striving to reverse this ratio.
This will be achieved in the following way: Numerous church employees will be terminated in the next two months. More will be terminated when Imperial Schools closes at the end of this school year. And many will be terminated when we sell our Pasadena properties. (Of course, we hope that the buyer will want to employ many of these dependable workers.) And we are planning to see whether we can make the magazine an independent ministry that pays its own expenses through product sales.
Currently, we spend about $8 million annually to keep the campus in salable shape. We are eager to sell the campus (but not so eager that we'll accept ridiculously low offers) so we can reduce our expenses and so we can invest the money in church operations.
I have mentioned before that I would like to return a sizable portion of each person's contributions to the congregation he or she attends. This idea excites some people so much that they fail to hear what I say next: We can't do this until after we sell the campus!
It is important that we keep our income high enough to maintain current operations. It is extremely difficult to plan when we do not know what our income will be--it's a bit like having a checkbook without knowing how much is in the account.
Friends, we are a church, and we sincerely want headquarters to serve the spiritual needs of our members, rather than thinking that the members exist to serve us. We have made much progress in reorienting our focus, but there is still much that needs to be done.
Our restructuring cannot be done instantly, and we simply can't do everything that members want us to do. We have to set some priorities and make some plans. No matter what we do, somebody will be unhappy, so I am grateful for every supporter.
Our priority as a church headquarters is to serve the local churches. We want to equip each church for works of ministry; we want each pastor to be training and equipping the members for their works of ministry.
Why then would we terminate the employment of a few of our field ministers? The primary reason is that pastors who don't have the spiritual gifts needed for pastoring are not able to effectively lead the members to faith in Jesus Christ and are not able to equip them for works of ministry.
The church has had many financial crises in its past. We have weathered them all. I am confident that our Savior will see us through this one, too. But since he has chosen to work through his people, we do need to let you know our financial needs and remind you of your financial responsibilities toward the church.
In this Worldwide News, I thought it might be helpful to review some of the New Testament scriptures concerning our income--specifically the need that Christians have to provide financial support for the church.
As we know, God's old covenant people had to give at least 10 percent of their income, plus give offerings on other occasions. In contrast, the new covenant does not specify a certain percentage.
However, the underlying principle is still valid: Humans ought to honor God by returning some of the blessings he gives them. Here are three reasons: 1) God blesses those who give. 2) God commands his people to give. 3) The church needs money.
God could supply all our needs miraculously if he wanted to, if that were the only need we had. Instead, he chooses to supply our needs through the contributions of his people. That's because he is not only working in the church as an organization, he is also working in the hearts of his people.
By making the church dependent on the members, he is addressing the most important need we have: that each of us become more closely conformed to the love exemplified by Jesus Christ.
Until Christ returns, the church will always need money. Sometimes the needs will be urgent, sometimes more predictable. There will always be work to do. However, even if the church did not need money, God's people should still give--at the very least, simply because God commands it. And as we know, God's commands are given to us for our own good. Our generosity does not enrich God at all--but it does enrich us (Acts 20:35).
Those who are generous from the heart are becoming more like Christ, putting treasures in heaven for eternity. And God often blesses us in this life, too, for the sacrifices we make in his service (Luke 18:29-30).
It takes faith and trust--trust not so much in the people to whom the money is given, but trust in the living Jesus Christ to follow through on the promises he has made. That's where our faith needs to be--and our actions need to be consistent with our faith.
The apostle Paul gives us some relevant exhortation in 2 Corinthians 8. He was encouraging the Corinthian Christians to give an offering. Although this particular offering was not for himself, what he says is relevant to our need to be generous with the church that is teaching us the gospel of salvation.
Paul mentioned the example of the Macedonian churches, who gave even to the point of self-sacrifice (verses 1-5). Paul is implying that the Corinthians needed to make some sacrifices themselves. But Paul did not command this (verse 8).
Instead, he wanted a change of heart--this is the fruit that he wanted most of all. He wanted the Corinthians to give themselves to the Lord first, and then to others. He wanted their gift to be done in love, not grudgingly (verses 5, 8). Paul reminded them that Christ had become poor for their sakes; the implication is that the Corinthians should be willing to make some financial sacrifices of their own.
Of course, the Corinthians could not give more than they had, and they did not have to impoverish themselves to enrich others. But the rich should share with the poor (verses 12-14). Since some of the Corinthian members were wealthy, Paul was confident that they would give generously (verse 14). He asked them to prove their love (verse 24) and to do as well as he had told the Macedonians that they would (2 Corinthians 9:2-5).
Paul again said that the offering should come from the heart (verses 5-7). He reminded them that God rewards generosity (verses 6-11), and that a good example causes people to praise God and puts the gospel in a favorable setting (verses 12-14). These are good reasons to be generous. Christ has made many sacrifices for us, willingly, not grudgingly, so we also ought to be willing to give to benefit others, to share significant portions of our blessings with others.
This collection was for the poor saints in Judea; it was not designed to support Paul. This gave Paul an extra reason to be confident that the Corinthians would be generous. He was not asking for an addition to ministerial support, but a substitution for it. Paul had not asked for any financial support from Corinth (2 Corinthians 11:7-11; 12:13-16). Instead, he had been supported by Macedonians (11:9).
However, Paul had a right to be supported by the Corinthians, even though he did not use it (1 Corinthians 9:3-15). This passage in Paul's first letter tells us more about our Christian duty to give financial support to the gospel. Workers should be able to receive benefits of their work (verse 7). Priests, soldiers, vineyard workers, herdsmen, oxen, plowers and threshers all receive pay from their work.
Jesus said, "The worker deserves his wages" (Luke 10:7). Paul mentioned these principles again in 1 Timothy 5:17-18. Elders, especially those who preach and teach, should be honored financially as well as with respect.
Jesus also commanded, "Those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel" (1 Corinthians 9:14). This implies, of course, that those who believe the gospel must contribute toward the living expenses of those who preach. There is a financial duty, and there is a promised reward.
Jesus had much to say about our use of money. For example: "Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me," said Jesus to a rich man (Luke 18:22). He said the same thing to his disciples (Luke 12:33).
He praised a widow who put two coins into the temple treasury, because she gave "all she had" (Luke 21:2-4). The new covenant makes astonishing demands on us--it demands all that we have. Of course, that is fair, since Jesus gave all he had for us.
Jesus warns us about the dangers of greed and about the danger of storing up wealth for self without being "rich toward God" (Luke 12:15-21). When we use wealth to help others, however, we gain "treasure in heaven" (verse 33). Generosity helps us have our heart in heavenly things instead of earthly, temporary things (verse 34).
In summary, Christians have a spiritual need to give, to share their resources and blessings with others. They have a duty to support the preaching of the gospel and give financial support to their leaders.
The old covenant was glorious, but the new has a much greater glory. The old covenant demanded 10 percent; the new commands us to give as we are able. How shall we respond to the better blessings we are given in the covenant of liberty? Each of us must examine our hearts before the Lamb of God, realizing he gave everything he had for us.
Although the new covenant does not specify a percentage for giving, it does not tell us to give less. Instead, it tells us to give what we can. The new covenant requires more soul-searching, more training for the conscience, more selfless love for others, more faith, more voluntary sacrifice and less compulsion. It tests our values, what we treasure most, and where our hearts really are.
Fortunately, God has given most of you that kind of faith, and I thank the Lord for your support.
Christians should examine their circumstances and the blessings they have been given in the new covenant--blessings such as the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit and the promise of eternal life.
I believe that when we truly understand how much has been given to us, we will respond with greater generosity to support the church in its collective work of preaching the gospel and providing for the congregations and pastors.
I do not want to belabor the point, but I want to make it clear. The church does have financial needs. Members do have financial responsibilities toward the church. And God does bless the cheerful giver.
Thank you, my friends and family, for your support in these stressful times. I love you all and pray for you regularly.
Dear brothers and sisters, when we committed our lives to following Jesus Christ, we were warned that it would not be easy. Our Lord has revealed to us things we didn't necessarily want to know, but we have followed him anyway. He is the Head of the church. It is to him that we look for guidance and help.
I would like to set aside the weekend of March 29-30-31 as a weekend of prayer and fasting. This is the weekend just before we participate in the Lord's Supper service on April 2. I would like each member to choose one of these three days to dedicate extra time to drawing closer to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Prayer and fasting is not a method of getting our own way with God. Rather, it should be used to humble us to accept God's will for us. With that in mind, I would like our prayers on the weekend of March 29-30-31 to focus on the following:
* Pray that each member will be profoundly thankful for Jesus' sacrifice for us. He loved us so much that he died for us even when we were his enemies. His love is greater than our ability to understand it (Ephesians 3:19).
* Pray that we will all respond to Jesus' love by growing in our love for him. We want to love him with all our emotions, all our thoughts, all our actions--all our lives (Matthew 22:37).
* Pray that each member will experience the joy of salvation (Psalm 51:12)--the supreme blessing of knowing that we are cleansed of sin, forgiven, assured of salvation through faith in Jesus, and that through his saving work, we will live with God for all eternity.
* Pray that we will all, through faith in our Savior, have "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding" (Philippians 4:7). Let us come to Jesus and accept the rest that he gives (Matthew 11:28-30).
* Pray for greater understanding that Jesus Christ lives in us, giving us the love, joy and peace that we need, leading us closer to him, leading us to worship, serve and obey him, to live for him (2 Corinthians 5:15).
* Pray for one another, that you might strengthen the faith of your brothers and sisters, that the strong might help the weak, that we might all seek the strength that comes from Jesus Christ.
* Pray for your local pastors and leaders, that our Lord will strengthen them to cope with the many stresses they face, that they might lead the flock in the way that the Chief Shepherd wants.
* Pray for the employees who are losing their jobs. When one member suffers, we all suffer. We have suffered many things, and we need the support of one another.
* Pray for the decisions we must make in reorganizing the structure of the church, in delegating more responsibility to the local pastors, in equipping all willing members for personal ministry opportunities.
* Pray that the Lord of the harvest supply the finances that we need to do his work, and pray that we find ways to use what he provides to serve his people effectively.
I pray, as Paul did, "that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen" (Ephesians 3:16-21).
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