An article by Cultwatch Director Mark Vrankovich (edited)
(full article at http://www.cultwatch.com/HowPastorsGetRich.html)
Doesn't take a genius to see what's happening around us, if you'd only open your eyes big big.
Introduction
Like Judas reaching into the money bag, the sad reality is that a small minority of Christian pastors steal from God's people. I believe we must, because it is our duty to protect our less aware brothers and sisters - keeping them from these thieves.
Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. - 2 Corinthians 2:17a
Here exposed are the secret techniques used to fleece money from God's people. Don't be naive thinking that these schemes have spread throughout the world by accident. These techniques are talked about and shared behind closed doors by the clique of pastors who employ them.
It's big business. Some of them laugh at us like con-men laughing at their marks. Seriously, if you don't believe that there are men like that, then watch the 1972 documentary Marjoe. .
Let's discover the primary pattern behind their methods...
The Christian Speaking Circuit
If you have a big market (congregation) and are willing to let others come and sell there, then your fellow pastors will invite you to come and sell into their markets (congregations) too. The bigger your own market, the larger the markets that will open their doors to you - as long as you are willing to reciprocate. Quid pro quo.
Pastor Owned Businesses that Feed Off the Flock
Another way bad pastors extract money from their captive market is to set up a business, and then get their congregation to patronize their business.
Businesses like: bookshops, counseling, gyms, production firms, computer consulting, cinemas, business coaching services, supermarkets, building firms, music festivals, music studios, real-estate firms, and many more. The bookshop is the most common, often located inside the church itself.
The Honor The Pastor Scam
Money focused churches tend to be run on cultic patterns. One of these cultic patterns is the division of the church into exclusive rings: the all-powerful pastor perched at the center, the inner-ring of sycophants around him consisting of the pastor's lieutenants and the church's privileged class (the rich, the famous and the very pretty), and the outer-ring of the ordinary folk who would love to be in the inner-ring, but are not.
The power of those in the inner-ring is determined by the amount of favor the pastor bestows upon them.
To get more favor the inner-ring will employ many favor-currying measures, one of which is a scam called "Honoring the Pastor". It works this way, the inner-ring will figure out what the pastor would like, say for his birthday. Then the inner-ringers will squeeze the outer-ringers for the money to buy this item.
High Pressure Offerings
Another way the pastor uses his inner-ring to extract cash, is via high pressure offering talks in the church services.
One of the church's inner-ring will take the Sunday offering, which in these money focused churches can turn into a mini-sermon. These inner-ring members are competing against each other's past high scores. At stake is their standing with the pastor and hence their standing in the church. If they rake in the cash then their position is secure, but if they score low then no matter what excuses they have they know the pastor will blame them.
Cathedral Building Wars
Like the cathedral building wars in the middle ages where cities and countries vied against each other to build the most impressive cathedral. The pastors of these money focused churches fight to own the most impressive church to top their rival pastors - their egos demand that they are the king of the heap.
The most impressive churches require the most magnificent buildings, the most professional entertainment in their services, the best church programs, and the best conferences, the best websites, the best radio and TV programs, and the most members. All this costs a lot of money.
And just like in the days of old these self anointed church kings seek to tax their subjects to fund their private war.
Siphoning Cash into Property
Is it ethical for the pastor (or his company or trust) to own property that the church is paying for? Of course not.
Another variation on this scam is the church trust being controlled by the pastor and his family, so they control both the church's cash and property.
Some of these pastors are very clever in how they hide the money trail. But ultimately if church money is paying for an asset the pastor owns, except via his wages of course, then it is almost certainly wrong. Imagine the furor if a politician was caught siphoning off government money into property or assets owned by himself.
Excessive Wages
Obviously one of the ways greedy pastors can extract money from God's people is via excessive wages. The amount of which they will often decide themselves, or have conferred on them by their sycophants (via the church board, or the church wages review committee, for example).
If your pastor refuses to be open about his wage then be very suspicious. It is likely he knows that the amount would be considered excessive. If it is excessive, then watch him dodge the issue like a sweaty politician.
Be even more suspicious whenever you hear a pastor's wage being justified by comparing him to a CEO. If you hear this CEO nonsense then you can instantly know two things: first, the pastor's wage is massive; second, you are being scammed. A pastor is not a CEO no matter how big his church empire is; a CEO runs a for monetary-profit organization, a pastors serves the people of God - they are not the same thing.
Perks
Expensive leased cars, holidays, clothing allowances, spending money, restaurant meals, hotels, flights, and expense accounts, are some of the perks demanded by these luxury smitten pastors.
Some say that if they are preaching the "prosperity gospel", then they have to appear prosperous to "walk their talk". But of course that is a deception. They are using God's money to misrepresent how wealthy they are, to help prove their false teaching works. Despicable.
Nepotism
A church isn't a family business you know; it is a family, but it's not a business.
Are the pastor's relatives high up in the church? Are they the ones with the most powerful positions? Then that is nepotism. A good church will choose the very best people for the job, while a bad church will reward those closest to the pastor with the lucrative positions of power.
If you see nepotism, then that is a sign that something is very wrong.
Their Fabricated Tithing Doctrine
This is the big daddy. This is their sacred cow. This is the beating heart of their evil empire. The crown jewel. The Death Star. The one ring to bill them all. The pot of gold. Their matrix (into which they want to plug you). Their Wizard of Oz. Their magic spell. Their special power. Their secret recipe with the eleven herbs and spices. Their Golden Goose. The very air upon which they breathe!
Question this doctrine and watch these money hungry pastors bare their fangs. This is a teaching that they will bear no compromise on. Tithing, or at least their own version of tithing, is their one true love.
It may come as a surprise to learn that their tithing doctrine is a combination of twisted scriptures and wishful thinking, as opposed to solid Biblical exegesis reflecting a central thrust of New Testament teaching. Here is their tithing doctrine stated in a nutshell:
"Christians must give ten percent of their gross income only to their church organization. If they do, then God will bless them for any offerings they make to the church organization beyond this ten percent. But if they do not give ten percent gross, then they are stealing from God and God will curse them."
There are variations of this teaching, and sometimes it is called a "principle", but the above definition contains the core essence of this doctrine.
The Carrot and the Stick
These pastors are not only money hungry, but often power hungry too. They want to be both pastor and master. They commit the sin of the Pharisees and appoint themselves as middle men between God and you. They seek to replace the Holy Spirit in your life. They "lord it over" their flocks. Read Cultwatch's articles on the "Super Apostles" here if you want to find out more.
Using the connection they claim to have with God they threaten you with the stick of spiritual curses if you disobey them, and dangle the carrot of spiritual blessings if you comply. They seek to dominate your life; often implying that they have say in where you work, where you fellowship, who you marry, and of course, when, where, and how much you should give.
Summary
I believe many church goers would be shocked if they could comprehend the real attitude their pastor has towards them. From my experience with both the cults and these money focused churches, it is my impression that instead of being looked upon with love, these pastors see their congregation as farm animals to be milked.
(full article at http://www.cultwatch.com/HowPastorsGetRich.html)
Doesn't take a genius to see what's happening around us, if you'd only open your eyes big big.
Introduction
Like Judas reaching into the money bag, the sad reality is that a small minority of Christian pastors steal from God's people. I believe we must, because it is our duty to protect our less aware brothers and sisters - keeping them from these thieves.
Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. - 2 Corinthians 2:17a
Here exposed are the secret techniques used to fleece money from God's people. Don't be naive thinking that these schemes have spread throughout the world by accident. These techniques are talked about and shared behind closed doors by the clique of pastors who employ them.
It's big business. Some of them laugh at us like con-men laughing at their marks. Seriously, if you don't believe that there are men like that, then watch the 1972 documentary Marjoe. .
Let's discover the primary pattern behind their methods...
The Christian Speaking Circuit
If you have a big market (congregation) and are willing to let others come and sell there, then your fellow pastors will invite you to come and sell into their markets (congregations) too. The bigger your own market, the larger the markets that will open their doors to you - as long as you are willing to reciprocate. Quid pro quo.
Pastor Owned Businesses that Feed Off the Flock
Another way bad pastors extract money from their captive market is to set up a business, and then get their congregation to patronize their business.
Businesses like: bookshops, counseling, gyms, production firms, computer consulting, cinemas, business coaching services, supermarkets, building firms, music festivals, music studios, real-estate firms, and many more. The bookshop is the most common, often located inside the church itself.
The Honor The Pastor Scam
Money focused churches tend to be run on cultic patterns. One of these cultic patterns is the division of the church into exclusive rings: the all-powerful pastor perched at the center, the inner-ring of sycophants around him consisting of the pastor's lieutenants and the church's privileged class (the rich, the famous and the very pretty), and the outer-ring of the ordinary folk who would love to be in the inner-ring, but are not.
The power of those in the inner-ring is determined by the amount of favor the pastor bestows upon them.
To get more favor the inner-ring will employ many favor-currying measures, one of which is a scam called "Honoring the Pastor". It works this way, the inner-ring will figure out what the pastor would like, say for his birthday. Then the inner-ringers will squeeze the outer-ringers for the money to buy this item.
High Pressure Offerings
Another way the pastor uses his inner-ring to extract cash, is via high pressure offering talks in the church services.
One of the church's inner-ring will take the Sunday offering, which in these money focused churches can turn into a mini-sermon. These inner-ring members are competing against each other's past high scores. At stake is their standing with the pastor and hence their standing in the church. If they rake in the cash then their position is secure, but if they score low then no matter what excuses they have they know the pastor will blame them.
Cathedral Building Wars
Like the cathedral building wars in the middle ages where cities and countries vied against each other to build the most impressive cathedral. The pastors of these money focused churches fight to own the most impressive church to top their rival pastors - their egos demand that they are the king of the heap.
The most impressive churches require the most magnificent buildings, the most professional entertainment in their services, the best church programs, and the best conferences, the best websites, the best radio and TV programs, and the most members. All this costs a lot of money.
And just like in the days of old these self anointed church kings seek to tax their subjects to fund their private war.
Siphoning Cash into Property
Is it ethical for the pastor (or his company or trust) to own property that the church is paying for? Of course not.
Another variation on this scam is the church trust being controlled by the pastor and his family, so they control both the church's cash and property.
Some of these pastors are very clever in how they hide the money trail. But ultimately if church money is paying for an asset the pastor owns, except via his wages of course, then it is almost certainly wrong. Imagine the furor if a politician was caught siphoning off government money into property or assets owned by himself.
Excessive Wages
Obviously one of the ways greedy pastors can extract money from God's people is via excessive wages. The amount of which they will often decide themselves, or have conferred on them by their sycophants (via the church board, or the church wages review committee, for example).
If your pastor refuses to be open about his wage then be very suspicious. It is likely he knows that the amount would be considered excessive. If it is excessive, then watch him dodge the issue like a sweaty politician.
Be even more suspicious whenever you hear a pastor's wage being justified by comparing him to a CEO. If you hear this CEO nonsense then you can instantly know two things: first, the pastor's wage is massive; second, you are being scammed. A pastor is not a CEO no matter how big his church empire is; a CEO runs a for monetary-profit organization, a pastors serves the people of God - they are not the same thing.
Perks
Expensive leased cars, holidays, clothing allowances, spending money, restaurant meals, hotels, flights, and expense accounts, are some of the perks demanded by these luxury smitten pastors.
Some say that if they are preaching the "prosperity gospel", then they have to appear prosperous to "walk their talk". But of course that is a deception. They are using God's money to misrepresent how wealthy they are, to help prove their false teaching works. Despicable.
Nepotism
A church isn't a family business you know; it is a family, but it's not a business.
Are the pastor's relatives high up in the church? Are they the ones with the most powerful positions? Then that is nepotism. A good church will choose the very best people for the job, while a bad church will reward those closest to the pastor with the lucrative positions of power.
If you see nepotism, then that is a sign that something is very wrong.
Their Fabricated Tithing Doctrine
This is the big daddy. This is their sacred cow. This is the beating heart of their evil empire. The crown jewel. The Death Star. The one ring to bill them all. The pot of gold. Their matrix (into which they want to plug you). Their Wizard of Oz. Their magic spell. Their special power. Their secret recipe with the eleven herbs and spices. Their Golden Goose. The very air upon which they breathe!
Question this doctrine and watch these money hungry pastors bare their fangs. This is a teaching that they will bear no compromise on. Tithing, or at least their own version of tithing, is their one true love.
It may come as a surprise to learn that their tithing doctrine is a combination of twisted scriptures and wishful thinking, as opposed to solid Biblical exegesis reflecting a central thrust of New Testament teaching. Here is their tithing doctrine stated in a nutshell:
"Christians must give ten percent of their gross income only to their church organization. If they do, then God will bless them for any offerings they make to the church organization beyond this ten percent. But if they do not give ten percent gross, then they are stealing from God and God will curse them."
There are variations of this teaching, and sometimes it is called a "principle", but the above definition contains the core essence of this doctrine.
The Carrot and the Stick
These pastors are not only money hungry, but often power hungry too. They want to be both pastor and master. They commit the sin of the Pharisees and appoint themselves as middle men between God and you. They seek to replace the Holy Spirit in your life. They "lord it over" their flocks. Read Cultwatch's articles on the "Super Apostles" here if you want to find out more.
Using the connection they claim to have with God they threaten you with the stick of spiritual curses if you disobey them, and dangle the carrot of spiritual blessings if you comply. They seek to dominate your life; often implying that they have say in where you work, where you fellowship, who you marry, and of course, when, where, and how much you should give.
Summary
I believe many church goers would be shocked if they could comprehend the real attitude their pastor has towards them. From my experience with both the cults and these money focused churches, it is my impression that instead of being looked upon with love, these pastors see their congregation as farm animals to be milked.
