Is the church a business enterprise?

Back to basics, the basics of salvation, of discipleship and becoming Christlike, of dependence on God and service to others, is the campaign of Pastor Jude Fosu Gyamfi.

Thus, he uses his book, “Is The Church a Business Enterprise?” to wage the solo campaign against false prophets, pastors, as well as false women and men of God who exploit those who are desperate for a refuge in God and to go to church.

His goals are to “completely eradicate” trading and the extortion of money in the house of God; to put an end to “unnecessary competition and power “show-offs,” among church leaders. In the end, the author seeks the restoration of the joy and the passion that characterise true fellowship in the church.

Churches by men The church is no longer built on the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ but on human beliefs and ideologies, he says. With the church becoming a huge money-making industry for the smart, rather than a soul-winning organisation, its leaders have also become stars in their own right, with presidents of countries being more accessible than pastors of churches, the author points out.

Having once been an associate pastor of a church, Pastor Gyamfi, gives insider information on what pertains in some churches with the disbursement of the offerings after service. “Sunday offerings and other contributions received by the church were always sent to the bank, but several payments were made before the remaining amount would be sent. Few leaders would meet the head pastor in his office after close of service to discuss how to disburse the offering received for the day.”

Out of several payments for expenditures such as the services of bandsmen and refreshments , some money would be given to the visiting pastor, if one was invited that day.

The pastor and his associate’s ‘fuel money’ would also be paid, and another ‘envelope’ would be given to “the head pastor for his other expenses for that week, plus a few other payments...” These methods for skimming the poor dry, were wealth neutral, health neutral and status neutral.

“This system does not know the rich or the poor, neither does it know the sick nor the widow. No amount is too small for this system,” he says. He draws a distinction between pastors of the New Testament times who were supported in their selfless service with cash and other material benefits and current pastors who are not selfless, yet demand as of right money and material gifts from church members.

The author also notes that money and positions were never incentives or motivational factors for the apostles and pastors of old but the real desire to serve.

In “Offerings Donated Under Pressure,” Pastor Jude Fosu Boakye, indicts the psychological methods used by pastors in extorting from members. The methods, which include overt or covert revelatory messages to specific individuals in the congregation about specific sums to be given, implied messages, and directives to individuals to act in certain ways, such as placing one’s donation on the floor and walking on the money in front of audiences, all result in churches becoming places of apprehension rather than places for joyous fellowship in the Lord.

Churches also invest in advertising campaigns that are expensive. The author logically notes that any business would have to be “astronomically rich to sustain” the type of advertisements (huge bill boards, posters, etc,) employed by the churches. He says the advertisements are merely to project the pastor and his wife, and not the works of God.

Expensive speakers, hyped conferences, are also some of the mechanism used to fleece people of their money. The author wonders why churches do not organise such hyped programmes in rural areas, and responds to the question by saying that such programmes organised in rural areas where people are poor would not be lucrative for the pastors. Other schemes used for extortion are pastors appreciation days, the annual harvests, the tithe doctrine, the use of anointing oil and holy water.

When all the schemes for money yield the desired funds for the pastors, they use it in the payment of excessive wages to themselves, perks and allowances, and in the end these pastors who feed off the backs of their congregants, most of whom are poor, pastor with partiality.

For those who are amenable to their whims and can give more, these pastors keep them close and keep at a distance congregants who are poor, the very thing proscribed by the gospel.

Pastors also subtly use their claims of being close to God to coerce members to do their bidding by threatening with curses. “This is a false spiritual authority not supported by scripture,” the author admonishes.

The Church Replete with biblical references, Pastor Gyamfi gives the standard for Christ’s church in the second part of his book. A church built on selfless service is the standard; and Christ’s commandment, “If you love me feed my sheep,” (John 21:17) the guiding foundation of all acts.

Feeding the people of God is not an easy task, Pastor Jude Fosu Gyamfi, notes. Feeding sheep involves pastors providing for their members, protecting them, and being always available for their members.

A pastor is enabled by love and dependence on God to accomplish these with material gain having nothing to do with the feeding of the sheep, the author adds.

From 1 Thessalonians 2: 1-12, he points out that pastors of the Old Testament times were not a burden on churches. In fact, pastors and church leaders, like Paul, worked hard to support churches so that they would not be a burden on the churches.

The work The book, “Is The Church a Business Enterprise?” Is born out of a passion for God’s will and purposes for His church, and not the will and purposes of man. Appearing to be completely taken over by that passion, Pastor Gyamfi is clear and precise about his message.

He minces no words in shaming practices that are not in sync with what is outlined for the church in the Word of God. Like prophets of old, the author sees himself as the watchman who must warn charlatans of the dire consequences of their actions, if they persist in doing them.

The book is written in simple language for all to grasp the basic idea that the church is not for business! The author also uses his work to ask for forgiveness from all those he had deceived to give out things to him. He says realising his fault, he has also asked God to forgive him.