If money is the root of all evil, why do churches want it so badly?

Question

the church doesnt always help the poor. they WILL turn their backs to you and for a stupid reason like they dont approve of the way you look.

Answer 1

This is the exact reasoning why I left my organized church seven years ago... An old man died, and instead of leaving money to the church, he donated these old, beautiful chandeliers. Granted, they fit perfectly into the church's decor, the priests were none too happy... In the sermon, they asked (actually, they TOLD) perish members that if they leave something to the church in their will, it be monetary or stocks. That was the last time I went to church. Whatever happened to "It's the thought that counts" or "God bless his soul for being so generous as to give us these $10,000 chandeliers that fit our decor so perfectly"? No, it was "Money, please." Not to mention that all of our priests are extremely well-fed, making me wonder why the richest church in my city (and there are quite a few churches in my city) has the fattest priests... Shouldn't that money be going to the poor and less fortunate, or to make a shelter for the poor and less fortunate? Not to their stomachs? The answer to your question, of course, is that yes, most organized religions are inherently evil. Except FSM-ism. They ask for nothing but Ramen.

Answer 2

For the Love of money is the root of all evil: not money in itself. money is just paper it's nothing it's the humans that bring the evil (like with every other thing in this world.) that's like saying a rock is the root of all evil, or a tree is so the reason the world sucks.
now don't get me wrong some churches are completely in the wrong, but grouping all churches together is like saying every human is a murderer, or every Muslim wants to blow you up, or every white person is a serial killer that wants to eat you, and every black person is a drug dealer it's just ignorant to think that way.

Answer 3

As stated above, please note that scripture says that the love of money is the root of all evil; HOWEVER, you do raise a good question about the motives of many churches and their leadership. A number of church leaders make six figures a year, and many (no matter their salary) don't realize that doing church work involves sacrifice (not just financial). I am an employee of a church in the U.S., and am proud to work another job just to survive, because I don't see the call to ministry as a call to prosperity. While I'll be the first to admit that our church staff and I don't always make perfect financial decisions, here are some reasons we've "wanted" money so badly this year:
- to fund the opening of a food closet for the hungry in our community
- to provide the church's youth minister (who works 2 other jobs in addition to the church one just to pay bills) health insurance so that he no longer had to choose whether to eat 3 meals a day or pay for health insurance.
- to send some church members to the U.S. Gulf Coast to participate in the on-going relief effort
- to host various free community programs for children and families of the lower-income neighborhoods that surround the church
- to drive the elderly in our congregation to doctors visits
- and to pay the bills of maintaining the church so that it can stay open and comfortable during the week, for the staff to offer counseling and other services during the week.

I'm not perfect and neither is my church, and if the above aren't justifide reasons to "want" money then I guess I am just one of a bunch of hypocrites. Thanks for the poignant question; I'm not trying to be self-righteous...just thought that I had "room to talk."

Answer 4

" For The LOVE of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains." (I Timothy 6:10 New Revised Standard Version)

Most churches don't love money, they just need to to pay the bills.

Answer 5

Good question. The answer is power. Money = power and that's what churches want.

Answer 6

Though you seem to hate the mere thought of the book, if you take the time to read the Bible, you will see in clear print that it states that the LOVE of money is the root of all evil.

The idea is that if you love money, as happens, you won't mind doing illegal things to get it.

Answer 7

Because the religious people are the evil people, if their catholic/christian theyll go kill some muslims for a little city

Answer 8

I think because it has become such a business oriented organization. It is not about saving souls but preaching prosperity which I feel is why all else is so out of control, because we have taken God out of all and replaced Him with political correctness and dishonesty.

Answer 9

Because Church is the biggest hypocrite.

Answer 10

amen, to that, bra'. actually, as noted by others, it is "the love of money..." nevertheless, based on the observations of many, that behavior/trait is very prevalent, as well, in the leadership/institution of one of the hugest greed/hypocrite/ psychopathy "machines" yet seen on the planet--organized religion. it's of course, in competition for that "title" with "big business" in all of its facets, and "big" government. the "problem" is that all of these august institutions are run by greedy psychopaths who will stop at nothing to realize their agendas of wealth and power mongering. until the consciousness level on this planet rises dramatically, especially among the self proclaimed "elite", we are headed for inevitable major disaster, eh? ;-) the planet can't support much more "business as usual".