What do pastors of mega churches say to convince people to give money to build million dollar buildings?

Question

Seriously, what would possess someone to give a portion of their salary in order to build a huge expensive building in which to worship?

I understand giving, when it helps those less fortunate...when it is used to clothe the poor, feed the hungry, and care for the orphans, widows and children.

However, just knowing that the money you are giving to "God's work" is simply paying for a large spire in the sky and bricks and mortar, possibly a basketball court, etc...how do you justify that as giving to God's work?

Wouldn't a simple structure large enough to house the parishoners, be all that God would construct? WWJD? Wouldn't he just preach from a donated warehouse or building that an entrepreneur would loan, (probably for a tax write-off). Why do so many pastors and churches have to build bigger, more expensive buildings just to feed their ego?

Answer 1

Amen Brother!

WWJD

The park is free...

Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia!

Jesus was cool, his fanboys stink.

Answer 2

Really tough to answer such a loaded question. There are probably some pastors and churches that do fit the question as you have asked it. And I would guess a lot more that don't. The really short answer: because that someone believes that the "huge expensive building" is going to grow God's kingdom by creating opportunities for new people to convert to Christianity.

The longer answer?
Try going into one of these mega-churches sometime (especially on a day besides Sunday) and see what is going on. Frequently they are busy and full with all kinds of activities from running a private school (K-12? pre-school?), youth group activities in the evenings for Jr. High and Sr. High, basketball, softball, volleyball leagues, Boy scout meeting places, food and clothing banks, marriage/parenting/job training classes, musical productions, community meeting places etc. So in essence, some of these mega-churches are defacto community centers and serve the community they are in even though many of the people attending aren't actually members. The problem occurs when there isn't enough space to meet all of these competing needs which are too varied and complex for a simple warehouse to meet (at least in our society of iPods, Blackberries, TiVO and other things that compete for our attention.) Chalk that up to a reflection of our society as a whole which certainly could be made a little less insane. Other cultures certainly are able to make do with a simple building like you described.

Let me try an analogy: Why does any company reinvest their profits into a business rather than just return them to the shareholders? Because they think they can grow the company and make it bigger and thus more profitable for their shareholders down the road. You can certainly make a point that mega-churches lose much of their personality and intimacy when they are run like businesses but if the leaders in a church take the stance that they are in the "business of saving lives" (which they define as converting people) then shouldn't they do it in the most efficient manner possible? The point here is they think they can accomplish "their stated goal" of spreading Christianity more efficiently by building big Churches which draw more of the community into them, and then they hope become members. You can argue that many mega-churches don't increase the number of Christians in total, but merely cannibalize them from other pre-existing churches which in turn leads to the decline of smaller churches that aren't able to "compete". That is of course an entirely different issue.

Hope that helps as an honest answer to a difficult question.

Answer 3

You might want to ask King David the same thing or King Solomon. David went about for almost 25 years collecting gold, silver, wood, iron and everything else for the temple. While Solomon did the same thing. The point is this, the God we serve is a rich God and He does not do anything shabby. You will be more suprised if you stop looking at the building all the time and actually go visit some of those mega churches. You find out that they are responsible for feeding the homeless, poor, and rehabilitating drug addicts and so on. And they have orphanages, and all sorts of programs to benefit people. If they have that much money to build a nice facility, then they have just as much money to meet the needs of their communityl.

Answer 4

It's not what they say to get the money; it's how they make them feel. People easily fall victim to guilt trips. Like any cult, religion preys on weak-minded people. People that give the most money are normally the ones that do the most wrong. They feel it somehow cancels out their wrongdoings. On the other hand, some genuinely feel they are giving their money to good cause. If the money is spent bad fashion, then those that spend it will have to answer for it.
I really don't get these 'new' churches with coffee bars and deli's and such. But, it is mankind that has placed value on materialisms. 'Keeping up with the Jones'. Organized religion is quite hypocritical.

Answer 5

beauty of a church, the size of a church I really don't think impresses God, the number of the people who are there I think would more so. I would be just as happy it a tent than I would be in a big beautiful building, even out in the middle of no where land to worship and praise God...

Answer 6

They pretend that we're going to be rich too. Believe me i've experienced this ridiculousness. They also wait for hours on end for 100 people to give 100 bucks, til then, you can't leave church. I hated it. That's part of the reason why I'm against denominations in general, it seems like they scam to get your money. Big scam artists. Masters at it since they convince people they have the Lord on their side.

Answer 7

I agree. My Roman Catholic parish is 13 years old and we worship in what we call a 'hall.' We are over $900,000 in debt and a Christian church near us is a multi-millionaire church. They have a basketball court inside where they worship and constantly waste money. My priest lives a poor life while that pastor gets whatever he wants.

Answer 8

to attract more ppl that feel that a church needs to look sucessful

edit: to the answer below me

coffee bars? delis? we had a stove and an old coffee pot...:P
seriously thou...maybe just the 'new' way of fellowship?

Answer 9

Actually Jesus would be preaching outside, surrounded by nature. It is man's greed and man's politics that cause churches and temples to be built.

Answer 10

they draw 5000 ppl they need somewhere to put them
they preach the gospel
you sound all concerned about this why?? this is a free nation...worry about your own probs