Why are some ministers so rich?

Question

Aren't men and women of god supposed to be humble? The minister who lives down the street from my sister-in-law has a 400,000 dollar house, 3 cars(one of which is a Caddilac), a motorcycle, and who knows what else. I'm not religious so this boggles my mind.

Answer 1

The short answer is: because their parishioners are so gullible.

That, and they know that their "flock" likes to see their leaders prospering, because it gives them hope that some of that good fortune will rub off on them.

Answer 2

This boggles my mind as well. I think religion is a brainwashing society, that tries to make us individuals feel that if "we" don't give to the church, we'll be damned to hell. So, people feel like, "Hey, I better give to the church, or else." And the pastors, and priests, pound this mantra into their parishoners' heads so when the offering plates make their rounds, the wallets and pocketbooks empty to "ensure their place in heaven". As for the "Lifestyles" of the pastors, I really feel that when a pastor & his family live in an extravagant home, and drive expensive vehicles, they are obviously living outside of their means, and they are not doing "God's Work" when they bask in the luxuries that they choose, and flaunt it around for all to see. So, this type of behavior people are beginning to notice, and you probably can see the majority of the world is getting away from organized religion because of this type of thing happening, and many other things. So the lesson of this story is: don't give money to ANY church. They are trying their best to brainwash society and take the money for themselves. Which is wrong on SO many levels.

Answer 3

Some organizations such as the Word of Mouth promote the notion of prosperity among the faithful.

In other cases, the congregation chooses what to pay the minister so in a wealthy neighborhood, for example, a minister might do better than in a poorer neighborhood.

As an economist, it's my feeling that regardless of a person's idealogical persuasion the person should get compensated according to their competitiveness. So, if a minister is "better" than another (*I* don't know how to measure this) I think he/she should be paid accordingly.

Edit: Ooh, I didn't even think about Mr. A's point regarding an inheritance. Good job, Mr. A!

Answer 4

Not all ministers or pastors live on their church salary. The soul is the keeper of knowledge and a person is born with knowledge. For instance, even the animals are born with knowledge. You can feed a lion cake and green beans, but he wants flesh (meat). He knows meat is what he should be eating. A man can know things without knowledge or education. A baby knows that he is hungry and searches for something for his mouth. Adam lost his spiritual connection with God. The Holy Spirit knowledge can give avenues of knowledge. Babies are alive and have some knowledge before birth. Jacob and Esau fought in the womb. John the Baptist leaped in the womb of Elizabeth when Elizabeth first saw Mary coming with Jesus in her womb.

Some have thought since God breathed life into Adam that life begins at the first breath, but God breathed into Adam once & for all. The Bible says life is in the blood.

There was infant slayings in Plato's day and they thought abortion was okay before birth, but Plato finally made them realize that the soul enters the body at the moment of conception. The soul is the keeper of knowledge and we are born with some knowledge.

Nicodemus had no concept of being born again even though he was highly religious. The Holy Spirit comes into the soul and transforms man and makes him whole again and then man is born again.

I've said all of this to tell you that the Holy Spirit gives knowledge and man can get wealth. Not all ministers are con artists. God does tell us that He will give us the desires of our hearts. I'm not teaching Prosperity theology but the Holy Spirit is awesome.

Answer 5

You know, the very sad thing is that religion in general has become like a business. It seems that most religions (again, I'm generalizing) want money from everyone. Initially, I thought that they were supposed to be humble and spread the word of God- but I've noticed that it's all about money, and most people seem to fall into that trap.
I believe that God is where you are and you don't need to sit in a fancy building once a week to worship Him.
Now, I consider myself a Spiritual person (there is a difference between Religion and Spirituality) and to me, God is always in my heart, not in a building on a Sunday.

Hope this gives you some insight.

Answer 6

Passing quick judgment, eh?

I know that there have been bad apples in the past who have posed as televangelists and just done it for the money (and it's still happening), but you don't know anything about the pastor's salary. Why should a pastor deserve to live in a real small house with things that aren't nice? How do you know he doesn't give thousands of dollars a year to charities and helping people in third world countries? How do you know that he might not be in deep debt? How do you know that maybe his wife's family isn't loaded?

Why are pastor's called to live differently than you? They're humans? They have a job as a shepherd, but NO WHERE is it written that they can't have nice things.

Answer 7

My Grandfather is a preacher and he lives in a trailer... Hes been preaching for 30 years and his church is worth around 650,000 dollars. He works a hot dog stand on the side because he believes all the money he gets from the church should go right back into it. Not all ministers are money hungry.

Edit: sisterzeal: Have you read in the bible where the rich man ask Jesus how he could enter heaven and Jesus told him to give up everything and follow him... God will give you everything you need not necessarily all the things that you want. Our reward is not here on earth, but waiting for us when we get to heaven.

Answer 8

Chances are they are not Preaching the Word of God and telling people about their sins. They get up in the Pulpit and tell everyone that they can do their own thing and have things their own way as long as they come to Church and give their tithe. Let them start Preaching the Word the way it really is. Let them start telling the people if they don't stop drinking, and having wild parities, the raft of God is going to fall on them, let them start Preaching that sin is sin and nothing else, then watch how fast their Congregation goes down and their big houses go away and their cars go down to maybe one that you have to crank to start.

Answer 9

It boggles my mind too. Most ministers I know, or have known, live a fairly modest lifestyle. To live otherwise is like thumbing their noses at those much less fortunate. Not to say they shouldn't be comfortable, but living an opulent lifestyle is not what God intended for a "man of God."

Answer 10

God will bless people who follow his commands. Others get wealthy because of greed. God gives us a Spirit of discernment so we will not be deceived. Some are blessed and some are evil, God will judge us all. If they preach Gods Word in truth and their lives are beyond reproach, they are blessed by God.

Answer 11

Church Ministers usually are not. Evangelists do well because they treat their 'Ministries' more in the form of a business. They actually have workshops on how to move people to contribute.