Not Everyone

Not Everyone
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’  Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ 
                                                                                                                  Matthew 7:21-23

I wasn’t going to put this here but after some though I though as the name of the blog is Christian to Christian I thought it proper.
I place it here as a caution to Christians. To remind them there are a lot of men and women calling themselves servants of God who are not.
There are many evangelist who bring in millions of dollars who seem to do little for the average man on the street. Who’s actions at times even repel the non-believer.
Now don’t get me wrong there’s nothing wrong with an evangelist or pastor being given an excellent salary. Good honest men and women of God working full time for the Lord deserve a good salary and benefits.
Also there’s nothing wrong with being rich. Rich believers helped fund the early church. And there are many wealthy people helping fund the church today without any fanfare. I believe it’s what you do with your wealth that counts.
I think all evangelist and preachers need to look to Jesus who lived modestly. Who humbled himself and washed His disciples feet.
They need to look at modern day examples such as Mother Teresa who spent her life reaching out and giving hope to the poorest of the poor.
Is it really necessary for a preacher no matter how much money he has coming into his ministry to live in a mansion.
My current pastor lives in a modest house. A previous pastor I had lived in a rented apartment. My first pastor was bi-vocational. He preached and did his duties at church while at the same time was a milk man. All of these men reached the lost for Christ.
I don’t buy the argument that evangelist need to own private jets. A first class seat or even coach seat on a regular scheduled airline is good enough. Missionaries fly that way all the time and it doesn’t hurt them.
Who knows if a well known evangelist travelled on a commercial flight he or she might just win someone to the Lord while doing so.
Traveling on a commercial airline saves money compared to owning and flying and maintaining a private jet. This means more money to be spent on reaching the world for Christ.
To the North American Christian reading this I would present a challenge to you. Check up on the evangelist you support. Ask them to give you an accounting of exactly where the money they get is spent, right down to the wages they pay their staff and themselves.
I know at our church every year the members are given an accounting of where the money is spent from the salaries of the pastor and staff, to the cost of the church furnishings, to the cost of heating and cooling the building, to the cleaning supplies and other things necessary to keep the church running.
Quite often we support ministries that are based hundreds if not thousands of kilometres from where we live. At that distance we can’t possibly see what is going on internally in the ministry. So why shouldn’t the various ministries we support render such reports when asked by a contributor? Especially if they have nothing to hide?