When a person goes to church, he seeks to join a spiritual relationship with God. However, this natural desire is noticeably darkened against the background of numerous price tags for various religious attributes and services of clergy. High-profile scandals related to the commercial activities of churches raise even more questions. Is the church just a convenient business?
Received for free, give for free
It cannot be denied that churches are increasingly using commercial politics, seeing in parishioners not only the flock, but also a source of revenue for the church treasury. Moreover, according to the church order, a priest should not set any prices for his services as a spiritual shepherd. Nevertheless, this rule gradually lost its vitality, resulting in the appearance in the temples of public price lists with a long list of church services with prices attached to them. Considering that Russian legislation does not tax religious organizations, real income in the church sphere from the sale of ritual items and services makes churches an incomparably profitable line of business.
In this regard, for many believers it turns out to be a discovery that the Bible has a completely opposite point of view on the use of its position by the church in order to achieve material gain. Thus, Jesus Christ, leading a rather modest way of life, commanded his apostles: “Freely you received, freely give” (Gospel of Matthew 10: 8). With these words, the Lord emphasized the duty of gratuitous service to God and people, since God did not demand money from people in order to reveal his love to them. On another occasion, the apostle Paul condemned a man for “intending to acquire the gift of God for money” (Acts 8: 18-24).
How the church should be supported
According to the New Testament, the religious activities of the church can only be supported by voluntary donations. There could be no question of any predetermined prices, since a Christian should have donated “as much as his fortune would allow,” which implied an exclusively personal choice of the amount (2 Corinthians 16: 2). Christians tried to adhere to the same view during the post-apostolic period of the second century, as can be seen in the statements of such famous figures of the early church as Justin Martyr and Tertullian.
God's attitude towards using the church as a place of purchase and sale can be seen in the example of Jesus, who twice expelled merchants from the Jerusalem temple who sold goods for religious purposes in the holy place (Gospel of John 2: 13-17; Gospel of Matthew 21:12, 13) … “Do not make My Father’s house a house of commerce,” the Lord called then. These and numerous other examples unequivocally condemn the practice of commerce and sale of religious services by churches.
Church: Luxury or Learning?
Nevertheless, over the centuries, the church, abandoning the model of apostolic simplicity and striving for majestic architecture and ritual luxury, introduced its own rules for its life. A system of religious commerce was introduced along with the paid clergy. Formally, the clergy explain this practice by the need to maintain the grandeur and decoration of the temples. However, in the light of the New Testament and the example of Christ and his apostles, the absolute excess of the church's possession of luxury and wealth becomes evident. The Bible defines the main goal for the church - the communion of man to God and His Word, and not the vesting of church decoration in gold and silver. In other words, from the point of view of God, the church should play the role of an educational spiritual school, not the Hermitage.
In view of the above, a conclusion can be drawn. Biblical principles and direct instructions from the Lord condemn the church's use of its position for commercial purposes. Priests are obliged to help people get acquainted with God's Word, strengthening their faith and consoling them in difficulties. Treating parishioners as clients is unacceptable, nor is it acceptable to charge prices for services that should be provided free of charge by default. If the church you go to requires money from you, then it makes sense to think about looking for one where ministers put God above wealth. After all, Christ also said: “You cannot serve God and mammon (wealth)” (Gospel of Matthew 6:24).
