Anonymous
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I believe that is true of some churches, but not all of them. --------------------------
KAL
Difficult question...made more difficult by your use of "today". It is always difficult to generalize...what's the frame of reference. Should I focus on the specific churches in my community?...and do I look at the number of churches or the relative size of the congregation (for example, would a large non-denominational church with 2,000 members carry the same weight in the equation as a small church with 50 members? Today complicates the matter...should I compare to my own experience over the last 40 years (is it getting better or worse)...or are we talking about today compared to 100 or 1,000 or 2,000 years ago?
"Profit establishment" is also problematic. From a legal perspective, if a church is making a "profit" it isn't a church. If a church takes in more revenue than it pay out in "expenses", it violates its non-profit status. Of course, some churches justify some ridiculous "expenses" such as a million dollar home for the pastor, huge salaries for employees (including the pastor), elaborate buildings, art, and much more...
Given all that, I'd say that some churches are "revenue-oriented" instead of "people-oriented", but I think it is a relatively small number of individual churches (and a smaller number of denominations in general) that focus on increasing revenue. Far more of them are "doctrine-oriented" rather than "people-oriented", and revenue is a secondary consideration...they aren't focused on saving souls, they are focused on saving themselves (they need just enough revenue to sustain their membership).
Finally, I think there are a growing number of churches that ARE focusing on saving souls...they aren't trying to make their leaders wealthy and they aren't focused on "protecting the flock"...they are reaching out to people where they live, providing for their needs, and sharing the good news that Jesus wants to give them an eternal life.
zaatheist
Absolutely true. But it is not a modern innovation. Religion has been used to control and extract money from the populace for centuries.
This has nothing to do with right or wrong or religion. It is about MONEY! This stuff sells. If it didn't, no one would do it. It's a business, just like any other, except it is selling a product that doesn't exist. That, however, has never stopped people from paying for it.
usafbrat64
I think it depends upon the church. Our current church... we spent the last 2 years praying and trusting in God to make our budget every month. But more of our time has been spent praying and working on letting people know we are out there.
This year... we've been blessed by a few kind hearts. So, we stuck a little away for a rainy day and most of it's going back out to mission work.
Anonymous
fake. i grew to become into too busy eating to even comprehend it grew to become into Sunday...i assume i offered that $4 hundred bottle of Johnnie Walker the day gone by then. Wow--this whiskey eating extremely is beginning up to electrify me. And, purely in case all of us is thinking why meaning i could no longer have probable offered this $4 hundred bottle of Johnnie Walker immediately, that is via fact the liquor shops are no longer legally waiting to be open on Sundays right here in Connecticut...what a pile of crap. Even Jesus might choose some Jameson or Jack or Johnnie on a Sunday. If Jesus walked the earth immediately, He'd be a whiskey guy!