Get Radical with Your Church Budget

Several years ago, I reviewed the church budget and got a little nauseous. It shouldn’t take this much money to run a church, I thought to myself then verbalized to others. As I looked at how much we were spending in certain areas, I began to question whether I even felt comfortable donating to the church!

The worst part of it all was that I had no one to blame but myself. As problems arose, I got into the habit of throwing money at those problems in order to solve them. We kept hiring more staff and spending more money rather than getting creative and mobilizing volunteers. Something had to change because I knew we were not managing God’s resources as wisely as we ought.

When I would visit third-world countries, my lack of peace only intensified. How do we justify spending millions of dollars on ourselves while our brothers and sisters suffer overseas? I’m not saying that we neglect the work here and solely focus on overseas ministry. But I’ve learned that when we sacrifice some of our luxuries for the sake of those in need, it creates an atmosphere of excitement that only furthers our ability to minister here in America.

Cornerstone Church has made many financial changes over the past few years. While there is still more to do, I have peace that we have been heading in the right direction. Some radical financial decisions were made by our elders, and I’ve never been more excited about how we as a church are handling God’s resources. Loud cheers and spontaneous applause is frequently heard in our services based upon financial decisions we’ve made. This is a far cry from the complaining and arguing that takes place in most church budget meetings.

I certainly don’t want to lift up Cornerstone to be the example of financial stewardship. However, I’d love to offer some principles we’ve applied that have enabled us to give millions of dollars away yet remain in a strong financial position.

Start with your personal budget.

Church should be a huge game of "follow the leader." Paul says, "Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Cor. 11:1, NIV). People love following visionaries who practice what they preach. Conversely, they have a hard time following those whose actions contradict their message. "They tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them" (Matt. 23:4).

Fourteen years ago, we started Cornerstone Church. After a year or so, the church was able to provide us a full-time salary of $36,000. It was plenty to care for our needs, so we made a commitment that we would not ask for more. Thirteen years later, our salary has remained the same even though the church budget has grown into the millions.