Over the past few days, Pope Francis has made the news once again for something very positive. He has suspended the Bishop of Limburg in Germany for using church money to live an obscenely lavish lifestyle. The opulent spending of Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst (what a name!) is so notorious that the media has dubbed him the "Bishop of Bling." Among other charges against him, it is alleged that he spent $42,000,000 renovating his personal residence. His extravagant lifestyle has been financed by the offerings that are put into the plate each Sunday by faithful German Catholic worshipers. It seems as though the Bishop must never have read Jesus' words in Matthew 6, "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
It is interesting that this has made the news this week as we approach Reformation Day on October 31, which we will mark as a congregation as Reformation Sunday on October 27. It was on October 31, 1517 that a German Catholic priest/monk/professor by the name of Martin Luther finally grew so ticked off with the excesses and greed of the Church in Europe that he nailed his "95 Theses," which were basically 95 complaints against the Church leadership, to the door of the church in the town of Wittenberg. Although this date is said to have begun the Reformation, really the Reformation had been building strength for more than a century. Metaphorically speaking, the dam had been cracking for more than a hundred years, but Martin Luther's actions burst the already heavily compromised dam letting loose the waters of reform. It must also be noted, because we Protestants are often ignorant of it, that the Catholic Church did actually reform itself through the Councils of Trent that took place between 1545-1563. Pope Francis is trying to do the same thing right now in regard to the greed of Church leaders, what he calls the "closed-mindedness" of some Catholic doctrines, and the horrible tragedy of priestly molestation and the resulting church cover-ups.
But let's concentrate on the opulence of religious leaders for a moment. The so-called "Bishop of Bling" is merely the most recent example of greed among church leaders. Popular American preachers like Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, and TD Jakes teach what is called "the prosperity gospel." They tell their hearers that if they will give money to God, conveniently through their particular ministry, that the giver will receive more money and blessings from God in return. Meyer, Osteen, and Jakes have mansions and private jets, yet continue to ask the faithful for more money. A friend of mine who is an elder in the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria told me that there are many Pentecostal prosperity preachers in Nigeria (and throughout Africa) who have become multi-millionaires from the money given by poor, even destitute, African people. On a much smaller scale, I've known a Presbyterian pastor who always drove a brand-new Cadillac and wore a Rolex watch. Also, I've sat in a presbytery meeting and watched as a pastor fought tooth-and-nail to keep the presbytery from setting a minimum salary that congregations must pay a pastor, a minimum of only $40,000. Come to find out, that pastor who was fighting against the $40,000 minimum (I was making $37,000 at the time) had a yearly salary close to $100,000 along with six weeks of vacation and four weeks of study leave per year. This is most certainly not merely a Roman Catholic problem; this is a Christian problem.
This morning I opened up my email and read my daily devotion from Franciscan Priest Richard Rohr. Here is part of that devotion:
The biblical bias toward the bottom has been called by some the "preferential option for the poor." But it is an option, an invitation: it is a grace, and it emerges from inner freedom--or else it would not be from God. In the last analysis, the Bible is biased; it takes the side of the rejected ones, the abandoned ones, the barren women, and the ones who have been excluded, tortured, and kept outside. This is all summed up in Jesus' own ministry: He clearly prefers, heals, and includes the foreigner, the non-Jew, the handicapped, and the sinner--without rejecting the people of power, but very clearly critiquing them.
I believe what Father Rohr is writing about is true; that is why I struggle with it. I try to live a simple lifestyle. It may not seem that way to a lot of folks, but I do. It is true that I live in a huge, almost 3,000 square feet, stately, freshly renovated house. This could be interpreted as opulence. But it needs to be known that this is simply the house the church owns, the house the church provides for my family and me. We enjoy the house, but we were just as happy in our little 1,100 square feet house in Oklahoma. "But what about your giant TV?" you might ask. We didn't pay for that either; it was a housewarming gift from someone in our family. We didn't ask for it; they just gave it. "Well, I see you wearing expensive Ralph Lauren shirts." I bought one of those at Ohio Thrift for $3.00. The other one I bought for $7.00 at the outlet mall. Anything I own that is name brand I bought at a thrift store, off a clearance rack, or it was given to me as a gift. "But sometimes you play golf." Whenever I play golf I only do it when someone else is paying for it or if I've been given a little extra money as a gift. Plus, my set of clubs was given to me for free from someone who pieced it together from spare clubs. I drive a 2005 Toyota Matrix with 125,000 miles on it and stains on the seats. Danielle drives a Mazda with 50,000 miles on it. We've never bought a new car or owned a luxury car and we do not plan to do either one. This church provides generously for my family but all of our money goes back to the church, to pay bills, or to provide opportunities like scouts, piano lessons, and ballet lessons for our kids.
I'm certainly not the Bishop of Bling or Joyce Meyer, but I must continually allow myself to be critiqued by the words of Jesus. We all must allow ourselves to be critiqued by his words. As we celebrate Reformation Sunday this week, let us remember that reformation is always needed in our larger church bodies, in our local congregations, and most importantly in our own lives. May the controversy over the "Bishop of Bling" be to us a reminder to search our own hearts. Let us all remember the words of our Lord Jesus, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
It is my prayer that this week we will all realize and live into the fact that we are blessed by God in order to be blessings to others. See you on Reformation Sunday!
Grace and Peace,
Everett
