When your budget becomes an idol

Tim Keller used to suggest that our idols were revealed in both our daydreams and our nightmares. In your honest moments, I wonder how that hits for you? Because there is a quiet seduction that tends to happen when we step into church leadership.

It rarely begins with false doctrine or blatant rebellion. No, it starts far more respectably: around a finance committee table, over a draft building plan, or while staring at a quarterly spreadsheet. Numbers do something strange to our hearts. So does money. Buildings. Budgets.

None of these things are inherently evil. We need roofs that keep out the rain and radiators to keep us warm. We need funds to pay pastors and workers and support mission partners. We need wise stewardship that counts the cost before laying a single brick! Of course we do.