See if this scenario sounds like a church you know:

The deacons of our church are really on the pastor’s back. The church is running behind in finances and they’re blaming it on him for lack of leadership. The monthly business meeting turns into a cat-and-dogfight. The treasurer puts a negative spin on everything, the critics of the pastor are unleashed to harass him, and the poor preacher stands there and takes it. What’s wrong with our church?

Having pastored Southern Baptist churches since November of 1962, I need to say something here which I wish every church leader in the SBC (and elsewhere) would heed: It’s okay to be running behind financially sometimes. It’s not the end of the world. In fact, it could even be the best thing that ever happened to you if you handle it well.

Let’s talk about how to turn this sorry state of affairs into a blessing for the Lord’s people.

1. First, there is a reason only the mature and spiritual should serve in key leadership positions.

Put a novice on a finance committee–no doubt because he now works for the bank or has landed a job as an investment consultant, whatever that is!–and when he sees the church finances dipping into the red, he rises up. He has found his calling. This is the part of the balance sheet he understands: red is bad. And we have to do something about this!

Mature Christians–among other things, that means they have some history in church work–know that these things go in cycles. They know that there can be a hundred reasons for the offerings to slacken off. And since they have been in the Lord’s work for years, they have learned not to panic. You don’t want to go through the budget with a machete, maiming the program and injuring staffers due to a momentarily lull in the contributions.

This is the very moment the faithful need to show their faith in the Lord of the Church.

2. Keep reminding yourself that this church belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Any leader who thinks this church is completely dependent on him is fooling only himself. It’s the Lord’s church; He is its resource, and He “needs” none of us.

To the pastors of Ephesus, the Apostle Paul said, “Shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” (Acts 20:28)

It’s His church. Start believing that and quit buying into the heresy that everything starts and ends, stands or falls, on the pastor’s leadership. We pastors sometimes encourage this fatal fantasy, usually when the work is flourishing and we decide it’s because of our visionary leadership and inspired sermons. The flip side of that coin is that sooner or later, the offerings will decrease and you will get the blame and pay the cost.

Any leader who believes the church depends on and “needs” a particular church member because of the large checks he writes is buying into another falsehood. God’s church needs no one.

“Pastor, if we don’t make some changes, Mr. Crenshaw says he’s out of here. And as you know, he owns the mill in this town and employs half the members. I’d hate to think where this church would be without him.”

Answer: Let’s find out. Stay the course, pastor. Do not let yourself be blackmailed by threats from anyone. God’s church requires no puny checks from anyone. “If I were hungry, I would not tell you. The cattle on a thousand hills are mine.” (Psalm 50:10,12)

My testimony is that over the decades, I never saw my church hurt once–not even one time–when some disgruntled member left and “took his checkbook with him.” In time, I concluded that the Lord was determined not to let a carnal member harm His Body.

3. Keep in touch with the other church leaders in your city.

I pastored a church in this city for nearly 14 years. One day, at a time when our church was hurting financially, I happened to be in the office of a nearby pastor friend. He said, “I don’t know what’s happening here, but our finances have been low lately. It’s got my people worried.”

That’s when it occurred to me that the finances of his church and mine might be related. Perhaps something is going on in the community–a plant closing?–that affects us all.

If I could snap my fingers and change one thing in the culture of our church leadership, it would be this: leaders in one church would know the leaders in other churches in their community and meet with them from time to time. They would gain a perspective on their church situation that nothing else could could provide.

4. When your church is hurting financially, here are some suggestions:

a) Look at the total picture, not just at the cash flow. For instance, if the income is down 10 percent and the expenses are down an equal amount then you’re doing all right.

b) Bear in mind that budgets are merely estimates as to what you expect to receive and to pay out. They are rarely exact. Do not make an idol of a budget. Just because your church is not meeting your budget might even be irrelevant.

c) What is the church’s bank balance? If it’s all right, then relax. Even if you see it gradually dipping over several months, unless you’re at the critical period of running a negative balance, do not panic.

d) If the church is hurting financially, are there other resources available to help? Let’s say you are running a deficit each month of, say, five thousand dollars, and the bank balance is almost gone. Is there a savings account the church has, perhaps for future construction or various designated projects, which you can borrow from? Is that legal, someone asks. Sure. All it takes is a vote of the church and a plan for paying it back.

What is not legal is to take money designated for one cause and redirect it to another without the consent of the donor.

The last church I pastored had all kinds of designated accounts. At any given time, the total in the bank for these would amount to over $200,000. When we needed extra money temporarily, we borrowed it from ourselves.

e) When was the last time someone told the congregation–the entire membership–of the financial needs facing the church? And by this I mean, told them in a great, positive, inspiring way that laid the facts out and challenged the people to be faithful?

In one church I served, the finance committee resisted the very idea of going before the congregation (in Sunday School assemblies was my suggestion) and laying out our money needs. “It will upset them,” I kept hearing. That’s when I learned the lay leadership had shielded the congregation from this kind of knowledge for a generation. Assuming their intentions had been honorable–which is questionable, if you want to know my opinion–they did a great disservice to the people of the Lord.

5. Does your church have a regular program of stewardship education? If not, there is your culprit.

This means at least three things:

a. The pastor preaches on money.

Show me a church where the pastor never preaches on money and I’ll show you a congregation of the unfaithful. Furthermore, he is encouraging their unfaithfulness.

Money is such a powerful force in the lives of every person, believer or pagan, that there must be a constant emphasis before the Lord’s people for them to keep it in check. Refuse to preach on the subject and you have unleashed its destructive power into their lives.

My observation is there are two main reasons why pastors do not preach on money: 1) “Our needs are being met and we don’t need any more money. So I have no need to preach on it.” Answer: this is one reason for preaching on money–“that there might be provisions in the Lord’s house” (Malachi 3:10)–but there are 99 other reasons. Jesus taught that by our giving we lay up treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20).

2) The other reason some pastors avoid the subject is the charlatans among us who preach a prosperity gospel and have made us shy away from such sermons.

Answer: preach it anyway. Just because there are quacks in the medical profession does not mean there is no such thing as good medicine.

b. The staff and financial leadership conduct a stewardship campaign each year.

Such a campaign needs to be led by the godliest, most mature and highest respected layperson in the church and a team of his/her selection. Sunday School lessons will be taught and testimonies given. There need to be posters and videos and other means to drive home this great issue to members.

c. Members are asked to commit themselves to be faithful stewards.

Asking for commitments as a part of a stewardship campaign is as necessary as an invitation at the end of an evangelistic sermon. Without it, people listen politely, then turn away and go back to their old ways.

The pastor of a church these days must be a man of courage. In a sense, that has always been the case, but it’s true even moreso today. The stresses upon him, the constant criticism hurled at him, the pressures from within and without–all conspire to dampen his ardor and cool his devotion. Don’t let it happen, pastor.

Stand tall. Be strong. Speak out. Do it for Christ’s sake, not because it’s popular or because the deacons will love it. (And do not refuse to do so because some will not love it.)

The day will come when you will look back and give thanks for the financial crisis. It accomplished some things that would not have taken place otherwise.

What things?

–It weeded out some of your members. The mill owner left and the church did better without him.

–It revealed which of your leaders were people of faith and which were not. The next time you were choosing lay leadership, you remembered and selected better.

–It caused you to pare your budget to some extent, cutting out waste or fat or excess.

–It forced you the pastor to examine your life to see whether you were leading from fear or from faith. As you stood tall in faith and gave strong leadership to the church in this time, the work flourished and the people responded.

Some things you look back on and give God thanks for them. A budget crisis can be one of the best for that!