The value of a soul

A few years ago I was approached by some people upset with some recent expenses their church made for its youth ministry.  When they voiced their concerns to me I asked how many young people had made professions of faith in Christ in recent year.  They admitted that the church had received several young people and/or their family members in recent years and their church was growing.  I then asked, "How much do you think a soul is worth?"  I never received an answer, and in a few minutes the group left.

In our current financial recession many churches have struggled financially.  Many have been forced to cut their budgets, sometimes through staff reductions or by eliminating ministries.  In some situations this has been necessary in order to survive, especially in those areas hardest hit with high unemployment numbers or other financial difficulties.  However, one of my concerns is that most of the money that was cut from budgets was for mission work both locally and abroad.  We've kept the items in our budget that provided care and ministry for our membership, but too often we've reduced or removed entirely funding that would enable our churches to effectively impact people outside of the church.  Both denominational mission agencies and local ministries have been impacted by these cuts.

I would encourage you to look at your budget with your church leadership and determine how much of your budget is for the church membership and how much is for reaching out to those outside the church.  Then ask yourself the question I posed that evening: How much is a soul worth?  Does a ministry project that would impact unchurched people really have to be eliminated, or could something else in the budget be reduced?  Could people be challenged to give more to ensure that the project can continue?  How important to your church are the unchurched people who live in your community?

These questions are not meant to be mean-spirited or accusatory.  I ask them to help remind each of us of the main purpose of our church.  As someone has said, the church was never meant to be a hotel for saints but a hospital for sinners.  The mission of every church is to fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, and that doesn't change because of changing economic situations.  I could not put a financial figure on the value of a soul, but I do know the cost God paid.  John 3:16 tells us what God thought the value of our souls was, and He was willing to pay it.  Personally, I'm thankful He was, and the people your church reaches for the Kingdom of God will be thankful that your church was willing to pay a price to continue reaching out to them.