I recently heard a Baptist pastor tell his small congregation in a stern tone: “I don't want or need your money, God meets my needs!” Humbly said, that is a foolish thing for a pastor to say. Why is he even talking about “I”? The church belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is the Head of the Church (Ephesians 4:15; 5:23). Each saint comprises the Body of Christ. The selfish pronoun “I” has no place in the local New Testament church! What that pastor is foolishly saying is that it is his personal church, and not God's church. The Bible says that God purchased the Church with His own blood (Acts 20:28).

The pastor in question has labored diligently for the past few years, now receiving about 25 people in attendance on Sundays. Kindly said, it doesn't surprise me that the church is stagnant and hasn't grown over the years, with an ungrateful pastor who expresses ingratitude toward the people who financially give money to the church. Our attitude very much determines our altitude. God will not bless a church unless the pastor commits that ministry wholly to the Lord Jesus Christ! It is the Lord's church, nobody else's. No pastor ought ever tell his congregation: “I don't want or need your money, God meets my needs!” That is the way an ungrateful man talks! You won't find Paul talking that way in the Bible.