Last month, Pastor Yonggi Cho, the man that heads the largest church in the world, Yoido Full Gospel Church and oversees a network of churches with approximately one million members, was found guilty by a South Korean court for committing breach of trust and corruption amounting to $12 million. Consequently, he received a suspended sentence of three years in prison with a five year probation and was ordered to pay a penalty of $4.7 million by Seoul Central District Court. The pastor, who founded his church in 1958, was also convicted of tax evasion. In addition, Chos son, Hee-jun, the former CEO of the media company Kookmin Ilbo, who serves as Secretary General of Yeongsan Christian Cultural Center, was also sentenced to three years in prison for participating in his fathers embezzlement scheme. Interestingly, many have since argued that Nigeria’s government cannot and would not take such a hard stance against our religious leaders, despite the fact that very many of them live ostentatious lifestyles, with stupendous wealth that cannot even be exhausted by their unborn generation. A scenario readily comes to mind! The General Overseer of a popular Pentecostal church once visited one of his branches. He met the branch pastor preaching when he walked in with his wife. Without much ado, the branch pastor stopped in the middle of the sermon to pay homage to his General Overseer, who instantly took over the pulpit and changed the subject of discussion. The GO charged the congregation to give cheerfully to the Lord even as he led the worshippers in soul-lifting songs. Of course, the ushers went round with baskets to collect the tithes and offering. And as soon as the collection was over, the GO left with the baskets containing the cash. He boarded his posh car in the company of his wife and sped off while the resident pastor and other leaders watched in admiration as they waved goodbye. The question today is- Should a pastor, his wife or other members of his family be sole signatories to the church’s account? If Yes, why? If No, why? Is there any scriptural basis for this? If ‘Yes’, how does he overcome the temptation to mismanage church funds? And if ‘No’, how then does he control the finances of the church to ensure there is no mutiny or embezzlement by other church leaders or members?
Posted on: Tue, 25 Mar 2014 15:59:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015