Holy money laundering
September 27th, 2005Joel Maners has an interesting post about a Mexican bishop who caused a stir by accepting money from drug traffickers. Joel astutely relates this story to some situations that may confront churches and Christian organizations:
All this reminded me of a conversation I had with a Christian college fund raiser a number of years ago. I asked him about the issue of accepting money from sources that were less that reputable. He stated that just because money had been acquired in an immoral fashion did not mean that it could not still be put to good use in God’s kingdom. “So,” I asked, “are you telling me that you would accept a million dollar donation from an active drug trafficker?” He replied, “Yes. It’s time we start using the Devil’s money toward good purposes.”
Joel says this type of mentality can lead to serious problems for Christian organizations. For example, what if a bank robber gets a conviction thrown out on a technicality. Can a church or Christian group still accept his money in good conscience?
Should churches accept money from lottery winners? What if someone hits it big in the casino and wants to donate a chunk of change to a church? Where is the proper place to draw the line?
A while back I read an interesting piece by John Piper on why he would not accept a tithe from lottery winners.
http://www.desiringgod.org/library/fresh_words/2003/010103.html
Even if the bank robber got his case thrown out on a technicality, would he still be able to keep the money? I doubt it, so perhaps this is a moot point.
How about some of the CEO’s who have defrauded consumers and their own workers for millions of dollars? Should their sizable contributions — all of them tax-deductible, no doubt! — be accepted, for the “greater good” they will do?
Who decides what’s right or wrong?
Regarding someone who hits it big in the Lotto: Suppose it’s someone who plays the lottery 4 or 5 times a year, when the jackpot is really, really big? This certainly wouldn’t qualify as compulsive gambling or anything; are these winnings somehow tainted? I really don’t have any problem with this kind of a contribution; on the other hand, if the money comes from someone who is basically hooked on gambling, then it seems to me that the church could be viewed as contributing (in a roundabout way, perhaps) to the problem.
It’s an interesting conundrum. Bottom-line: In this world, you have to pay the bills. And money from questionable sources is no different, financial value-wise, than money from ill-gotten means.
Whose conscience rules in such matters?
What bothers me is that most Christin organizations, in an almost insatiable hunger for money, seem to justify nearly anything in order to raise more money. In the process, they end up prostrating themselves before the god of Mammon. Far from honoring God, this is idolatry pure and simple. I rarely hear even a hint of debate concerning this area of ethics. This tells me that we are just sweeping this issue under the rug and not taking ethics seriously. I would love to see some serious thinking and debate in the near future.