“I personally failed to project the cost in terms of my own integrity and pastoral credibility with the people of God of north and central Georgia,”
That may be the understatement of all understatements, made by Atlanta Roman Catholic Archbishop Wilton Gregory after he was called out for building a 6,400 square foot residence for himself at a cost of 2.2 million dollars.
That he didn’t think about the “cost” to his integrity and credibility in doing such a thing says as much about his personal character as having the extravagant home built in the first place.
Honestly.
Is he an example of a growing number of church leaders who have become so materialistic that they no longer have a conscience?
I want to believe the answer to that question is NO, yet it is quite true nonetheless that materialism is a serious problem in the church.
Pope Francis is dealing with it in his communion. He has called on clergy to live modestly, and even went so far as to suspend German Bishop Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst for extravagant living.
But American Protestant clergy and churches also struggle with materialism.
The comfortable life most churches provide clergy becomes a deterrent to prophetic preaching that addresses social and economic injustices in our nation, made worse by church members seeing themselves as consumers who expect their needs to be met without having their views, lifestyles, or priorities questioned.
And when it comes to buildings, well, multi-million dollar campuses have become the goal of churches big enough to build them and the envy of those that cannot. Millions of Christians sit in comfort and sometimes luxury on Sunday morning while most of the world is poor.
Is it any wonder that different surveys confirm the same thing, that the church has lost respect and credibility in the eyes of the public?
You can have many things, but a rich church in a poor world is not one of them.
The truth of this story is that what the Atlanta Archbishop said confirms something we all know deep down – churches don’t practice what they preach, and then act as if there are no consequences in doing so.
We are wrong.
Despite the illusion mega-churches have created that people are going to church by the thousands, in truth only about 25% of professing Christians actually attend on a regular basis.
This is especially true among the Millennials (18-30 years of age) who cite the church’s nasty anti-gay attitude as a primary reason why. They are rightfully turned off by the self-righteous and judgmental argument that the church can love the sinner, but hate the sin.
It is another example of the church’s hypocrisy.
The way things are going many people are wondering what the future of the church holds.
Will it even survive?
Nobody knows, of course, but I don’t think that’s the essential question anyway.
The real question is not will the church survive.
It is, instead, will the church’s survival even matter?
linnposts.com 
Wow, Jan! You really know how to bring out the truth!! Your facts are very sobering.
Virginia. Your comment reminded me of a quote from Harry Truman who, when asked if he gave Republicans hell, responded, “I never did give them hell. I just told the truth, and they thought it was hell.”
From a story I read, the great Czech reformer and martyr Jan Hus asked the heirarchy of the Church in Prague: “If Christ was poor, then why are you so rich?”
That is a question which haunts us all yet. My own Church of England included…
Nigel, what you wrote underscores the truth that none of us in the church has clean hands. But we can and should know it and then try to do something about it.
As usual, you got that right.
Jan, your comments are so soberingly true we need to share them far and wide…and particularly in our own church groups. Jesus would surely be appalled to observe the practices of large, well-to-do churches of today. With your permission I’ll make some copies and give them to people I know in the VERY large church I use to attend regularly. I still go to a craft group at church that makes useful and beautiful handmade items for the needy in our society as well as a community in Africa. The craft group started a long time ago as a separate entity using church facilities but was not governed by the larger church committees. Last year the “powers that be” decided the craft group should be incorporated into the Mission Committee. So the church is looking more like Big Business every day. A huge building program is now underway but to my way of thinking our church structure is already huge. Churches are looking more like Big Corporations every day and that’s NOT a compliment.
Hi Laura. Feel free to share the Blog in whatever way you wish. Thanks for wanting to do that.