Is the Church just interested in money?

All too often atheists assert in objection to Christianity that the Church is just a business that is interested in making money out of people. By their view the Church is some evil empire that sucks the life blood out of people because of simple greed.

But is this a fair and factual objection?

Well lets consider some organisations that are solely intent on making money for the services they provide.
- Fast food restaurants like McDonald and Pizza Hut are businesses that only operate to make a profit
- Music producers like Sony records or EMI are businesses that only operate to make a profit
- Universities are Harvard and Oxford are businesses that solely operate to make a profit
- Private doctors surgeries are businesses that solely operate to make a profit
These are just a few examples, but if we consider these, would any atheist object to people going to Harvard university, eating at McDonalds, listening to Sony music and visiting a private doctor's surgery?
No they would not object. I am certain that there are plenty of atheists that would be happy to do all of the above themselves and also have no problem with others doing them. In fact you would be hard pressed to find any atheist that would object on some moral basis to even one of the above.

Ask yourself, how many atheists are made to give money to the church? None, they have no obligation to give to the church because they are not members of the church.

So if the atheist objection is about Church members being expected to pay, then let us consider other organizations where members have to contribute money.
- sporting club
- recreational clubs
- historical societies
- yoga clubs
- yacht clubs
- chess clubs
- writing clubs
- scrapbooking club
These are just a few examples, but if we consider these, would any atheist object to people paying money as part of being a member of one of these clubs?
No they would not object. I am certain that there are plenty of atheists that would be happy to pay fees as a member of any or all of the above clubs themselves and also have no problem with others doing so. In fact you would be hard pressed to find any atheist that would object on some moral basis to even one of the above clubs expecting some payment from its members.

So if an atheist has no moral objection to fees being charged, by psychologist, doctors, food providers, carpenters, taxi drivers, nurses, meditation clubs, literary clubs, music producers, educational facilities, recreational clubs etc then there can be no moral basis for them objecting to the Church requesting money from its members when it often provides services similar to these to its members.

The fact is that this is one of the atheists' least thought out objections to Christianity, but it is one of the most heart felt, because it is driven by the love of money.
The love of money make people protect their money from anyone they believe might want some of it.

The fact is that we don't want the atheists' money. We can take care of ourselves with God's help.

The Church is a family, it is the family of God's children through Jesus Christ.
Family members happily share with each other what they have and come to the aid of those brothers and sisters that are in need. The church does this. It cares for its members in times of need, it provides ministers who serve the Church family, it also reaches out to people outside of the church. The church leads the way in caring for the homeless, the sick, the abandoned, the elderly, the lost and the needy.

If you resent the Church for teaching its members to be generous with their money, to care for fellow Christians and for the needy, then stay at home and let your money comfort you in whatever way it can. If you find the love of money no longer gives you any comfort, then rest assured that the love of God is the comfort you need. Embrace God and you will be blessed. When you learn that giving is receiving, you will no longer be without.

God bless you all.