WHAT WOULD YOU DO WITH $750,000?

What would you do with $750,000? That's a wonderful question to consider personally or on any level. A nationally known preacher/teacher related a story about a pastor and church with which he was personally acquainted that allocated $750,000 to one endeavor.

WAIT! FOR WHAT?

Just think of it, $750,000 for foreign missions to spread the gospel around the world! No. They didn't spend it on missions, foreign or domestic. What about $750,000 going to print Bibles for distribution in countries which ban the Bible? That would print no telling how many copies of God's Word and part of it could be used to somehow smuggle them into those forbidden territories.

But no. They spent $750,000 on  . . . are you ready? They spent it on a state of the art system for the projection of film clips of movies to illustrate the sermons preached in the auditorium. $750,000!

Although the well-known preacher/teacher didn't elaborate on exactly what that state of the art projection system included, we might surmise that it meant the purchase of at least two giant flat screens suitable for what must be a massive auditorium, a pitch-perfect sound system and a projection system suitable for crystal clear clarity as we would expect to see at the local Cinema 16. Certainly, it included the cost of professionals to install it, a cost which must have been humongous in and of itself. Of course, they would have to hire someone to maintain and at times, repair and maintain the system. The maintenance of such massive and complicated technology wouldn't be a simple matter. That means more money.

THE PRINCIPLE OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES

It was after its installation that an unexpected (to them) biblical principle swung into action: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21) Jesus is saying that our hearts follow our money; wherever you put your money, your heart will follow. And this is exactly what happened to the pastor and the church.

The pastor, the church, and the board realized that in order to justify a $750,000 expenditure meant that, come what may, no matter what, that system must be used and used and used. The pastor must, absolutely must, find appropriate film clips to perfectly illustrate his point(s). Every week. Every sermon. Sunday morning. Sunday night. Wednesday night.

When the pastor realized just how much time he was spending researching and finding those just-right clips and then preparing them for projection, he told the board, "I don't have time to do all  that!" He was right.

So, the church had to hire a person to do the research, find the movies, and prepare the clips for projection and use every single Sunday morning, every single Sunday night. Every single Wednesday night. (If they had all those additional services.)

This also meant that the pastor would have to keep that person informed as to what the sections of the sermon would be about so he would know what kind of clips to prepare and project.

TRAPPED!

How long would it be before the new would wear off for the congregation? How long before they would come to church as movie critics and say, "You know, last Sunday's clips were better." How long would it be before Bible studies would be turned into entertainment? How long before the fellow who was hired to find the perfect clips for perfect projection would burn out? How long would it be before the pastor got tired of his new toy and burned out? And, for every sermon the pastor considered preaching, would he have to consider if there was a movie clip somewhere that could be used. If so, the system determined the sermon.

The pastor and the church found themselves trapped. After its installation, the system owned them, they didn't own the system. The money was gone. They couldn't "unspend it." They were now serving a projection system.