@ruvalum @janefortruth My church does. It doesn’t fully disclose each staff member’s salary but it’s a small staff so the math isn’t hard to get in the ballpark.
I wonder if some of what we’re talking about isn’t just pastoral salary but church size in general. Size reduces transparency everywhere.
@janefortruth The way a pastor spends money is also important because it reflects their heart but because it’s a heart issue I err on the side of thinking it’s likely very complex and therefore difficult to judge without lots of specific conversation about it.
@janefortruth I think I’m more troubled by the message it sends than how someone spends their money. In the same way I have been troubled when a church surrenders its platform to a political candidate during a worship service. I’m pretty defensive about the messages from the stage.
@suzania @EconPhDropout @henryjkwallis @jacobhtyler @a_farmboy@Gregory17528152 @ifffster @snemes12 This is a very interesting point that I didn’t realize I agreed with until I saw you articulate it. I think I’d add that there have also been 2,000 years +/- of the temptation of Christ (“all of this could be yours”) that might have subtly swayed even well-intentioned thinkers.
@jwilson1812 I had a similar thought watching the Ken Burns Vietnam doc and realizing my kids are as far from 9/11/2001 as I am from Vietnam.
Also, did you read it abridged or unabridged? I attempted the unabridged and petered out in the middle.
@suzania Do you think this could be an aspect of wealth/social position? As in with certain areas of affluence, it’s difficult to identify genuine friendliness from an attempt to use you?
@suzania Smyth’s thread hit me like “holy straw man, Batman.” But then I’m nearly anabaptist when it comes to how I think about faith/politics at my age. I don’t even think I believe there is such thing as Christian policy. Policy is force, Christ is Spirit. Policy inevitably fails.