Book Review: God vs. Money by Clif Christopher

In his book, God vs. Money, Horizons’ founder, Clif Christopher draws on his experience as a member of the US Army to create a powerful metaphor intended to examine a potent enemy of the church—greed. In his typical direct, take-no-prisoners communication style, Christopher proclaims the theater of combat is our society that saturates our daily lives with messages of needing more stuff. Christopher uses “war language” to convey the importance of defeating the most significant deterrent to building disciples in our churches and ultimately funding the church’s mission.
Christopher says, “I truly believe that we must take the attack upon our Christian values by a greedy, self-serving society very seriously.”
Clif Christopher, who is an ordained minister of The United Methodist Church, pushes heavily on pastors to act as “drill instructors” who should model for others a generous life. Despite being subject to the same barrage of messages from the enemy, pastors must resist temptation and live a generous life. Pastors should be able to preach and teach biblical stewardship principles and draw from personal and authentic experiences.
Pastors are drill instructors who should model for others a generous life.
In subsequent chapters, Christopher expands on his metaphor to describe strategies for defeating the enemy in “the combat zone.” Fighting against the “you can have it all” mentality, the church must face the enemy head-on and counter the message of more is better. In God vs. Money, Christopher provides ample tools that can be immediately applied in every church to defeat the enemy grow disciples.
God vs. Money is a must-read for every pastor, stewardship chair, finance committee member, and church leader who wants to meet greed on the battlefield and reclaim biblical stewardship principles.
Here’s what church leaders are saying about God vs. Money:
Carl Frazier, Jr., Lead Pastor, First United Methodist Church, Cary, North Carolina.
Bill Enright, Emeritus Founding Executive Director of the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving at the Lilly School of Philanthropy at Indiana University. Former Senior Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Indianapolis. Bill is the author of Kitchen Table Giving: Reimagining How Congregations Connect With Their Donors.
Scott Jones, Bishop, Texas Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church
Charles Cloughen, Jr, Episcopal Priest, Planned Giving Officer-Diocese of Maryland, and author of One Minute Stewardship: Creative Ways to Talk About Money in Church.
I have several of Clif’s books and often use them as references in my talks. The church IS in dire trouble because they have forgotten why they give! Excellent, excellent book. I enjoy reading his books because they are easy to read, and he lays it out. You never have to guess trying to read between the lines. To the point and clear! I have always admired that about the way he writes. I most certainly endorse this book, and I will be purchasing one for the office.
Anita Crisp, Executive Director, Nebraska United Methodist Foundation
Bill Easum, Founder and President of The Effective Church Group and author of over 21 books including co-authoring Dinosaur to Rabbits: Turning Mainline Decline to a Multiplication Movement.
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