Occasionally people ask my opinion on various personal or church issues. I recently received the following question which I have reprinted below, followed by my response.
QUESTION
Dear Bob,
What is your position regarding Pastor John Gray purchasing his wife a very expensive car? He is a dynamic preacher. Why would he be such a poor steward of his money? Doesn’t this tarnish the fact that he is preaching Christianity?
Editor’s note: Pastor John Gray leads Relentless Church, a megachurch in Greenville, S.C. He is a high-profile media preacher and a frequent guest on a reality T.V. show. The past few weeks he has been skewered on social media for buying his wife a $200,000 Lamborghini on the couple’s eighth anniversary. Afterward, a video of the presentation of the gift went viral on Instagram. Gray has explained the car was not purchased with church funds, but with money he has personally accumulated through book sales and prudent investments.
MY ANSWER
In my opinion, it doesn’t seem wise for a pastor to give his wife such an expensive car. And I agree with you that it doesn’t appear to be good stewardship. Most pastors I know wouldn’t do that…even if they had the resources to do so, simply because it sends the wrong message both to the church and to the world. Most believers would conclude the money could be better used to spread the gospel or feed the hungry. That kind of extravagance gives the enemies of Christianity an occasion to ridicule.
We need to keep in mind that all pastors — those who lead large churches and those who lead small churches — are fallible human beings. They make mistakes…sometimes big ones. The Bible teaches us to respect those in spiritual authority but at the same time to be alert because “savage wolves will come in among you and not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw disciples after them. So be on your guard!” (Acts 20:29-31). One of the tell-tale signs of false teachers is that they “peddle the word of God for profit” (2 Cor. 2:17).
However, I am always hesitant to pass judgment on how other believers spend their money since there’s usually much we don’t know about their circumstances. Romans 14:4 asks, “Who are you to judge another man’s servant? To their own master servants stand or fall.”
I don’t know John Gray but let’s say, hypothetically, that he inherited 100 million dollars and gave away 90 million dollars to missions. If he spends $200,000 of the 10% he kept for himself on a car for his wife, that’s between him and God. I admit that’s highly improbable! But it reminds us that only God can makes the ultimate judgment…and He will!
In the meantime let’s focus our minds on the perfect Shepherd and, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9).
– Bob
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