In my college days, I had a conversation with a friend about church. I had told him that I felt called to ­Christian ministry, and he had questions. 

One of the many things he questioned was the church’s integrity. He said he had stopped going to church because he didn’t like that the pastor was always asking for money. 

I attempted, poorly, to explain the concept of tithing to him, but he was not budging. He got frustrated and referred to pastors as car salesmen.

While I might roll my eyes at that, I can see where his frustration came from. There are pastors and churches obsessed with money. 

Recently, an American comedian known as Druski did a comedy skit about megachurches and a pastor obsessed with money. Many people found it hilarious. Many others found it offensive. 

The skit raised an interesting question for me, though. Is the church different? Is there something unique about it that cannot be found in other places? Is the church selling something? Is a pastor like a car salesman?

Druski’s humor and my friend’s frustration come from the idea that the church is just an organization that demands time, money and loyalty without giving much in return. It manipulates people — by playing to their desires and fears, like a salesman or an advertiser — to make money or gain influence. It might even be corrupt. Just like anything else.

I believe this negative image of the church is especially strong in the ­United States, where the church blends in with the culture of capitalism. People even say the church is like a business, because it needs money to survive. 

The church does need money, especially for hiring staff. I couldn’t be a full-time pastor without the congregation’s generosity. 

We have budget sheets and business meetings. Sometimes we spend a lot of time talking about money. What we do with our financial resources is important, and it takes effort to get those resources. 

But the church is not a business. And it is more than a nonprofit charity. It is a worshiping community that offers something far greater than any business or charity can. 

What makes the church different is not only that it’s a community of faith but also that it calls people to live by Jesus’ alternative ethic. 

By being a part of a church, we are saying we choose to live differently. If our world expects us to be individualistic, we counter by creating community. If the world tells us to accumulate as much money as we can for ourselves, we will instead use our money to serve others and create wholeness for creation. 

The power of the church is its unique ability to adapt to what the world throws at us by turning the world’s values upside down.

The church gets in trouble when we try to fit into the culture. We follow the wrong path when we long to be like every other community in the hope of increasing membership or influence. 

We see this happening when churches promote Christian nationalism. The church was never supposed to seek political power. It was intended to be a community at the margins that offers a new way of being.

THe Book of Acts and the New Testament letters testify to the church’s identity as an alternative community. 

In Acts, the followers of Jesus are creating something new — a movement that is different from what the empire can tolerate. 

In the letters, we see how the church adapts to the cultures it finds itself in, not by conforming but by being different. The constant message is to offer a new way of living as a community.

Romans 12:2 warns us not to copy the world’s ways: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.”

The church functions best when it goes against the grain. In a world that values wealth, endorses oppression and glorifies violence, the church offers generosity, freedom and peace. 

Call me a salesman if you like. I will gladly give you my pitch about the lifegiving difference the church can make.