Should Pastors Drive Donkeys?

You'd think so, based on comments by Sen. Charles Grassley (h/t Captain Ed):

A U.S. senator is putting a new and troubling spin on the question: "What would Jesus drive?" Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who is pressing tax-exempt churches to be more open about their finances, told The Times that "Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey." Given that example, Grassley asked, "Do these ministers really need Bentleys and Rolls-Royces to spread the Gospel?"

Actually, they do, according to a politician who attends a Georgia church that has attracted the attention of the Senate Finance Committee, on which Grassley is the ranking Republican. "It's important," state Rep. Randal Mangham told Times staff writer Jenny Jarvie, "for kids to see you don't have to sell drugs to drive a nice car."

You don't have to accept that rationale for putting the preacher behind the wheel of a Bentley to take the larger point: Government should tread carefully in trying to decide what constitutes a legitimate religious expenditure. Because they enjoy tax-exempt status, churches and other religious organizations rightly owe the Internal Revenue Service an accounting of their finances to guard against fraud and profiteering. But regulators -- and members of Congress -- shouldn't impose their own theological notions on America's dizzyingly diverse religious culture.

Captain Ed finds it wildly ironic that Congressmen who take millions in campaign donations and from often questionable sources would be criticizing others taste in autos. You can read his commentary here.

I wanted to address the actual issue of pastors and their cars. I can tell you from years of experience that there are certain churches - especially African-American ones - that may have no money whatsoever but they make sure their pastor has a Mercedes. It's a sign of respect for the pastor of a black church to have a fancy ride. I've seen it over and over during my years in church insurance.

I'll never forget meeting with a pastor of a pretty rundown church in San Diego. The entire meeting he was giving me the "poor me" treatment and trying to get me to give him all kinds of breaks on his insurance pricing. His building was in poor shape and he'd already run afoul of the company because of excessive claims (I think he was using his insurance policy as a building repair fund). Over and over he told me the church just didn't have any money and couldn't afford to do the required maintenance.

After our meeting I was sitting in my car in front of the church making some notes when I saw a nearly new white Mercedes four-door sedan pull out from behind the church. At the wheel was the "poor" pastor. He couldn't fix up his church but he had the bucks to drive a nicer car than I've ever owned.

His was not an isolated situation. I've could give you a list of probably 25 churches I worked with that all operated the same way. I'm not faulting a congregation's desire to honor their pastor - I just found it a little disingenuous for a church to beg for breaks on its expenses while throwing tens of thousands of dollars at the pastor's car (and his wife, or the "First Lady" as they are often called in those churches, usually had just as nice a ride).