Rich church but in debt?

One guy called by God, getting together with like minded people... that's the way it used to be. Unfortunately, we humans can't seem to leave well enough alone, so now they (the churches) are pretty much "under the authority" of the denominational headquarters instead of just going their way and following however God leads them. I'm getting way in over my head here, but that hasn't stopped me before... not all TV evangelists are evil, I agree. It's sad that there are any at all, though, since for some people, that's all they know about Christianity. Now, to churches and politicians and money... your question is like asking why a person can die of dehydration adrift on an ocean of water. Most of the "money" talked about isn't in a usable form. It's in the form of bank notes, debt contracts and so on. Here's an example I read that blows my mind. When a bank loans money to someone, they add on the total interest to the debt and that becomes money, whether it's paid or not. If a borrower defaults on the loan, the bank "loses money" even though the principal may have already been paid. Money is a strange concept!

I can just about get that interest as money concept - the bank has to be paid for loaning the money (salaries, research time, investors, etc.) - so in effect, they DO lose money when the interest isn't paid. The lack of water while floating in the ocean still annoys me, it just is so fundamentally wrong! But true, nonetheless. Sounds like the "American church" really couldn't do all we're told they/we can. Money that isn't in a usable form and can't be converted into a usable form isn't money.

Thank you. I suppose the people claiming this are referring to all churches combined. I didn't even know for a long time that churches were organizations. I thought some guy was called by God, got together with other likeminded people, rented a building, and they all started doing God things from there. Like preaching, meeting, collecting things for poor people, etc. Then I heard there were main churches (don't know the word but like a headquarters of a business). Oh, well, don't know, don't really care how it all works officially. I know churches support missionaries and programs either in the country or in foreign countries but I don't know about all this money. I've only been to one church where there was a nice building and a pastor with a nice car; usually they are on a par or even poorer than the people attending. I don't watch TV much but of course I know about those TV evangelists - I don't automatically assume they're evil just because they're on TV. They may very well be supporting and helping whole cities in other countries, I don't know. But if it's true that these people have tons of money and we know our politicians have money that isn't theirs, how is America in so much debt? Maybe I just don't really want to know.

Perhaps this makes no sense to you, but I was talking about the so-called "American church". I know many Americans are catholic but that's an Italian church.

I was raised to think for myself, never heard of God, Jesus, all that until I was a teenager but I'm able to understand Christianity. You have to understand that there is another level to life than what many see in everyday life, and experience the interconnectedness of everything to go beyond the religious teachings we in America usually start with, that's all.