In the early days of ministry, I visited Asaba. I decided to stay with Pastor Tony for a few nights. While at the dining table, one of the nights, we began to discuss about finance and record keeping.
I told him we don't bother keeping records of income& expenditure because we don't take ministry money for personal use neither do we misappropriate it. We operated like what we read in 2 Kings 22:7. Moreso, the figures at that time was less than N200,000. So, we felt there was no need to do a special account. We were sincere but we were sincerely wrong.
When Pastor Tony heard, he told me about his days as NCCF coordinator in Katsina state and how one of their patrons told them that no matter how spiritual they were, their account must balance and they must be ready to give account to men. I picked a vital lesson there. Accountability is first to God and then to men.
As regards finances, in 2 Corinthians 8:20-21, Paul says, "We are sending a team in order to avoid any criticism over how we handle this wonderfully generous gift, [21] for we intend to do what is right and WE ARE TOTALLY OPEN BOTH TO THE LORD'S INSPECTION AND TO MAN'S" (TPT).
At other times, I engaged Pastor Temi Ola on the issue of auditing our account. He said, "The nature of your ministry requires you do that in case foreign organizations want to partner with you"( paraphrase). Little did I know his counsel was prophetic. We began to audit yearly inviting external auditors to look into our books and we submit our financials to the government annually to file for returns.
Years after, we wanted to travel to East Africa for an outreach, Tanzania to be precise but we didn't have enough. Through one of our partners in the U.S.,we wrote a letter to her church asking for support and we added the soft copy of our most recent audited statement of account to it. The pastor of the church confessed that it was uncommon to see a Nigerian ministry make their account books open. He ordered one of the church executives to make arrangement on how our outreach will be supported. Truly, they did.
While God sees your heart and knows you're clean without blemish, you must be accountable to men. Accountability is a two-way thing.
There is no viable and valid vision that will not need money to run. However, to attract the necessary finances needed after praying and trusting God, you must develop a culture of accountability to the people God is using to support you. It is an obligation you owe them if you don't have skeleton in your cupboard.
The financial aspect of your life should not be shrouded in secrecy. Every blessing from God has a channel through which it comes and it must be traceable.
No need to say "this car came from above". I know some older generation speak this way and they confuse the upcoming ones making it look like blessings just fall on them. It is no crime to say, "I was given this as a gift" or "I bought this with my money".
If you cannot subject your life to openness and scrutiny, there might be a question mark on your integrity.
Some preachers have not separated their personal account from church account. The slogan is, "God's money is for the man of God and the man of God can spend God's money on behalf of God". This is the voice of deception. This is how people ruin their vision on a fast lane.
If you want your vision to blossom, accountability is key. Build a structure around finances( inflow and outflow). Let there be a board that will regulate what goes to you and what goes into the work so you don't take what doesn't belong to you. Your policies on money should be clear-cut and documented with signatures appended. That's how things are done.
May we end our ministry without blemish and be bold to speak like Samuel: "Here I am. Witness against me before the LORD and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you”( 1Sam 12:3 NKJV).
