In South Korea, a 78-year-old pastor was sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of embezzling millions of dollars. He's also the pastor of the largest church in the world. Pastor John, I know you've been following the situation, and you want to say something about it here on Ask Pastor John.

Yes, I do. With every public dishonoring of Christ, and every public dishonoring of His Word and His Gospel and His Church, it makes me angry and it makes me sorrowful. I once heard David Hubbard, the former president of Fuller Seminary, say, "We pay people according to how many dishes break if they drop the tray." And I thought at the time, "That's right.

I guess in American culture that is what we do." And here I say, "Yes, and the more dishes break when you drop the tray, the more indignation the restaurant owner has or the people who depend upon the waiter to carry the tray." And so when a pastor drops the tray again, well, here are the facts.

Maybe people don't really know about the situation. David Yong Hee Cho is the pastor of the largest church in the world, Pentecostal Congregation in Yeouido. It's called Yeouido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea, with a million members. He's been sentenced to three years in prison for embezzling about $12 million in church funds.

And his son was found guilty. As far as I know, his son is already serving his sentence, and the sentence of David Yong Hee Cho has been suspended for five years. And my response to this is really not to pile on with any additional condemnation of David Yong Hee Cho, but rather to try to respond for the rest of us in a way that prevents this kind of thing as much as possible.

Paul said in Galatians 6, "Brothers, if anyone is caught in a transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness." Now that's what I assume is happening with his elders and his leaders. I can't do that from America. I'm counting on the church there to do that.

But then it says, "Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted." Okay, now that we can do. That I can do. And so I want to keep watch on myself, and I want pastors to keep watch on themselves. So, Tony, I have five pleas. I want to give five pleas to pastors.

My hope is that pastors will listen to this, and they'll take this 68-year-old pastor's heart, aching that we not bring this kind of reproach upon the name of Christ. So plea number one is kill every desire to be rich and get rich. Don't want this. If you see the desire in your heart, take aim at it with the words of Christ and the words of Paul, and put it to death with a swift blow of the sword of the Spirit.

Jesus said how difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom. In other words, don't want this. It's easier for a camel to get through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom. Why would you want to be rich? And Paul said those who desire to be rich pierce themselves with many pangs in 1 Timothy 6.

So that's number one. Kill every desire to be rich in the ministry. Number two, I plead with pastors that if you see your income starting to grow, set a governor on it and keep away from accumulating more and more and communicating to your people that you lay up treasures on earth.

One of the best ways to do this, I think, is to grow the percentage of your giving. I'm not impressed with pastors who give 30% of a million-dollar royalty check and keep 70% of it to buy luxuries with. I've heard pastors boast that they give 30%, 40%, or maybe even— I'm not even impressed with giving 90% of a 10-million-dollar royalty check and keeping a million dollars to play with while you look like every other millionaire and think that you've done a virtuous thing because you've given away 90% of your money.

That's just not the issue. Money is insidiously deceptive. We've seen it over and over again, and I'm pleading with pastors, be content with what the church pays you and give the rest away with joy and strategic wisdom. And number three, I plead with pastors to be totally transparent with your fellow elders from inside your church so that they know what your income is from all your sources.

These elders should not be the wealthy, powerful peers or friends from outside the church. That's an unbiblical way to lead your flock. It has no biblical foundation, and it communicates distrust for your local leaders and a kind of pride that you're above their local accountability. Let all the books of your income be open to any member of your church who asks the elders.

Secrecy around money is deadly. It's a sign that something is not right. So work to give your ministry the flavor. We're not like peddlers of God's word. Plea number four, I plead with you to live simply and to model for your people a way of showing that your treasure is in heaven and not on earth.

Please don't write this off by calling it pauper theology. "There goes Piper again with his pauper theology." That is absolutely ridiculous. The kind of distortion that that makes of what I'm saying is a sign of fear that what I'm saying just might be true. You have to distort it with pauper theology to escape the truth.

I've said nothing about being a pauper. I'm talking about get a car that works and gets you where you need to go. Get a car that doesn't break down on you every few months. I'm talking about a modest entertainment budget that doesn't eat out every night. I'm talking about a refreshing vacation, not an exorbitant one.

I'm talking about clothes that are unremarkable and undistracting, both for not being shabby and not being brand driven. I'm talking about a home that accomplishes your family and your ministry purposes, leaning toward ordinary folks in your congregation, not the wealthiest. Peter says to the shepherds, me and all the pastors, "Don't shepherd this flock for shameful gain.

Eagerly, do it eagerly, being examples to the flock." In other words, handle money in a way you'd like your people to handle it with a view to showing the world that Christ is your supreme treasure. And lastly, I plead with pastors to lead your people to put in place a leadership structure of a plurality of elders, a council of elders, on which you, pastor, have one vote.

You are a chief among equals in that you have the direction of the pulpit and the leadership by the word of God, by persuasion, not by having veto power over everything your lay people say, not by maneuvering with organizational power. So, Tony, I am so jealous for these things because I'm jealous for the name of Christ.

His name is blaspheme, Paul said. Paul said, it's so interesting, Paul said, "The name of God is blaspheme because of you." And what was he referring to? He said, "You abhor idols and you rob temples." What was that? That was hypocrisy to the core. Calling idols bad names and pretending to be real jealous for God's name and all the while, what you really want is money.

He said, "The Pharisees were lovers of money and thus the name of God is blaspheme among the Gentiles." That's what's happening today because of pastors who love money. Oh, oh, for every pastor to be ready to cut off his hand before he uses it to bring reproach on the name of Jesus by grasping for money.

Yes, thank you, Pastor John, and thank you for listening to this podcast. Please email your questions into us at askpastorjohn@desiringgod.org and visit us online at desiringgod.org to find thousands of books, articles, sermons, and other resources from John Piper, all free of charge. I'm your host Tony Ranke. We'll be back tomorrow.

Bye-bye.