The high places, however, were not removed; the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. (2 Kings 12:3)

            The writers of Kings and Chronicles usually followed a pattern of describing the character of each king.  The descriptions go one of two ways:

• Bad kings were described as those who “walked in the ways of Jeroboam”.
• Good kings were said to have done “what was right in the eyes of the LORD.”

The latter is the description of Joash.  But, for most of the kings, even the “good” ones, this character summary is followed with another significant phrase: “However, the ‘high places’ were not removed.”

            Joash was guilty of the same thing.  Joash was diligent in cleaning the temple.  Joash was also diligent in having the temple operating as it was intended.  As a result, through his leadership, the nation was cleaned up and began operating as it was intended.  This was something desperately needed due to the pollution the country suffered at the hands of the wicked Athaliah.  Unfortunately, Joash was not diligent in everything.  He failed to do anything about the “high places”.

            The high places were a consistent stumbling block to the Children of Israel.  These sites, at the crest of hills and mountains, were centers of pagan worship.  Some believe that during the reign of Joash these places were being used in some form of Jehovah worship.  Even so, this would be a mistake because Moses had clearly laid out how Yahweh was to be worshiped and it is doubtful that these places were part of God’s plan.  Joash was not paying attention to detail, and eventually this led to trouble.

            There is a much more ominous tone to these high places because they were usually associated with repulsive pagan rituals.  Even if the people were engaging in Jehovah worship, the original use of these places would be fresh in the minds of the people.  What Joash was doing by ignoring the details was giving Satan and his pagan rituals a toehold in the land.  This had disastrous results, as it wasn’t long before the people lapsed into apostasy.

            Obviously, a church is probably not going to fall into apostasy over poor financial practices but a financial illustration can easily be drawn from Joash’s experience.  Far too many ministers take an “I can’t be bothered with details!” approach to their church’s business affairs.  What they often say to their staff is that they are too busy or they need to spend time on “more spiritual” matters.  In other words, they can’t be bothered with financial details.  Occasionally, these are the last words of some pastors; at least at that church.

            KEY: Not paying attention to the church’s financial matters can bring about extremely negative results. 

• First, it is an example of poor leadership. If the pastor doesn’t care, odds are the staff won’t care either, resulting in poor financial practices throughout the church.
• Second, if a pastor is not paying attention, problems that at one point could have been easily solved can become insurmountable.  As the leader of the congregation, the pastor is often held responsible for the poor economic health of the church, even though he was not directly involved.  Actually, because he wasn’t directly involved may be the very reason pastors get into this type of difficulty. 

            What I am not suggesting is for the pastor to be the CFO of his church.  What is being recommended is that the pastor should simply pay attention to the financial health of the church.  Here are three suggestions of ways that a pastor can stay connected to and be aware of the financial “details” of his church.

• First, repeating the first principle, have a financial mentor.
• Second, with the help of the mentor, learn how to read and interpret the church’s financial statements. 
• Third, be supportive of the administrative staff and remember that their job is not to inhibit the ministry but to protect it.

Verne Hargrave is the Church and Ministry partner at PSK LLP and author of the book, Weeds in the Garden.

The Title "Pay Attention!¹

[1] Excerpt from, Practical Aspects of Pastoral Theology. Christopher Cone Th.D Ph.D (Editor), Tyndale Seminary Press.