Isn MLM a great way for Christian ministries to support themselves?
No. It is a great way for missionaries or laypeople or ministers to get derailed from their mission, waste a lot of money and time, alienate a lot of people, and lead a few unfortunate others down the same ruinous path. Athena Dean (in her books, which are linked at the end of the article) makes a good real-life case-study of this pitfall for Christians. Often this temptation flies under the banner of “tentmaking”, a reference to the Apostle Paul who made tents and thus supported his own ministry so as not to be a burden on anyone else. My wife Laura and I are very keen on “tentmaking” ourselves as a personal practice. But MLM is completely at odds with the spirit of this noble discipline. Paul wanted NOT to be a burden on anyone, and this is quite different than openly conning and exploiting people. Even if the ML pyramid scheme aspect is downplayed (and it can only be subdued, not eliminated, right?), should ministers be hawking their wares within the church fellowship? WWJD? Christi
