If you need some address labels for your correspondence or paying your bills, I’ve got some extras. Credit card, anyone? I have ten or eleven “approved” applications I don’t need, and you can have them. There is one problem – the labels all have my name on them, and so do the credit card applications.
Where do all these things come from? Every week I get two or three offers for a new credit card, and just as often I get a letter from some charity with a whole bunch of labels. In the credit card matter, maybe I have a good credit rating, but they want me to make money for them. The labels are another matter entirely. They come from institutions that want contributions to their work. A consultant in “sales” talked to an “expert” and was told that if you send gifts to people who did not ask for them, some will send money anyway.
It must be working, for I have a pile of labels, and I will never live long enough to use them all.
Schemes for bringing in needed contributions are the subject of discussion in many charitable institutions. Most are probably very honest in their dealings, and the charities serve people in need. It is tempting for churches to do the same thing. They want funds to sustain various ministries, and those funds are hard to get. A church consults the experts and is given means whereby they can sustain their work and obtain the funds from sources previously unavailable. And, it works.
Is this a good idea for the church? Well, it would be easier than taking the money out of our own pockets, and we can probably think of some other good “reasons”. An important question needs to be considered, however. What does God say about this method?
Churches throughout history have looked for ways to raise money for their work, and they have come up with some very successful methods. But “success” is not the only criteria for doing the Lord’s work. In fact, being “successful” is not even mentioned in biblical discussions on this subject. How did Christians raise funds for the church’s work?
They had a novel way to of doing it – and it is the only way the Bible authorizes us to do it today. How? Each Christian is to give as God has prospered them, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2. Read it for yourself:
“Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also. On the first day of the week let every one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.”
1 Corinthians 16:1-2
Note that this was to be the way for the Corinthians and for the Galatians. You can read the rest of the New Testament all the way through and there is no other way authorized or even mentioned. None of the ways that are so commonplace today are found. Bake sales? Nope. Garage Sales? Concerts? Candy sales? Cake Walks? Raffles? No. They may be “successful”, but God’s people are not authorized to shift responsibility to our neighbors. It’s our job. We have it to do.
Yes, the funds to further the Lord’s work must come from our own pockets, and scripture is very plain on this subject. When instructions were given on similar efforts, the Holy Spirit stated that those same instructions were given “every where in every church.” See
1 Corinthians 4:17 and 7:17.
This point instructs us on many other issues on “how” to accomplish God’s work. The denominational world has concluded that when it comes to “church work” they have the right to use any method they deem useful. To look for the way God has authorized for them seems to have slipped right by their eyes. However, Paul was inspired to write to the church at Colosse that Christians must respect the following:
“Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father through him,” Colossians 3:17.
The church at Corinth had been slow in following up on their intentions of giving for this special need, so in his second letter, 2 Corinthians 8-9, Paul motivated them to make good on their promise – “..therefore perform the doing of it.” He did not authorize the use of “sales tactics” to get the money; they were to follow the examples of “others” (8:1-5, 8), and Jesus Christ (8:9). They had given, now it was time for Corinth to give:
“He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly; and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:6-7
Every Christian is told to give as God has prospered him/her that week. It should be given willingly, not just because of the commandment.
We can’t expect someone else to take care of our responsibilities. “Now therefore perform the doing of it.” God’s way of supporting the work of the local church? You and me!
