Worship-06B-Giving

Exploiting the Givers (cont.)

Benevolent Program

�� Paul got involved in a large benevolent program for the Christians in Jerusalem, Judea.� Why?�

�� Most of the Christians at that time were in Judea.� Christians there and everywhere were losing their jobs, their property was being taken from them, and breadwinners were being imprisoned (Hebrews 10:32-34).� They were doing the best they could, selling their possessions and lands to help out (Acts 4:32-37), but eventually that ran out.� They needed outside help. �� On Paul's second missionary trip, he told the Christians in Corinth, southern Greece, about the poor Christians in Judea.� They became the instigators of a campaign to send relief money to them (2 Corinthians 8:10.)� It would take time to collect all the money, so Paul went ahead and left without their donation.

�� He returned to Judea where he saw the poverty for himself.� So, on Paul's third missionary trip, he went through the provinces of Galatia and Asia in Turkey, telling people about the needs of the poor Christians in Jerusalem and Judea (1 Corinthians 16:1).

�� He told the church in Ephesus also (1 Corinthians 16:1).� While in Ephesus, he wrote the church in Corinth in southern Greece that he was going to visit them.� Toward the end of his letter he said,

�� "Now about the collection for God's people:� Do what I told the Galatians [Turkish] churches to do.� On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made" (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).

�� He further provided for fiscal responsibility with his next statements:� "Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem.� If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me [to Jerusalem]" (1 Corinthians 16:3-4).

�� Next he went back to Northern Greece, called Macedonia, where he returned to the city of Philippi (Acts 19:21 - 20:2).� There, he told them about the financial problems of the Christians in Jerusalem and Judea.� He also bragged to them about the congregation in Corinth, Greece, just south of them, saying they'd decided to send a sizeable contribution to Judea (2 Corinthians 9:1-2).

�� The Philippians were fairly poor Christians themselves.� Yet, "out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity...they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints" (2 Corinthians 8:2, 4).

�� Just before Paul went to Corinth down in Achaia, the southern province of Greece, he wrote to them a second letter telling them he was not commanding them to give (2 Corinthians 8:8), but since they had decided the previous year to make a donation, "now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means" (2 Corinthians 8:11).

�� He went on to say that they should give "according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.� Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality" (2 Corinthians 8:13).

�� Once more Paul was fiscally responsible with the donation of the Christians.� He sent this letter to the Corinthians by Titus and "we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel.� What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering....We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift" (2 Corinthians 8:18-20).

�� He concluded his discussion of the benevolent campaign by telling them to "finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised [a year earlier].� Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given....Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7).

�� Paul went on to Corinth in southern Greece (Achaia) and stayed three months (Acts 20:3).� While there, he wrote the church in Rome that he wanted to go there soon to impart spiritual gifts to them (Romans 1:11).� Near the end of his letter, he asked the Christians to pray for the benevolence campaign with this explanation.�

�� "Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there.� For Macedonia [northern Greece] and Achaia [southern Greece] were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem" (Romans 15:25-27).� Paul further asked the Christians in Rome to pray that the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem will accept such a gift from Gentile Christians (Romans 15:31).

�� Some of those who accompanied him later on the way back to Jerusalem were three Christians from the province of Asia where Ephesus is and one from the province of Galatia (Acts 20:4), both in Turkey.

�� Soon thereafter, Paul arrived in Jerusalem "to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings" (Acts 24:17).

�� God, I always thought benevolence was pretty straight forward.� If someone knocks on the church door, give him some food.� I never thought of coordinating with other churches like this.� And they all trusted Paul with their money.� They knew he loved you.

Fund Raisers

�� But, if we are on a tight budget, where are we going to get the money to give others?�

�� In some congregations, it is standard to hold bazaars in the church basement or out in the parking lot at least once a year and advertise it to the general public.�

�� Did the Jews sell things on temple grounds?� Yes, they did.� They sold animals to people who had traveled such long distances to offer sacrifices, it was more practical to purchase the equivalent of what they would have brought with them.� Or they were made available to people who did not own any herds of their own.� In fact, the priests arranged for merchants to set up their booths in the temple courtyard where the women and Gentiles were allowed to worship.

�� Further, since the temple only dealt with temple currency - the temple shekel - people exchanged their Roman currency and currency from other parts of the world for temple currency right there on temple grounds.

�� But Jesus objected to this practice once at the beginning of his ministry and once near the end.� They were buying and selling on temple grounds.� All through Leviticus, the book explaining temple worship in detail, it says that offerings were to be BROUGHT to the entrance tabernacle/temple to be offered there.� The courtyards were considered the entrance since the temple structure itself was a much smaller building in the center.

�� Wasn't the courtyard an okay place to assist the worshippers?� The temple complex was made up of five sections.� In the innermost section was the actual temple building itself.� Only priests could enter it.� Around that was a courtyard that only men could enter.� Around that was a courtyard that only women and Gentiles could enter.� Around that were the walls to the temple complex which also contained storage rooms, apartments, and so on.

�� Jesus was upset that the animal sales and currency exchanges were being made in the courtyard.� (Go here to see how large the courtyard was.) So he drove them all from the temple area and declared, "How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!" (John 2:14-16).

�� Then, three years later right after the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus once more entered the temple area (complex), and once more drove out the merchants and currency exchangers shouting, "It is written, 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a 'den of robbers' " (Matthew 21:12-13).

�� The first time he objected to them being there.� The second time he objected that they were not only there, but they were robbing the people, probably with exorbitant prices.

�� Well, what if the church bizarre were moved away from the church building with easier access by the general public, people who do not attend that church?� The apostle John in his old age probably 60 years later said, "It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans" (3 John 7).

�� Who are the pagans?� Basically, they non-Christians.� And how are we to judge who is a Christian and non-Christian when they file up to give us their money?� We can't.

�� Well, what about the church going into some kind of business anonymously?� Large denominations sometimes do that.� Many business leaders were converted in the early church, but we have no evidence they used their expertise to develop a business for the church to run and raise money for it.

�� "But what if I have some property I want to sell and give the proceeds to the church?" someone asks.� That is provided for.� Other situations are too.� Read on.

�� God, I never thought of it that way.� I guess it gives me an idea of how outsiders must think of us - always thinking of ways to make money.� At least, when we advertise it, it must seem that way to them.� No wonder they think all churches want is their money.� Forgive me.

Creating Heaven

�� So, the question remains.� If we are on a tight budget, where are we going to get the money to give others?� If our personal outgo is that close to our income, it may take time to adjust it.

�� The most helpful book I have run into was apparently written by a Buddhist, Timothy Miller:� HOW TO WANT WHAT YOU HAVE.�

�� Some people play sports with the attitude that they have to win every time.� We look down on this type of attitude, but most of us have the same attitude toward money.� We must always be the winner; otherwise we're considered failures.

�� We are trying to meet spiritual starvation with material things.� We go to work so we can come home so we can eat so we can sleep so we can go back to work.� We buy bigger houses, nicer cars, send our children to college so they can get a good job, and come home to eat and sleep and go back to work.� The author concludes that it is "like a macabre marathon dance that can only be escaped by dying. [6]

�� What is this emptiness we are so driven to fill but which is never filled?� We long, in the midst of all our treading water, to feel some sense of significance.� Each one of us is just one in a world of millions, a world that hardly even and hardly ever notices us.� We want to feel like we did not live life in vain.

�� We humans, who live in a material world, are naturally drawn to material things as proof to others and to ourselves that we are significant.� And we use mathematics to prove it.� We count our pay check, the number of times we went out to eat, the number of shoes or shirts in our closet, the number of cars in our driveway, the height of our house.

�� Isn't it strange that, with such a strong instinct for more, humans do not have an instinct that tells us when we've accumulated enough.� Enough always eludes us.� We are self-driven to believe that enough is just around the corner - one more promotion, one more raise, one more award, one more car.

�� The brilliant author of this book went on to explain that we must retrain our instincts for more material things and develop drives to show people compassion, savor each moment as a fulfilling experience, express gratitude for what we do have, and finally to meditate.

�� These are all good.� But, let's take this deeper in the direction of Christianity.� What does God say we live on this earth for?� Our foremost purpose in being born is to die (Psalm 22:29, LBV). [7]� Is that morbid?� Not to Christians.� Are we Christians?

�� The psalmist said, "But as for me, my contentment is not in wealth but in seeing you and knowing all is well between us.� And when I AWAKE IN HEAVEN, I will be fully satisfied, for I will see you FACE TO FACE" (Psalm 17:15 LBV). [8]

�� Just before Paul's death, he said, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.� Now there is in store for me the CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS! which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day" (2 Timothy 4:8).

�� Earth is just the corridor to heaven.� We've got to travel through earth to get to heaven.� Heaven is so indescribable that God uses earthly terms to try to describe it.� Which terms?� Those used to describe the wealth we so irresistibly crave and cannot get enough of here on earth.

�� Yes, in our frantic rushing here and there and everywhere, seldom resting, never able to get rid of the addiction for more, we are frustrated because deep down we know we cannot have it all.� Oh, but that's wrong.� We CAN have it all.� But not here.� Once we realize it is heaven we are frantically seeking, we can put things into perspective.�

�� I guess, God, that I have tried to purchase heaven.� I always knew money couldn't buy true happiness, but always made a joke out of it.� It's not a joke, is it, God?� Money can rule me, can't it?� Help me look at myself as I really am.

Give and You Will Receive

�� Do we want heaven?� Do we want others to have heaven?� That's what it all boils down to.� And giving is one way to help both ourselves and others.

�� People have no problem giving when they see a true need.� But they must be convinced in their own hearts it is a true need.� It isn't something church leaders need to be harping after them about.

�� As we saw above, Paul never insisted that the church at Corinth lead a campaign of giving for the poor Christians in Jerusalem and Judea.� It was originally their idea (2 Corinthians 8:10), then he took that same idea to other congregations and told them about it.� They all liked the idea and began saving for the poor.� But by then, the Corinthians had gotten bored with the idea.�

�� Paul simply told them, "I bragged to others about you, and now you're backing out.� You're embarrassing yourselves and me" (2 Corinthians 9:2-5).

�� So, what caused them to give in the first place?� The Philippians in Macedonia expressed it best.� They were poor, and Paul did not expect anyone to give so much they ended up poorer than the ones they were helping (2 Corinthians 8:13-15).� Even though they were poor, they gave out of "overflowing JOY" that "welled up" within them.� "Entirely ON THEIR OWN, they urgently pleaded with us for the PRIVILEGE of sharing in this service to the saints" (2 Corinthians 8:2-4).

�� Three things were involved:� Joy, self-motivation, attitude of honor and privilege.

�� Yes, God, that is true.� I've experienced it myself.� I've given to people who didn't even ask, because I saw their need.� It does work, doesn't it?� Just show me the need.�

The Nitty Gritty

�� Perhaps much more time needs to be devoted in our Sunday meetings to the needs for which the congregation gives.� In fact, it may be that seldom are the needs even mentioned.� As far as the members are concerned, a cold plate is passed into which cold cash is placed.

�� If the leadership seems to be dragging the money out of people, perhaps the people don't see it as a need, then perhaps the congregation shouldn't be involved in it.� So, how should it be done?

BUILDING

�� Ninety-nine percent of congregations are giving toward their building, whether mortgage payments, rent payments, and/or utilities and upkeep.� We need to get past those cold and impersonal bricks and light bulbs and carpet cleaner.� What is the building being used for?

�� Is it being used for Sunday worship and occasional potlucks, and sitting empty the rest of the time?� Perhaps the congregation should be renting a school somewhere instead.�

�� Is the building being used during the week, but only by the members?� In that case, its cost is not going to save the lost.�� James 5:20 tells us, "Remember this:� Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins."

�� If we were born to die so we can go to heaven, then others are too, and need to be helped to learn how.� Just as Jesus attracted people's attention before his sermons by performing miracles that helped people, we can use our buildings to do things that help people.

�� People in the community need our building.� And, since the church is not to have a business, we should not be charging for it, other than deposits to cover possible damage.� When we charge for the use of our building, we're no better than any other worldly organization.

�� Our building can be used for dependency and co-dependency groups, for scouts, for the elderly, for weddings and funerals, for service organizations such as the Lion's Club, and so on.� Instead of asking for payment, we can ask one of us be allowed to go through a 20-minute session with their group explaining why our congregation exists and how to become Christians.� That's pretty cheap payment.

�� As a result, the community will see the church as being there for their benefit without being money grubbing.� Also, it will give an opportunity to explain salvation to people who might have never listened to us.� And last, it is a way of getting people through the physical and psychological barrier of the front door, in order to get them feeling at ease and possibly interested in returning on Sunday.

�� There are other uses for the building.� Just use your imagination and think of your congregation's interests and talents.� On Sundays, before the collection plate is passed around, something should be said about how the building was used that week.� If we have nothing to report, perhaps we need to look again at our spiritual motives for having the building.

SALARIES

�� People know the preacher and his family has to live decently.� Also anyone else on the payroll of the church.� But what is the church getting in return for their investment?�

�� People on the payroll should be able and willing to get up or have someone else get up and say a few words about what they accomplished on behalf of the congregation that week.� They should, however, never be made to feel the congregation is checking up on them.� We are lucky to be able to have people more talented than we are to do part of our work for us.�

�� The preacher should get specific (but without naming names if things were done in confidence), because the members are workers together with them when we support them.� The elderly apostle John told someone who was housing traveling preachers in his home that it was an example for all of us, "so that we may work together for the truth" (3 John 8).��

�� The members of the congregation have a right to know what they did vicariously through the minister the previous week.� Also the secretary.� Perhaps she typed fifty letters, sorted 300 attendance cards, called 30 people before she found enough volunteers to provide food for the funeral dinner coming up, and so on.� And the janitor.� We need to hear week after week what he does week after week.� If his work sounds monotonous, perhaps it is.� We need to hear that he is willing to do the monotonous in order to serve us.

�� Speaking of the secretary, what are we giving her to go into the church bulletin?� It is exclusively for inspirational articles?� Is there anything in it that talks about the needs of the congregation by people who are sick or elderly?� Is there anything in it about the needs in the community that individual members might be able to help with in the name of the church?� (More on this in the chapter on announcements.)

�� And the missionaries we support.� We need to get a monthly report from them, and parts of it shared with the congregation each Sunday.

�� Does all this take time?� You bet.� But it is the only way to motivate people to keep giving and keep wanting to give.

BENEVOLENT WORK

�� What benevolent work did "we" do the previous week through our cold cash in that cold collection plate?� If we did not help anyone in need at all, perhaps there is something wrong.� Nearly every week, most ministers are approached by drifters coming to the building for a handout.� The congregation seldom if ever hears about it.� Perhaps we should.

�� Do you know that when we were told in the Bible to give alms, we were never told to make sure the people we were helping were worthy or would use the money wisely?� True, there are ways to help them where they do not get cash, such as giving them food out of the congregation's supply, or putting them up in a motel, or paying their bus fare or utility bill.� But sometimes they just need the cash.� Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35).�

�� As far as people deserving our benevolence, are we worthy or do we use our blessings wisely that God gives us?� God "causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.� If you love those who love you, what reward will you get....And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?� Do not even pagans do that?" (Matthew 5:45-47).

�� Was there anything in the newspaper last week about a person or family needing help?� A member should feel free to bring it to the attention of the congregation.� If the treasurer says there isn't enough in the treasury for this worthy cause, perhaps some of the members will want to give a little extra that week.

�� What about personal Bible studies?� Has your minister started any lately?� Anonymity may be necessary, but you still have a right to know that he is doing it, and even perhaps what issues are being discussed.� After all, you may ask your minister to deliver a sermon on it so everyone can learn more about that subject.

�� Has your congregation purchased any Bibles or song books or Bible school material to be used in teaching publicly or in private?� The congregation has a right to know about it.� It's their money.

�� Cold hard cash in a cold hard collection plate while someone sings or during a lull in the worship is murder on the giving of a congregation.� When people see a need, they will give, especially when they can identify with something.

�� If leaders bring up a program and no one is giving toward it, perhaps it needs to be stopped.� There are hundreds of programs that congregations could be involved in.� It just depends on the interests of the members and the needs of the church and community.

�� Paul said, "Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Corinthians 9:7).

�� When we give, we must keep in mind, not the cold plate and cold cash, but that fact that "this service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of THANKS TO GOD.� Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, MEN WILL PRAISE GOD" (2 Corinthians 9:12-13).

�� Thank you, God, for explaining this in your word.� I don't guess I ever understood it.� You don't ask for money, you ask for food.� You don't ask for dollars, you ask for clothes.� You don't ask for coins, you ask for Bibles.� I'm catching on, God.� I'm catching on.

The Gift of Giving

�� How can we honestly tell whether we have given from our heart?� This is an individual thing.� Probably the best barometer is to ask ourselves this:� When I give to that cause, do I really want to give more?� If the answer is yes, then you are giving enough within your ability and from your heart.� The cheerless giver will resent any amount that they give.

�� But, is it fair to the people who do give a lot, to be in a congregation where there are those who give just a penance?�� There will always be people within a congregation who have very little to give.� They may be retired and on a low fixed income.� They may be single parents who have to work day and night to keep their family clothed and fed and in decent shelter.

�� But it is an equality thing.� For everyone is given a different gift.� Romans 12:6-8 describes it beautifully.�

�� "We have different gifts according to the grace given us.� If a man's gift is PROPHESYING [knowing God's word], let him use it in proportion to his faith.� If it is SERVING, let him serve; if it is TEACHING, let him teach; if it is ENCOURAGING, let him encourage; if it is CONTRIBUTING to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is LEADERSHIP, let him govern diligently; if it is showing MERCY, let him do it cheerfully."

�� Being in a position to give monetarily toward the material programs of the church is a gift.� It should be used with as much faith and sincerity as someone who has the gift of teaching classes, or encouraging the depressed, or serving the sick.� All are equal in God's eyes.

�� If there is no one around who wants to know what is in God's word, the Bible, the gift of prophesying is not going to be used.� If there is no one around who has physical needs, the gift of serving is not going to be used.� If there is no one around who needs to understand God's word, the gift of teaching is not going to be used.� When there is no one around who is depressed, the gift of encouraging is not going to be used.� When there is no one around who has monetary needs, the gift of contributing is not going to be used.

�� Givers must be shown a reason to give.� Then they will give generously and not grudgingly or out of obligation.

�� This helps me, too, God, because I can't give as much as I want to.� I have felt so guilty about it.� But that's just not my talent.� You've given that talent to someone else, and given me a talent to encourage people.� Thank you.

The Second-Century Church

�� Justin, who lived about 150 AD, wrote this in Apology I, 67:� "We always remember one another.� Those who have, provide for all those in want....Those who have means and are willing, each according to his own choice, gives what he wills, and what is collected is deposited with the president.� He provides for the orphans and widows, those who are in want on account of sickness or some other cause, those who are in bonds [jail] and strangers who are sojourning, and in a word he becomes the protector of all who are in need." [9]

�� Justin, in Apology I, 14:� "We who loved more than anything else ways of acquiring wealth and possessions now bring what we have into a common treasury and share with everyone who is in need." [10]

�� Tertullian, who lived about 170 AD, wrote this in Apology xxxix:1-5:� "Although we have a kind of money-chest, it is not gathered from the fees of our leaders as if religion were a matter of purchase.� Every individual puts in a small contribution on the monthly day, or when he wishes and only if he wishes and is able.� For no one is compelled, but he contributes voluntarily.� These contributions are trust funds of piety.

�� "They are not spent on banquets...or drinking clubs; but for feeding and burying the poor, for boys and girls destitute of property and parents; and further for old people confined to the house, and victims of shipwreck; and any who are in the mines, who are exiled to an island, or who are in prison merely on account of God's church....So great a work of love burns a brand upon us in regarding to some.� 'See,' they say, 'how they love one another.' "��� [11]

�� Dionysus of Corinth wrote about 170, and quoted in Eusebius Church History IV.xxiii.10: "For this practice has prevailed with you from the very beginning, to do good to all the brethren in every way, and to send contributions to many churches in every city.� Thus refreshing the needy in their want, and furnishing to the brethren condemned to the mines." [12]

�� Irenaeus of Lyons in Gaul (France), wrote about 180 Against Heresies IV,xiv.3:� "And instead of the tithes which the law commanded, the Lord said to divine everything we have with the poor.� And he said to love not only our neighbors but also our enemies, and to be givers and sharers not only with the good but also to be liberal givers toward those who take away our possessions." [13]

�� Clement of Alexandria wrote about 200 AD Who Is the Rich Man that is Saved? 33:� "Do not judge who is worthy and who unworthy, for it is possible for you to be mistaken in your opinion.� In the uncertainty of ignorance it is better to do good to the unworthy for the sake of the worthy than by guarding against those who are less good not to encounter the good.� For by being sparing and trying to test those who are well-deserving or not, it is possible for you to neglect some who are loved by God." [14]

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Endnotes for this Page

[6].� Miller, Timothy, How to Want What You Have, Henry Holt, 1995, pg. 39.

[7].� Taylor, Kenneth, translator The Living Bible, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL, 1962.

[8].� The Living Bible, ibid.

[9].� Ferguson, Everett, Early Christians Speak, Sweet Publishing Company, Austin, 1971, pg. 67.

[10].� Ferguson, Early Christians Speak, pg. 195.

[11].� Ferguson, Early Christians Speak, pg. 82.

[12].� Cruse, Christian Frederick, Translator, The Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius Pamphilus, bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI., 1971, pg. 160.

[13].� Ferguson, Everett, Early Christians Speak, pg. 209.

[14].� Ferguson, Everett, Early Christians Speak, pg. 209.

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