New Testament Giving - Part 3

NEW TESTAMENT GIVING- Part 3

How did we get here?

Having looked at the basis upon which new testament giving rests, we now turn our attention to consider what the scripture instructs us to give our money for. If a person should make that decision based on the appeals that are sent out by this “minister” and that one might be found giving money for anything from sending the homeless to summer camp to expanding the building facilities of a “mega-church.” I am convinced that the age in which we live is inundated with those who think that gain is godliness and can best be described by the words of Paul to Timothy, “For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.” (Tit 1:10-11) The main component needed to keep most modern-day “churches” going is not the presence and power of GOD but money.
Over two centuries ago there arose among Christians some who became convinced that money was the key ingredient in “winning souls” and they began the practice of collecting money for the purpose of sending missionaries to foreign lands in order to convert the heathen and enhance the kingdom of GOD on earth. In some ways their desire was born out of a genuine concern for those that sat in darkness, and to some extent that spirit still exists today in a few and should not be scoffed at nor denigrated. But as in all endeavors which begin with a false premise and are built upon with untempered mortar many of those efforts quickly shifted the emphasis of “sending” to collecting.
Missionary “societies” and boards sprang up here and there and whole “denominations” came into existence in order to collect and disburse funds for these great endeavors. Soon the question of whether or not the scripture ever indicated that such endeavors should be undertaken was forgotten as the quest for empire and kingdom building reached a fever pitch and the dust of its construction began to cloud the light. Today little question is ever raised among mainstream “Christians” as to whether or not the “sending” of men with pockets full of money to preach the gospel is an enterprise that ought to be undertaken by men. Such “missionary” endeavors have moved into the mainstream in such fashion that the end now justifies the means. If a “ministry” undertakes a project it is just assumed that they have the right to gather funds to pursue it, whether the scripture commands it or not. No one even asks if the scripture ever sets forth by example or command that money should be “extorted” from GOD’s people by this appeal or that. It often seems that the greatest “beggars” on earth are those who claim they are “preaching” the gospel or at least trying to if they can just find somebody willing to foot an ever increasing bill. It almost seems that many of them have the attitude that the kingdom of GOD on earth will fold up if enough money is not collected.
My purpose in bringing up the subject of “missionaries” is not to criticize those who have been sent by the LORD to various fields of endeavor. Neither is it to discuss the whole question of the scripturalness of modern “missionism”. We will leave that to a future discussion. Rather, my purpose here is to lay a foundation that might help explain how we got to the place where “the collecting of money” has become the single most important function of the average church (so called) in its pursuit of “missionary ideals”. Few if any Prayers are set forth that GOD might send laborers into the harvest, but plenty of appeals are set forth designed to persuade men to give their money. The great preponderance of effort is spent not in seeking the LORD to guide and direct the endeavors of evangelism according to HIS word but in fund raising. Most “mission” newsletters are sent primarily to increase donations. It is not hard to come to the conclusion that money is considered of far more value than the power of GOD. Hardly a church exists that does not devote a portion of their meeting to the collecting of funds for this endeavor and that. In fact some even call it “worshipping GOD with tithes and offerings.” I have never read anything of the sort in the New Testament. It seems odd that such an important matter was overlooked by Paul when he instructed the Corinthian church on how their meetings should be conducted. (see I Cor.14:26-40)
GOD does indeed send his ministers to various places and. no doubt sometimes, funds are needed to accomplish those tasks that HE sends them to do. HE that owns the cattle on a thousand hills is able to provide those funds without the institution of organizations,(designed by men), whose main purpose is to collect money and without the shameless browbeating of the saints of GOD that many are very skilled at. Those who are genuinely sent by the LORD should wait until they are endued with power rather than waiting until they have plenty of money. Something is wrong with a picture when men are paid money to collect more money out of money collected for the supposed purpose of aiding men sent to preach the gospel. What does the scripture say we are to give money for?