The Church # 7

Question: What is the scriptural way of raising money for church or other Christian uses?

The scriptural way of raising money is by the freewill offerings of saved people, each one setting aside on the first day of the week a definite proportion of his income (1 Corinthians 16:2). Certainly, it is not the scriptural way of raising money to raise it by fairs, bazaars, or any other method that reduces the church of Christ to the level of vaudeville entertainment. These methods are unwise even from a business standpoint, and they are certainly dishonoring to Jesus Christ. The successful churches are those that step out in obedience to the Word of God and depend upon the freewill offerings of the people. They soon find that they have more money for their own work and more money for missions than those churches that stoop to dishonor their Lord by raising money in such a way that it makes the church a reproach even among people of the world.

Question: Would you ask an unsaved person to contribute money or goods for the support or benefit of church work?

No, I would not. God is not dependent upon His enemies to help Him carry on His work. God's work should be supported  by the joyful freewill offerings of His own people, as explained in the previous answer. Furthermore, when unsaved people contribute to the support of God's work, it frequently acts as a salve to their consciences, and it makes them harder to reach. They say, "I am supporting the church," and many of them hope to get to heaven in that way.

Of course, if some unsaved person, of his own volition, should see fit to put money into the collection, or something of that kind, I would hesitate to insult him by refusing his money. However, when offerings are taken, I would let it be clearly understood that it is not the money but the souls of the unsaved that we are  seeking, and that men should first give themselves to the Lord before they give their money.

~R. A. Torry~