Gather Little by Little

On Monday and Wednesday, we discussed several characteristics of a church that is worthy of your money. Today, I thought I would share several passages of Scripture that deal with these issues. I am not going to spend a lot of time interpreting each passage because I think that most of them stand on their own. My comments may only serve to cloud the issue.

Here are some passages that mention aspects of church finance. I encourage you to read them and consider them in light of your congregation. If you think that one needs further clarification, feel free to drop me a note and I will make the subject of a future post.

A pastor should be cared for financially: I Timothy 5:17, 18.

A church should care for the poor, especially those in the church: Galatians 6:10.

The spiritual leaders of a church should also be financial leaders: Acts 4:34-35; 1 Tim. 3:3,8.

A church should make every effort to handle money so that no accusation can arise: 2 Corinthians 8:19-21.

A church should look for opportunities to help other similar churches: I Corinthians 16:1-4.

Elderly widows should be financially assisted by the church: I Timothy 5:3-16.

A wealthy church is not always a blessed church: Revelation 3:14-22.

Sometimes a poor church is actually rich: Revelation 2:8-11.

One thing to remember is that the Bible does not always spell out exactly what we should do in every single situation. The Book would be useless if that were the case because technology and culture are constantly changing. Instead, Scripture deals with principle and precept. It is up to us to study and apply these truths as accurately as they were intended to our particular place in life.

There are also some areas where Scripture is simply silent. For instance, the question of, “How much should a church keep in cash reserves?” That is a question that will differ from church to church based on location, time, political climate – a whole host of reasons. There are some congregations, particularly in countries where believers are oppressed, where there really is no such thing as church finance. Can you imagine going to open a church checking account for the First Presbyterian of Tehran?

There are more passages dealing with church finance – anyone want to add to the list?

Article by Stew

Photo by Andrew