Money, Possessions, and Eternity by Randy Alcorn

Author:Randy Alcorn
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Personal Finance / General, RELIGION / Christianity / Stewardship
ISBN: 9781414341644
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2003-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

Ministry Finances and Fund-Raising: Special Ethical Concerns

Whoever believes that giving is an easy matter, makes a mistake; it is a matter of very great difficulty, provided that gifts are made with wisdom, and are not scattered haphazard and by caprice. SENECA

God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply. HUDSON TAYLOR

A distressed woman wrote to Horace Greeley, the famed journalist, saying her church was going bankrupt. She explained they’d tried fairs, festivals, suppers, mock weddings, and socials, but none had generated enough money to keep the church afloat. “Do you have any suggestions of what else we could do?” she asked. Greeley wrote back, “Why not try religion?”

Perhaps if churches would do what they’re supposed to do, God and his people would come through and meet the financial needs.

This chapter will address the recipients of giving, fund-raising methods, the proper use of funds, and how to identify worthy ministries. It will also raise some disturbing and controversial questions related to various financial practices among evangelicals that are ethically troublesome and leave us vulnerable to criticism and ethical moral decline.

Giving to Secular Organizations

Many early American philanthropists sought to further Christian causes. Today, the most prominent philanthropists don’t embrace a Christian worldview. The Rockefeller Foundation states as its purpose: “To promote the well-being of mankind throughout the world.” For Christians, this statement doesn’t go far enough. The command to “love your neighbor” is inseparable from the command to “love the Lord your God” (Matthew 22:37-38). Any philosophy of distributing wealth that fails to account for God’s glory and his redemptive purposes for men falls short of the mark.

“Should Christians support secular organizations?” As good as they may be, are museums, art galleries, and public broadcasting as close to God’s heart as evangelism, church planting, and helping the poor in Christ’s name? Many Christians support secular universities, often their alma maters, that promote disbelief in a Creator as the only rational worldview. Others support “Christian” colleges that no longer believe the Scriptures. If God wants you to give his money to a school, shouldn’t it be a school that believes, loves, and obeys him? How much of God’s money today is going to schools that oppose rather than support biblical causes? What does God think of the fact that money managed by his children is funding not only non-Christian but anti-Christian causes?

For every secular organization, there’s a Christian organization doing the same work but with an eternal perspective. When there’s a choice, why not support organizations characterized by prayer, biblical standards, and the supernatural work of God’s Spirit?

Can we love our neighbor without sharing our most precious possession with him? A secular organization can do good and relieve physical suffering, but humanity’s deepest need is for a Savior. Those who don’t offer Jesus Christ don’t offer what people most desperately need.

Finances and Fund-raising in the Local Church

Giving to the Local Church

Giving should start with your local Bible-believing, Christ-centered church, the spiritual community where you’re fed and to which you’re accountable.

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