“Money Well Spent”

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

I have a question, what do you believe is the right thing for the church to spend "money on".  I want to clarify a few of your thoughts after reading your post.  Is it okay for the church to donate money to orphans, the poor, and to fellow believers?

Sincerely,
Counting Our Pennies

Dear Counting Our Pennies,

The Bible specifically outlines three things that the church has a responsibility to do: care for needy Christians (Acts 4:34), preach to the lost, and teach the saved (Acts 15:35).  Anything that a church does with its financial assets needs to fit into one of those three categories.  It is important that whatever we use the church’s finances for be authorized by the Bible.  1 Tim 3:15 says that there is a certain way that the church must behave when we work together collectively.  1 Tim 5:16 takes it one step further and says that there are certain financial things the church shouldn’t be burdened with.  Once our money goes into the church collection on Sunday (1 Cor 16:1-2), it becomes the Lord’s money – not ours.  The church can spend its money on the church’s work… and that’s it.  Therefore, if the orphan or poor are Christians, the church could help them, but it isn’t a congregations job to care for all orphans and all the poor.

Having said that, we must remember that we, as individuals Christians, have the responsibility to do good to all men as opportunities present themselves (Gal 6:10).  This individual responsibility is how God designed it, and it is how we will most effectively make our light to shine amongst men.  Read “Purpose Driven Church” for further details on the subject.

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