God generously supplies the needs of his people so that they in turn should have an open hand and a generous heart. As far as the church getting money, two principles apply.
1. Is it spending money on the things that God has called it to do? Is the proposed expenditure what God has led us to, including bringing the gospel to the nations?
2. If so, we must trust God to supply what is needed to do his work – through the generous gifts of his people. The responsibility to fund the ministries of the church lies with the members of the church who practise God’s generosity.
This leads to two corollaries:
1. Only God’s generous givers should give, and they should give what God has enabled them to give (what counts is the heart not the amount: read 2 Corinthians 8 and 9) - to needs that are clearly part of his purpose.
2. If a church wants to increase its income it needs to increase the work that God is calling it to (and therefore its expenditure). If a church really wants to do what God wants it to do it may need to increase its budget.
Deeper than the method, is a battle with the power of the Big Worry God of the Modern Western World (read Matthew 6). The Big Worry God has persuaded many that lack of money is the cause of unhappiness and disaster, and the possession of wealth is what we most need to keep our lives safe and content.
In my experience the non-biblical money getting methods have a serious impact on those less well-off who are led to feel that they have to take an equal share in meeting the costs of the ministry of the church. The Bible sets us free. It tells us to be generous and to trust God to supply our needs. It tells us that meeting needs is a fellowship matter. You are free to give a small amount generously because you trust others to be generous too.
Of course the church and its ministry is not the only thing that Christians want to give money to. We want to have a share in bringing the gospel to those in other places who have not yet heard it. We want to contribute to the needs of the poor and needy.
But how do we evaluate the different needs, how do we work out the priorities? Some contributions to the poor will maintain them in their poverty. So it is worth asking more questions. Are we giving to what one writer called the "worthy poor" or to the "wayward poor"? Will this money be used to help people become self-providing? (Micro-enterprise programs are an example of this kind of help.) Will it help them hear the gospel?
The Bible has a very radical angle on money and giving. Unfortunately the Bible’s teaching has been covered up or left on the side by many. Part of this is due to the development of traditions by those who keep the Bible closed. Part of it is due to the influence of the Big Worry God in the lives of Christians, and the poor level of faith in the true God.
Those who have read this far will probably have disagreed with quite a lot of the above. Please read the two Bible passages I mentioned – and talk to me about it (and any money worries you have) if you would like to.
Dale