8, 9), but other passages in the New Testament indicate that a common way of meeting needs was for one believer to give directly to another believer in need (e.g., Titus 3:14 James 2:14-17 1 John 3:16-18). One New Testament pattern is to take up special collections for the poor and needy (e.g., 2 Cor. Giving to those who are truly needy is one of the marks of genuine faith (James 2:14-17 1 John 3:16-18).
Assisting Those in Need, Blessing Those You Loveīoth the Old and New Testaments place a high emphasis on helping those in need. In keeping with this ongoing obligation and privilege, a church should have some sort of plan for identifying worthy objects of support, for encouraging giving for this purpose, and for making sure the monies contributed are sent where they are needed. While not all believers are called to go to distant lands with the gospel, every believer and every church must follow the New Testament example of supporting those who labor for the propagation of the gospel and the establishment of local churches (e.g., Phil. Every believer should willingly contribute to the supply necessary for these items, and every church should have a general budget in place to assist in controlling and tracking these expenses. Whatever a church’s meeting pattern, there are expenses for meeting places and related supplies, costs for speakers and events, taxes and insurance, books for personal study and evangelism, and, as seems more and more necessary in our Internet-savvy society, the cost of maintaining a website. Even Jesus and His disciples kept a supply of money to meet their day-to-day needs (John 12:6 13:29). While this category is not clearly spelled out in the NT, there are obvious costs associated with carrying out basic responsibilities as a church.
We want to share these with you.įirst, the pastors recognized that there are four primary areas where all believers are responsible when it comes to giving: General Expenses As a result, we implemented a few strategic changes in our church regarding the overall handling of money. While we did not conclude that we had been disobedient to God in the way we had handled church finances previously, our study did provide us with a better understanding of what the Scriptures say about this important topic.
We focused on numerous passages of Scripture in an attempt to properly understand more of what the Bible teaches on this subject. Our desire was to honor God by following the leadership of the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ. The elders of Christ Fellowship spent several weeks studying the subject of church finances.
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