Helping the needy in local churches

[*Light*]

I was pondering about local church members helping out other church members who can barely make ends meet. So the question is, what are your thoughts on local churches supporting their church members who are in financial crisis? or are in need (e.g., clothing, shelter, money to support their families out of necessity, etc.) I thought about it during a dinner I had with my best friends, most of them who are Pastors. It was a brief conversation amongst ourselves, but we generally agreed on many points, but there were some dialogue where some were on the fence regarding this issue. So I picked my brain, and the bible passage that came to my mind was this:  

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. (Acts 4:32-35)

I haven't came across any local churches that follows this practice. Are churches today supposed to follow what is stated in the above bible passage? But here's what I think, and I am not dogmatic on this so feel free to correct me if you feel that I am incorrect.

There were many things which "actually happened" in the book of Acts which were not meant to be for the whole Church in the future for all times.  I wouldn't want to say that a local church should "never" function in this way, but I think it is fair to say that selling all of one's property for the sustenance of others in the local church is not workable or necessary today -- and wasn't so long term in the time in Acts. This situation only obtained for that brief period following Pentecost when believers where ostracized and unable to work et al. in the very first days of the Church.  Later, after the persecution caused the dispersion of the believers, this procedure is never followed again. Thereafter, believers are expected to work for a living.     

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. (2nd Thessalonians 3:10)     

Certainly, there are times when other believers need help, but that is something best seen to by other individual believers. The local church exists to teach the Word of God and to support the teaching thereof.  It is true that believers mutually encourage one another and mutually help one another, and it is the community we may be associated with most closely who will get our attention so that helping those in need in that community is a good and godly thing to do.  Institutionalizing that as some sort of procedure is not necessarily wrong, but as with all other rule-making, it is probably a bad idea. Such things have been the death of nearly all denominations and the downfall of most local churches. What are your thoughts regarding this subject matter? Please share!

God Bless,

Daniel 

 

[Pastor Scott Markle]

16 hours ago, (Omega) said:

Certainly, there are times when other believers need help, but that is something best seen to by other individual believers. The local church exists to teach the Word of God and to support the teaching thereof.  It is true that believers mutually encourage one another and mutually help one another, and it is the community we may be associated with most closely who will get our attention so that helping those in need in that community is a good and godly thing to do.  Institutionalizing that as some sort of procedure is not necessarily wrong, but as with all other rule-making, it is probably a bad idea. Such things have been the death of nearly all denominations and the downfall of most local churches. What are your thoughts regarding this subject matter? Please share!

God Bless,

Daniel 

Brother Daniel,

It appears that you are distinguishing between the church helping such organizationally, and the members of the church helping such individually.  Is that correct?

[*Light*]

Hi Pastor Scott,

Yes, that would be correct. 

[Pastor Scott Markle]

10 minutes ago, (Omega) said:

Hi Pastor Scott,

Yes, that would be correct. 

What about the church leadership (in some manner) organizing the members of the church (for some temporary period of time) to help another member in need?

[*Light*]

I haven't thought about that, and I suppose that will work too. As a Pastor of a church, I was wondering if you follow that practice, because it seems like a good idea, unless you have any objections. 

[Pastor Scott Markle]

1 hour ago, (Omega) said:

I haven't thought about that, and I suppose that will work too. As a Pastor of a church, I was wondering if you follow that practice, because it seems like a good idea, unless you have any objections. 

Yes, as a pastor, I follow more of that manner of practice.  I pastor a small country church of approximately 45-50 people, so my examples will be within that context, rather than in the context of a significantly larger church.

1.  Once a month, when we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we also take up a special offering for a Benevolent Fund.  The monies within the Benevolent Fund are then distributed at the discretion of the pastor (myself) and the two deacons, wherein there must be complete unanimity between those three individuals concerning to whom and how much.

2.  One of our ladies has the ministry to organize other ladies to provide meals when a member is hospitalized for some reason, or undergoes surgery or some other health procedure that would hinder normal function.  This lady seeks for volunteers to provide a meal, and then organizes the daily schedule for such.

3.  If one of our members (or another church or believer with which we have fellowship ties) encountered an immediate financial need that could not be handled by the Benevolent Fund , I would probably suggest a special offering for them to be collected over an appropriate period of time (from a few days to a few weeks).  (Note: We recently did this over a single month period for one of our missionaries, a missionary in Puerto Rico, after the devastation of the recent storm.  In fact, I did not even think of it; but it was suggested to me by the deacons.)

4.  If one of our members has a circumstantial need (such as recently the need by one of our families for fire wood), I will approach those who have the appropriate skills, equipment, availability, etc. and will seek to organize them into a projected solution (usually including my own time and effort in the project).

These are simply examples.  Many other formulas could be developed depending on the specific need and circumstance.

Edited January 3, 2018 by Pastor Scott Markle

[*Light*]

I commend and respect you for your duties as a Pastor, and what you said in the above post sounds great and reasonable to me -- as far as you describe it.  As long as there is no pressure to give, I wouldn't be averse to any of this.  In fact, it seems to me that this is a very good model that mimics as close as I can see the way things were done / envisioned in the early churches. I will say that facts "on the ground" are sometimes somewhat different than described, and even someone close to the situation might not see the entire picture unless and until personally involved on a day by day basis.  Still and all, as described, this seems to represent a fine adjunct to the function of a local church -- never forgetting that the MAIN reason for assembly/community is the teaching and mutual encouragement of the Word of God. Everything else is secondary.  If a church becomes mainly a benevolent society (this happens quite often), then it has lost its way, not matter the quantity and quality of its "good works". Your church does an excellent job, and I have yet to encounter other local churches that follow the pattern you stated above.

God Bless you and your ministry as a Pastor!

 

 

 

[Invicta]

7 hours ago, Pastor Scott Markle said:

1.  Once a month, when we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we also take up a special offering for a Benevolent Fund.  The monies within the Benevolent Fund are then distributed at the discretion of the pastor (myself) and the two deacons, wherein there must be complete unanimity between those three individuals concerning to whom and how much.

 

We used to do that but the fund grew so big without any claims on it, that we decided to merge the fund with our general offerings.  We don't have a collection for our general offerings and many thought that we should not for that either.  Instead we agreed to pay for any hardship claims from the general fund.  I say "claims" but we did not seek claims bat looked for need.  We have only had two incidences since then.  1), a church member had her non believing husband lose his job and we gave a substantial amount to tide them over.  The member was so grateful as she was so worried about how to cope financially.   She insisted on paying half of it back when when was able.  2). There was a family in hardship.  They were not members of the church, but we had dealings with them.  We offered an amount to help them, but they declined, we then offered it as a loan (which we would not expect to be repaid, but we didn't tell them that)  This they also declined.

Edited January 4, 2018 by Invicta

[Pastor Scott Markle]

2 hours ago, (Omega) said:

If a church becomes mainly a benevolent society (this happens quite often), then it has lost its way, not matter the quantity and quality of its "good works". 

Hmmm. They will have to get rid of me somehow before this is permitted.  I would fight it "tooth and nail."

[Invicta]

Many years ago I attended a church where I noticed that one item in the expenditure on the annual accounts was "Saints in need".