|
Richie White
If we look in God's word for authority for everything we do, we don't find the authority for the church to act as a collective agency to do general benevolence. In fact, we do find a couple of examples of people who shouldn't receive support from the church.
1) If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged; that it may relieve them that are widows indeed (1 Timothy 5:16).
2) For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat (2 Thes 3:10).
We do find examples
of benevolence in the Bible, but in all the examples either the church is
helping other Christians in need or individual Christians (not the church)
are providing the benevolence (ex. the good Samaritan).
Let's look at benevolence from a practical view. For instance, consider the church-funded orphan homes. Although the churches that support these orphan homes have good intentions, no organization can compare to God's plan of having a mother and father for all children. This is the responsibility of individuals, not the church. Let's also look at the poor. If the church uses its funds to help the poor, it must decide where to draw the line. This includes deciding who will receive the help, how much will be given, and how it will be distributed. Luckily, God has already drawn this line for us. The church is to use its funds to help only those among the poor who are Christians. The only thing God has left for the church to decide is how much will be given. God's plan is for the church to help its own poor and for individual Christians to do what they can to help any who are poor, both Christian and non-Christian.
As for the question "Could church benevolence be a sin?" look at scriptures such as Matthew 7:21, 1John 2:3-4, and Colossians 3:17, and decide for yourself.
There are at least a couple of scriptures that some churches today use to try to justify using church funds to perform benevolent acts for non-Christians. For more information about these scriptures and how they are misused, please see the following articles: "Galatians 6:10: Individual or Congregational?" by Ricky Jenkins and "2 Corinthians 9:13" by Jerry Fite.
|