Christians giving to other Christians in response to some service
This is the fifth post in my series on Christians and giving from the perspective of Scripture. (See the introduction post here.) I’ve already stated that giving directly to those in need is the most prevalent method of giving by Christians in the New Testament (either by example or instruction). There are also a few examples of Christians giving indirectly to people who are in need. Similarly, there are a few examples in Scripture of Christians giving to those who are traveling from place to place to proclaim the gospel or strengthen churches.
Finally, there are a couple of examples of Christians being encouraged to give in response to the service of some other Christians who are not traveling but are in the same city as themselves. The first example from Galatians is more broad in its context, so I’ll start with it:
One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches. (Galatians 6:6 ESV)
The other passage teaches something similar in response to the service of elders:
Let the elders who rule [lead] well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. (1 Timothy 5:17 ESV)
Similarly, Peter indicates that elders should not serve others only because they receive support, which indicates that some type of gift was often given to elders:
[S]hepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain [or, “not for monetary gain”], but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:2-3 ESV)
In each of these instances, someone is sharing or giving something to another believer in response to some service. I think the order is important here: the service is performed (probably continually performed), then the gift is given. I think it’s also evident that the gift is not expected or promised, but is given freely and in gratitude. It’s also important that this type of giving is not limited to elders, but should be offered to any who consistently and continually serve someone or some group.
What would you add to this discussion of Christians giving to other Christians in response to some service?
————————————–
Giving and the Church in Scripture Series:
1) Introduction
2) Christians giving directly to others because of need
3) Christians giving indirectly to others because of need
4) Christians giving to other Christians who are traveling from place to place
5) Christians giving to other Christians in response to some service
Christians giving to other Christians who are traveling from place to place
This is the fourth post in my series on Christians and giving from the perspective of Scripture. (See the introduction post here.) I’ve already stated that giving directly to those in need is the most prevalent method of giving by Christians in the New Testament (either by example or instruction). There are also a few examples of Christians giving indirectly to people who are in need.
Similarly, there are a few examples and exhortations in Scripture of Christians giving to those who are traveling from place to place. These traveling (or itinerant) believers may be apostles, or prophets, or evangelists, or perhaps gifted for some other type of service. The common fact for this type of giving is that the recipients are traveling away from home, and they do not intend to stay in one place.
Of course, Paul is the quintessential example of the itinerant servant in Scripture. It is not surprising, then, that there are many example of him receiving help from other believers. This passage from Philippians is a famous example:
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. (Philippians 4:10-14 ESV)
Receiving support from others seems to be a right of itinerant believers. Paul discusses this right in 1 Corinthians 9. This is also the passage where Paul says that he refuses to exercise that right among the people where he is currently working. (Paul accepts money from believers in other locations, but there are no examples of instances in which he accepted support from believers in the location where he is currently serving.) This passage also indicates that there are others (besides Paul and Barnabas) who are traveling from place to place. (See 1 Corinthians 9:4-6.)
Similarly, there are exhortations and instructions in other letters in which believers are encouraged to support other Christians who are traveling through their area. Another famous itinerant support passage is found in 3 John:
Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. (3 John 5-8 ESV)
In fact, John later tells Gaius (the recipient of the letter) that he should not follow Diotrephes’ example, partly because Diotrephes refuses to help Christians who are traveling through their area and even attempts to stop others from helping itinerant servants.
Furthermore, the many instructions about practicing hospitality are primarily focused on helping traveling strangers. (For example, see Romans 12:13 and Hebrews 13:2.) There is even a special verb for “sending with hospitality” that is used in several passages. (For example, see Acts 15:3, 2 Corinthians 1:16, and Titus 3:13.)
Again, the important aspects of this kind of giving is that it was offered to people who were traveling from place to place. It seems that as long as the servants were traveling, believers would help them. When they settled down, there is less evidence that the support continued, at least at the same level.
What would you add to this discussion of Christians giving to those itinerant servants who are traveling from place to place?
————————————–
Giving and the Church in Scripture Series:
1) Introduction
2) Christians giving directly to others because of need
3) Christians giving indirectly to others because of need
4) Christians giving to other Christians who are traveling from place to place
5) Christians giving to other Christians in response to some service
Building up the body of Christ… together
I love Philippians 2:1-4 and Ephesians 4:11-16. Both passages are so rich and challenging when it comes to our life together as children of God. So, I was excited to see that Bobby at “Deconstructing Neverland” referred to both passages in his post “I’m a dreamer.”
In his post, Bobby is encouraging believers to gather together in a way that allows the whole church to work together to help one another grow in maturity in Jesus Christ. God has equipped and gifted all of his children for this work, and it will not take place if only one or two are serving everyone else.
Bobby shares these thoughts concerning a discussion he and another brother had about Philippians 2:1-4:
In two hours of discussion we couldn’t move past these verses. We were locked in to sharing all the riches that are ours in Christ and how those riches empower us to follow Paul’s exhortation to the church in Phillipi. For the first time ever when reading this passage I could see God’s purpose in building the church very clearly. That purpose is for all of the redeemed to be built up into Christ. So we are to have the same mind, same passion, and with the same goal to build others up into Christ. Can you imagine how buff Christ’s body would be if every member had this mind and goal? We cannot even begin to imagine the impact God’s kingdom would have if every believer everywhere was devoted to building others up in Christ.
He asks, “Can you imagine how buff Christ’s body would be?” Isn’t that an awesome questions?
The entire post is excellent, and you definitely don’t want to miss the last paragraph. He makes a great distinction between “tweaking” existing programs/activities and the type of gatherings that he’s talking about. You can read my comment there as well.
By the way, Bobby, you may be a dreamer… but you’re not the only one.
Giving and the Church in Scripture
I haven’t written much about giving from the perspective of Christians, the church, or Scripture. This is one of those topics that provokes passionate responses on all sides of the issues. So, I’m going to take a “slow and easy” approach to the topic.
To begin, we should admit that giving (or tithing or offering or whatever you want to call it) is a pervasive issue among many in the church. Most of the mail or email that I get from Christians that I do not know personally is requesting monetary support of some kind. And, we’ve all heard the someone say they will “never attend another church service” because they only want money (or they’re always asking for money).
It appears to many (and often to me) that the church runs on money, and that the main mission of the church is to raise money. (There is even a church in our town that has a “yard sale” at least once per month.) Last week, when we went to the NC State Fair, I lost count of the number of food stands that were run by churches attempting to raise money. (I heard an interview in which one of those church members said the state fair was their primary way to raise money.)
When you read through the Gospels, you find that Jesus said quite a bit about money. However, it seems that Jesus primarily spoke about personal use of money or relying on money instead of God. Similarly, we find Paul writing about money a few times, as well. Paul writes about money for many different reasons.
But, what does Scripture (the New Testament in particular) say specifically in relation to the church and money? I’m going to broaden the question a little: What does the New Testament teach in relation to Christians and giving to others?
I use “giving” instead of money because often in Scripture we find other things (besides money) being given to others. If we limit the question to only money, we would have very few passages to consider. However, when we expand the question to include other ways that Christians gave to others in Scripture, we find several additional episodes.
In the study, I’ve divided the various instances of giving into four different groupings: 1) Christians giving directly to others because of need, 2) Christians giving indirectly to others because of need, 3) Christians giving to other Christians traveling from place to place, and 4) Christians giving to other Christians in response to some service.
I plan to cover each of these “groupings” in a separate blog post. I think it interesting to find many of the “proof texts” used today are actually applied to different types of giving in the New Testament – types of giving that might not be “acceptable” to those using the “proof texts” today.
I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts and insights as I study this topic. Do you have any comments on this introduction, or on the four categories that I’m using in this study?
————————————–
Giving and the Church in Scripture Series:
1) Introduction
2) Christians giving directly to others because of need
3) Christians giving indirectly to others because of need
4) Christians giving to other Christians who are traveling from place to place
5) Christians giving to other Christians in response to some service
False teaching and teaching one another
Whenever I talk about the church teaching one another (as opposed to one person or a small group of leaders doing all the teaching), I’m usually asked about false teaching. I’ve found that “teaching one another” has served to work against false teaching instead of encourage false teaching.
Now, Gavin at “Simple Church Alliance” has written a good article on the topic called “Simply False: False Teaching in Simple Church.”
I like the balance that Gavin presents between the importance of teachers and the importance of the whole church teaching one another. Both are found in Scripture, and both are necessary to the growth and maturity of the church.
I especially enjoyed the end of his article where Gavin offers some unhealthy patterns to watch out for:
Please hear me, gifted teachers help us understand scripture. However, we all have a great privilege and responsibility to bring our questions to God, diligently seek Truth in His Word, and listen to the Holy Spirit as He teaches us. In simple church gatherings, we can zero in on truth together as we are living this way individually. Simply being involved with simple church offers no guarantee to find and walk in the Truth. Just as in any church, false teaching can find a home in simple church. Here are some unhealthy patterns to watch out for:
* Simple churches become to homogenous only consisting of believers who all think alike.
* One person dominating discussion/teaching
* Failing to “weigh carefully” what is said.
* Failure of believers to learn to “feed themselves” on God’s word, with Holy Spirit as teacher, throughout the week. (This is why we encourage Life Transformation Groups that focus on reading lots of scripture)
* We find ourselves talking more about what a particular author or teacher has to say about God Word than God’s Word itself.
* An unwillingness to be challenged in our view of truth or challenge others (in love) on theirs.
* Intentionally or unintentionally avoiding others who do not think or believe like you.
* A sense of discouragement from simple church gatherings rather than peace (see verse above).
* Simple church relationships become primarily about policing behavior and theology rather than fulfilling the Great Commission.
* We have a need to be right, fail to give grace, lack of humility, and we fail to obey Romans 14.
I agree with Gavin that having the whole church take part in teaching is a great way to filter out false teaching. Of course, those gifted at teaching are part of that “whole church,” so they are to take part as well.
I think that one of the things that I’m most excited about is that in the last few years I’ve noticed more and more churches recognizing the need for “teaching one another.” Of course, in most churches, there is still too much of an emphasis on a single or small group of teachers. But, the trend seems to be toward encouraging input and interaction and teaching from the whole church.
Organic life within traditional church structures?
I was greatly encouraged when I read a post by Trey (from “Practical Christianity – Living God’s Way“) called “Non-Comformity within Traditional Church.”
In the post, he writes about a group of believers who meet as part of a traditional church. But, according to Trey, the group demonstrates a living and active community in Christ.
He writes:
Within the context of a largely traditional Southern Baptist church, I witnessed an outside-the-box, passionate ministry of believers that simply did not follow the “script”. No Sunday School quarterlies were passed around. The teacher did not read from the teacher’s guide verbatim. The participants of this class were not grouped according to age. No lesson was taught in the traditional sense. What did happen looked surprisingly like the New Testament. A group of believers ages 20-60, united and changed by the power of Christ in the Gospel, were engaging with one another with the goal of growth and edification. Challenges were made to one another about walking daily with Christ. Prayers were prayed spontaneously. New believers were asking lots of questions. Every member ministers were commissioned for service in other areas within the church. These folks loved this traditional church yet were free to express themselves within the context of their small group community.
Like I said, I’m greatly encouraged to read about this kind of life in Christ within a traditional church. (This is one of the things that I wrote about in my post “Why I’m not a house church proponent.”)
My hope and prayer is that others would see this group living in community in Christ and seek the same kind of fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ. I also hope that the leaders of the traditional church organization would be willing to make any necessary modifications so that this kind of growth would no longer be seen as “outside-the-box,” but would become normal. Finally, I hope that all brothers and sisters in Christ would welcome and encourage this kind of growth and community, regardless of our thoughts concerning traditional, institutional, organic, simple, or any other adjectival church…
(By the way, don’t miss another great post by Trey called “Contentment is key.”)
The church and one another
JR at “More than Cake” has written a great post called “Are You A Part of the Real Church?”
He begins by reminding us that Jesus washed his followers’ feet the last night before he was crucified, ending by telling them that he did that as an example for them to also serve one another.
Then, JR makes the following statement, “Living for one another is the essence of what it means to be God’s church.” Did you catch that? Living for one another…
“One another…”
Finally, JR ends his post with a list of 33 verses that all focus on our relationship and interaction with “one another.”
Seriously, jump over to his site and read the last that JR has put together.
Yeah, apparently “one another” is pretty important to being the church…
Replay: Connecting… On a Real Life Level
Three and a half years ago, in April 2008, I published a blog post called “Connecting… on a real life level.” (The post was actually a follow-up to a post called “Searching for Fellowship.”) It was written by a lady who had contacted me via email. In this post, she explains how God had been faithful to bring people into her life that she could connect with on a real life level. I hope this post encourages you as much as it encouraged me. (And, if you are seeking that kind of fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope this post is especially encouraging to you to persevere and to trust God to bring people into your life even though the journey there can be difficult and painful.)
————————————————
“Connecting… On a Real Life Level”
Here is an update from my letter that I had written to you in November.
At the time I had written to you, I was questioning what the following scripture meant to me: “And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the day drawing near.” (Heb. 10:24-25 NASB)
The reason that I was questioning this is because I am a soul that has been “in church” every single Sunday since the 2nd grade. Then about 4 years ago I suddenly found myself not attending church at all after our church had a traumatic split. We were devastated by what had happened, meaning- how people had behaved toward us and toward each other.
The process has been difficult and painful. But God has been faithful to who He is. He is good and he never changes! No matter our circumstance. So, through this painful season we have learned alot about ourselves, alot about our God, alot about people, and about church as an institution. Our pain kept us from attending any churches in the beginning, but our understanding is what has been showing us the real reason we do not desire to walk through the sanctuary doors as we once had. We desire more than programs and religion. We desire connecting with people on a real life level wrapped in the understanding of our identity in Christ and the Grace of God.
Since the time I had first written to you, I have made some wonderful connections with a few dear people online. I hope to meet each of them in person someday soon! My husband had the opportunity to travel to Europe to be a part of a conference in Bulgaria. The conference spoke to Pastors there about the message of Grace. I surprisingly have made a connection with a woman there who had been an attender of a conference. I have been enjoying connections God has provided with people in many different places. I feel that through these connections I have been able to live the scripture of Heb. 10:24-25. Of course it does not look like what we are accustomed to in traditional church. But the result is that there is an assembling and encouragement taking place.
We are also looking into an opportunity of hosting and facilitating grace walk groups through the ministry of Steve McVey. We hope in this opportunity we will make more tangible connections with people in our community.
Last week we had attended a funeral in which many people from our past church were at. We were welcomed by some, and to our expectation, shunned by others. God did a lot in our hearts through that day. And I realized that I am walking on the path of healing with a hope and a future. There are some who will never choose that path because holding on to the past is where they seem to find their life. But for those who do choose a path of healing and restoration we welcome them by our side.
I believe we have crawled out of the “rut” and are walking ahead on the other side. Resting in Jesus is what brings us comfort and HOPE. We know He is in control and that He is GOOD! We are excited for all the things to come as our God lays out our future for us.
Thank you for your encouragement and prayers through this journey.
Peace,
Teresa
(formerly, anonymous child of God)
Guest Blogger: Why bother with the church?
I’ve invited several people to write “guest blog posts” for this blog. There are several reasons for this: 1) To offer different perspectives. 2) To generate even more discussion and conversation between blogs. 3) To introduce other bloggers to my readers.
(If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at aknox[at]sebts[dot]com.)
Today’s post was written by John. You can connect with John on Facebook or email him at jnotestein [at] aol [dot] com.
————————————-
Why bother with the church?
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that, I could gladly report that I am writing this from my beach house in the Bahamas. I hear it from non believers (which I expect), people who have dropped out of church, and even those I worship with on Sunday mornings. The reasons are many, such as the music’s too loud, the music’s too soft, it’s boring, the people are out of touch with life today, all I see are hypocrites there, I need my sleep, I want to catch the pre game show, etc. I’ve even used a few of these excuses and others in my day. But then I asked myself why do we even gather together in the first place?
I grew up eons ago, when families ate dinner together. I didn’t always want to do that either, but I never had a choice. But I can tell you, it helped shape what I think about my family now. My father has been gone for 16 years now, but I can still see him sitting at the head of the table, telling stories or asking us what we were up to (like I was really going to tell him). The point is this: I was a part of something bigger than myself, whether I felt like it or not. The same was true of church. The younger folks may not believe this, but we didn’t always have Children’s Church. Instead, we had to sit in the worship service and be bored to tears. I was busy filling in every ‘O’ and ‘0’ I could find in the bulletin. I learned that if I held my Bible open and rested my head on my Mother’s shoulder, I could sometimes catch a quick nap. When Einstein said the time was relative, I feel he was talking about how a one hour church service could feel like days. But today, I can still recall being there, with lots of old people (probably in the 20’s and higher), from different walks of life and economic backgrounds, all singing ‘old school’ hymns from the Broadman Baptist Hymnal. It wasn’t necessarily what we were doing, but who we were doing it with and who we were doing it for: God.
As I go to worship now, those same thoughts go through my head. If we did everything I wanted to do in church, it would probably be a church of one. But it’s not about me. I know that’s hard to believe for some. We all have needs and we want the church, God, the pastor, or someone to recognize that and take care of them. But at the same time, we don’t want to get to close to anyone (they might want me to actually perform some act of service or something). So how can I get to know other people without spending time with them? The answer is that you can’t.
And you can’t share your life with someone if you not willing to spend time with them. Whether it’s your family, your friends, or fellow believers, it’s all the same. You have to invest yourself into their lives, and that means spending time and energy. Many in our culture today worship the individual, treasure time with themselves, and are busy grabbing all they can from life before someone else gets it. From my experience, Christians are not a lot different sometimes. We are to live in the world but not be a part of the world, but that’s hard to do sometimes. The only way I know of to live that way is to spend time in the Word, time listening and talking to God through prayer, and being around fellow believers. And you can’t do that in one or two hours on a Sunday morning. We need to share our lives with each other. In the coffee shop, on the golf course, in our backyards, and in our homes. As Paul says in Romans:
We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 15:1-6 ESV)
We worship God in our homes, with our friends, alone on the back porch, and yes, even in church. As much as our sinful selves tries to convince us, it’s not all about us. It’s about Him. And He told us to go make disciples, and we can even do that in church. After all, it is the Bride of Jesus.
Life in Christ and the Spirit in Us
In this pseudo-series, I’ve said that life in Christ is synonymous with life in the Spirit (which is the same as being given the Spirit, being indwelled by the Spirit, or being baptized by the Spirit). (See my post “Life in Christ is Life in the Spirit.”) Next, I said that a person who is indwelled by the Spirit can be filled with the Spirit or can grieve or quench the work of the Spirit. (See my post “Life in Christ and Filled with the Spirit.”)
While the Spirit indwells and fills an individual, the Spirit also works through a group of people who are all in Christ (in the Spirit). We see this dual (individual and community) aspect of the work of the Spirit in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, where he recognizes the individual as the temple (dwelling place) of the Holy Spirit and the community as the temple of the Holy Spirit:
Do you [plural] not know that you [plural] are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you [plural]? (1 Corinthians 3:16 ESV)
Or do you [singular] not know that your [singular] body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you [singular], whom you [singular] have from God? (1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV)
In each case (both the singular “you” and the plural “you”) there is only one “temple.” The Holy Spirit somehow makes his one home in the individual believer and the gathered community of believers.
We have already seen that the Spirit works within the individual believer to help that person live in Christ. But, we can also see many examples of how the Spirit works through the community to help members of that community to live in Christ. The point, though, is not for someone (or group) within the community to tell others what the Spirit is doing, but for the community to help one another listen to and learn from the Spirit who dwells within each of them.
The work of the Spirit through the community is especially important in situations where an individual is grieving or quenching the Spirit living within. It’s at this time that the community (in the Spirit) can help the brother or sister turn back toward God in order to understand what he is doing in and through them.
We see this kind of interaction of the Spirit through the community in passages such as this one:
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. (Galatians 6:1 ESV)
While that particular passage points toward a brother or sister who has moved toward sin (transgression), problems also occur when a brother or sister is not actively following the Spirit. That’s the kind of community (in the Spirit) involvement that we find in this passage:
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works… (Hebrews 10:24 ESV)
So, we’ve seen that the Spirit indwells us to bring us into the life of Christ. The individual who has been given the Spirit can either be filled with the Spirit (yielding to the Spirit’s work) or can quench or grieve the Spirit (refusing to yield to the Spirit’s work). Now, we see that the Spirit can also work through the community to help an individual (who is also indwelled by the Spirit) to turn back toward the work of God in his/her life through the Spirit.