THE MONEY QUESTION NEEDS PRAYERFUL RESTUDY – PART 2 BY A. W TOZER Christ likened His followers to children and sheep and pointed to birds and lilies as having valuable lessons for us. These four little creatures differ widely from each other, but have one hing in common: their complete freedom from worry. They have no financial troubles. They live spontaneously, simply, without strain, and God takes care of them. This is what our Lord wants us to learn to do as individual Christians, and the same spirit should characterize every church and every Christian institution of whatever sort it may be. We in the churches seem unable to rise above the fiscal philosophy which rules the business world; so we introduce into our church finances the psychology of the great secular institutions so familiar to us all and judge a church by its financial report much as we judge a bank or a department store. A look into history will quickly convince any interested person that the true church has almost always suffered more from prosperity than from poverty. Her times of greatest spiritual power have usually coincided with her periods of indigence and rejection; with wealth came weakness and backsliding. If this cannot be explained, neither apparently can it be escaped. People simply run true to their nature; and after all the church is composed of people. It is well-known fact that authority requires money to maintain itself in power, and it is not otherwise when that authority is ecclesiastical. The economic squeeze is not known in religious circles and has always been the devil’s own device whether used by a church board to bring a bold pastor to time or by denominational leaders to force a local church into line. Such abuses are possible only because we have allowed ourselves to get entangled in unscriptural methods of church financing. The point I am trying to make here is that while money has a proper place in the total life of the church militant, the tendency is to attach to it an importance that is far greater than is biblically sound or morally right. The average church has so established itself organizationally and financially that God is simply not necessary to it. So entrenched is its authority and so stable are the religious habits of its members that God could withdraw Himself completely from it as it could run on for years on its own momentum. And the same is true of schools, Bible conferences and missionary societies. It is particularly regrettable that the activities of churches and societies must be cut back to agree with actual or anticipated income. Think back to the roots of this practice and you will see that it makes the power of the Spirit of God depend upon the state of the national economy or the varying wage levels in different localities. Should the members of a local church withhold their tithes and offerings that church will accomplish less statistically, it is true, but always its accomplishments will depend upon its spiritual condition and not upon its treasury. The treasury will be full if the people are holy; or if the people are generous but poor, then the Holy Spirit will give them fruit out of all proportion to their financial report. The fruit of the church agrees with its basic spirituality, never upon the state of its exchequer. The history of churches and denominations follows pretty closely a rather uniform pattern; it is to begin in poverty and power, get established to a degree that removes all hazards and gives financial security; become accepted by society; outgrow the need for divine intervention; keep Christ as a figurehead, ignore His Lordship and carry on after the traditions of the elders; offer the clergy a reward for staying in line in the form of an old age pension; put enough persons in places of power who profit financially by the prosperity of the group. After that its requiescat in pace (a prayer for the peaceful repose of a dead person), and the tragic thing about it all is that no one knows he is dead. No church or denomination need go that way if the members detect the trend before it is too late. But I wonder. So bound are we to the treasurer’s report that we habitually forget who we are and what we are called to do. Anyone can do the possible; add a bit of courage and zeal and some may do the phenomenal; only Christians are obliged to do the impossible. If we could rise in faith like Samson and break the ropes that bind us we might see again that a church’s outgo can be greater than its income, as much greater as God is greater than circumstances. We might have demonstrated before our eyes how God works wonders when His people leave a margin for miracles.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 11:40:19 +0000
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