The Church’s Use of Offerings
Sunday, September 29, 2024 – Morning Service
Pastor Logan Seibert
Text: Various Scriptures
The Church’s Use of Offerings | Sun, Sept 29/24 AM | Logan Seibert
Introduction
Well, good morning. Those of you who are of good health, or at least you’re willing to share what you have. That’s okay. It’s good to come and worship. It’s inescapable. It’s the season. So I’m glad that you’re here.
For this morning, we’re not going to be continuing through the Book of Acts as we normally do. We’re not going to be going through Exodus, as we do in the evenings, as I’m preaching right now. But we want to just take a Sunday to address a certain topic, and that is in anticipation of more conversations this fall as we head into 2025 regarding the Church’s budget, the handling of finances. Really, I want to address the question, why should we give into that offering box back there, behind Howard there, or those of you who would send an e-transfer to the church, why should you click those buttons and send money to the church? And how should the church together plan to use the money that is received?
We want to address those questions because we are continually seeking to strengthen the ministry of our financial stewardship in the church. We want to be biblical about that. We’re aware that we’re always needing to be reforming and testing our practices and assumptions against the scriptures. And so I want to bring a topical message this morning to look at how the church is to use offerings. Do I sound really echoey? Okay, thank you. Because if I’m hearing it, you’re probably hearing it more. And my windpipe can project, so I don’t want to pierce your ears.
So it is always necessary to test our assumptions—our practices against the Word of God. We inherit traditions from our spiritual forefathers. Baptists have not always liked the word tradition, but Baptists have traditions. We may not speak of traditions as sacred and as authoritative as the Word of God, and rightly so. We recognize the Word of God is uniquely authoritative. It’s the supreme rule for our faith and our practice. But we still do things and even believe things in large part because of what our spiritual forefathers have taught, how they’ve interpreted Scripture, how a constitution has been put together. And that can range denomination by denomination. And that’s not inherently wrong. That’s just the nature of life and who we are as people in the Church.
Reflecting on Tradition Versus Scripture
But we need to make sure we’re not guilty of what the Pharisees became guilty of, as Jesus addressed in Mark chapter 7 (Mark 7:13), where he looked at them and he said, by the traditions that you have handed down, you make void the word of God. That is when tradition becomes a serious problem, when it competes with, contradicts the word of God, scripture.
And the church in this area of financial stewardship has sadly had a lot of blind spots and a lot of deceit of the heart in our history. Not just Lighthouse, I’m speaking of the universal church. You can trace that through from the beginning of the church’s history, where voluntary giving was the expectation. But over time, greater expectations evolved. And Christianity became more and more institutional and dependent on these traditions. When tithes turned into taxes, as the church merged with the state, we saw real problems, particularly in European Christianity, what we’re familiar with in our own culture, and where the church and the state enforced, compelled people to give as part of the taxation of Christendom, of the land. This led to very fat and plump church leaders. This led to very costly buildings and a lot of money off of people to keep those buildings going. The church wanted to create large programs, systems of welfare for the poor. But as we know, when big government wants their hands in all kinds of things, financial mismanagement, waste, abuse, it characterized the church as well. And people suffered under this, but most importantly, the name of Jesus suffered by this.
Historical Problems With Church Finances
Now in the Reformation in the 1500s, the Reformers were looking at all the mess that had accumulated up to that point through the medieval church, the Roman Catholic church, and finances or taxation was a part of that. Going back to the scripture and re-examining what is going on with all the purposes of the money, how we collect it, why we collect it. And it can be easy to now think as children of the Reformers, as Protestants, as Baptists, Yes, look at the Pope and his Nikes and his fancy little vehicle, and look at these Orthodox churches with their gold and ornate buildings, and look at all the greed and avarice there. It can be easy for us to point the finger, but sadly, Protestants have been guilty of mismanagement of offerings as well.
Taxation of the people was not immediately abolished as Protestants. Baptists had a large hand in helping remove that kind of church and state tithing that was so dominant for so long, and I praise God for that. But sadly, financial stewardship and Protestantism has also been against the word of God. Church leaders may not have fancy robes, but Protestant leaders can have very expensive suits or designer clothes, preachers in sneakers. Is that the social media? A fella who follows famous evangelical pastors and he will take the pastor’s picture and he’ll show you those sneakers he’s wearing, the v-neck shirt, the skinny jeans. How much do those things cost? And you would be astounded. But as well, I mean, even in more conservative circles, suits that would be designer level suits, not suit you can get at Goodwill or Value Village, but things that are very ornate. Protestants can fall into that.
Or we can have an unhealthy occupation with buildings ourselves. And really, buildings that aren’t nearly as beautiful as those buildings that the medieval church would build. Really bland kind of auditorium buildings. But nonetheless, an occupation with buildings that you would be hard-pressed to find in the Bible, which we’re going to consider. Now, we don’t have monastic orders, monasteries. But we have charities, we have not-for-profits. Lighthouse Baptist Church of Edmonton is a not-for-profit, officially, under the Canadian government, under the CRA. And so we don’t have spiritual people doing all kinds of things that the rest of the culture doesn’t really know what’s going on there as a monastic order. But we as a church are under those charitable organizations and the world, the unbelievers around us, might think of us like this. They seem so busy doing spiritual things, Christian things, but where is that money really going? How many loopholes are they really cutting? They’re not paying any taxes on so much of this stuff. What’s really going on there?
And that same sentiment of distrust against the church can bubble up in the lives of unbelievers in our society too. So Protestants aren’t building Christendom, but pastors can seek a big name for themselves. They don’t want just to serve their local church, they want a campus church, a satellite church, they want a mini kingdom of their own. This issue of power in the heart is still present with Protestants. And we’re not compelling people under a taxation system to give to the church. But there can still be a bit of a mentality of that, that you have your 10% to give, that’s what the church demands. You write your check, and then you’ve done your giving. Maybe year end, you assess, what have I given, what have I not? You send it away. What are your church leaders proposing to do with that? You don’t really know. You weren’t at the meeting. You didn’t look at the budget. You’re not part of the discussions. You’re just kind of paying your tax, and you carry on. Many Christians can function like that in Protestant churches. And so we’re not immune to the same kinds of problems that have plagued church history.
And sadly, we hear of financial scandals in Protestant churches every single week. I don’t know if it’s happening more necessarily. It’s just that with news so readily available, in a matter of seconds, I can find out what so-and-so First Baptist Church of Timbuktu has done, and it’s right there for me to see and to grieve over. Money and power are seductive. That has been true of every generation, and that’s why Augur, Proverbs 30, verse 8 (Proverbs 30:8), what is the prayer of Augur to the Lord? Give me neither poverty nor riches. He doesn’t want to be tempted to steal by being poor, but he also doesn’t want to forget the Lord, as Psalm 50 warns us about, forgetting the Lord because of prosperity. It’s why the Puritan Thomas Brooks said, adversity has slain her thousands, prosperity her tens of thousands. It is true.
The Need for Biblical Stewardship
Now it’s not in the scope of this sermon to address all the causes and all the answers to these kinds of problems. But one important question to ask is what I opened up with. What are we responsible to do with our money as God’s people? What does Jesus want us to do as stewards of his money? What is the reason for offerings at all? And what do you have a responsibility before the Lord to do with your money? So if we answer this biblically, we set a direction, a certain kind of compass, a north, by which then we can understand when are we going into a ditch? Where are we trailing off away from the direction that we are to be faithful to? And this is very important. Biblical direction helps us be faithful stewards not only of money, but of the gospel message itself. His glory, our witness, because there’s no more foul estench among unbelievers and even fellow Christians than lust for power, lust for money, lust for carnal pleasures, and sex, power, and money. Those are the things that bring down so many Christians, so many people, so many churches. And so it’s the gospel that’s really at stake.
Now, Dunlop, Jamie Dunlop, Budgeting for a Healthy Church, in his book, he writes, a budget should reveal what a church truly values. A budget is a reflection of the values of the members who create and agree to that budget. It’s a spiritual tool for spiritual aims. That’s what it’s meant for. And of course, those aims should be aligned with God’s aims. And so then, what are God’s aims, according to his word? How should the church use offerings?
Two Propositions for Church Offerings
Well, I want to make two propositions here, and then we’re going to unpack those. I am going to start to touch on a number of scriptures, as this is a topical message, which I want to make exceptional. We would not typically do these kinds of messages, but I won’t be able to go as deep in all these passages as I would like to, unless you’re ready for a three-hour sermon. But you can ask us later. That’s just the nature of a topical message. So lots of introduction here, but we are going to get into the scriptures themselves shortly. But I want to put two propositions out about the use of church offerings.
First, the church must materially support those called to labour in the proclamation of the gospel, supporting and partnering with gospel labourers, both elders serving in a local church and missionaries sent out in ministry partnerships. And secondly, the church must help address the needs of their poor and needy brethren, both those within their local church and those in other churches they are in fellowship with.
So you notice, hopefully, there’s a local and then a broader sense to both of those two propositions on laborers and the poor. There is an internality, something internal to a local church of supporting such people, but then something external to the local church. And the local gospel laborers are the pastors of a church. Regional or global laborers are missionaries. We call them missionaries. They may be pastors of another church. You might call them a church planter. They may be engaged in some kind of work related to that. But they have given themselves to the proclamation of the gospel. And then the poor may be found within your local church, or be found in churches connected to your local church somehow. In our context, could be through pastoral fellowships, like the Western Canada Baptist Fellowship, WCBF, you hear that acronym every once in a while. Churches that are in the city, but also throughout the province, maybe the churches that are under the missionaries your church supports. So there’s already a partnership there. But there’s already some existing fellowship. You are connected in some relational way. And there is a sense of responsibility with how you help such churches and the poor and the laborers in those churches. And so gospel laborers near and far, and the poor near and far, these are the explicit objects of our financial support.
Addressing the Question of Buildings and Other Expenses
Now, Craig Blomberg, he writes an excellent book on biblical theology of stewardship, Give Me Neither Poverty Nor Riches. That’s the title of the book, based off Proverbs 30, verse 8 (Proverbs 30:8). I’d recommend that book. It’s a little thick. It’s a little technical. Christians in an Age of Wealth is his more simple book, a little bit less technical. He’s not getting into Hebrew or Greek as much. But he writes this. These are the purposes of the offerings: helping the poor, supporting local ministers, and funding evangelism and missions. He emphasizes those same three kinds of things, and you’ll find this in many good authors. And so I want to cover the scripture that proves this, but I want to address the elephant in the room first. Because as I laid those propositions out, you may be wondering, What about our building? What about the other laborers in the church, wages for a financial secretary or an office secretary or a cleaner? What about maintaining our printer or our website? That’s a valid thing that you would think about.
There’s no explicit references to offerings going to a building in the New Testament, however. There’s no explicit references to money being used for promoting manuscripts that would then be sent out. They didn’t have printers and copiers back then, paying Bob the scribe in your church to copy those letters, to make some tracks, to get evangelism work going, we don’t see any explicit commands or examples of that in the New Testament. Now, we can answer this. Why are we then budgeting for a building? Why do we have these other line items? But first, we do need to lay that foundation. We need to start with what’s explicit. What are we going to answer to the Lord explicitly for? He has commanded, He has laid out very clearly that our money is to go into these kinds of things. We need to start there. And then we can recognize that there are other things that our money as a church can go toward. We can infer them. Things that are still important because they’re inferred from the scriptures, they’re not wrong. There are some things which are a natural consequence of what is commanded. In order to fulfill this command, the best way to do that is X, Y, and Z. And as a church, we agree, let’s put our resources toward that end. That’s not wrong. But those things should never overshadow, and especially not contradict, the explicit things Jesus has charged us to put our money toward. There is a priority, there is an order of importance in that sense.
So, let’s talk about a building. A building is a good example. There’s nothing explicit for New Testament churches to own a building, to purchase and maintain a church building, a church as it’s been called, but that’s not the church. The people are the church, the ecclesia. That has gotten so deep in our thinking that even the use of word can be confusing there a little bit. But what are we commanded to do as the church? We must meet together regularly. Gathering together is commanded (Hebrews 10:24-25; 1 Corinthians 11). Paul assumes when you meet, you’re going to be doing this. When you meet, when you meet, when you meet. It’s just the warp and woof of fellowship for New Testament churches. Zoom ultimately doesn’t cut it. Livestream ultimately doesn’t cut it. It could be helpful when you’re not feeling well, but that is not going to be feeding your soul and helping you fulfill what it means to gather with your brothers and sisters.
And so if we must meet together for worship, well then, giving toward this end seems good. Supporting one another with a place to gather is a good thing. It helps us fulfill that command. But we have to be careful. Is doing it through a purchased building necessary? Will we not be a faithful church if we don’t own a building? We see in the scriptures that the early church met in public in the Book of Acts. They met in Solomon’s portico in the temple. Just was a natural place for so many people to meet. There’s a lot of religious activity going on there. That’s what the apostles did. We later see house churches throughout the Book of Acts and the New Testament letters. There’s references to this. There are churches that would rent something. Paul himself, Pastor Bud recently preached through Acts, when he was in Ephesus, he rented the hall of Tyrannus, which was next to the synagogue. They got kicked out of there, so they rent something. So you see that by example, you know, Christians meeting publicly, Christians meeting in a house, Christians renting a property to meet in. There is flexibility there. There is some freedom and use of wisdom there.
God’s house is not a church building. The New Testament scriptures speak of God’s temple, but what do they speak of? What do the apostles call God’s temple? Point at each other, that’s right. We as the church are the dwelling place of God. And under the new covenant, this is how Jesus has designed this. When he commanded us to go out and make disciples of all nations, he knew that in various different nations, some would get to own a building, others would have to rent something. Others would have to meet kind of quietly in one another’s houses. Some could meet publicly, others couldn’t. Some are going to have enough money in order to purchase a building, some simply won’t. And yet they’re all New Testament churches. All of those fellowships can be faithful together, though it would look different in how they do that in terms of physical space. And so we can put our money into a building to help us gather together, but money toward a building should not overshadow what we are explicitly commanded to put our money toward. It’s the priorities.
And we could keep doing this with examples. Printing and printers. You know, you have to buy a printer. You pay for paper. You need to maintain it with ink. If it gets broken, you need to maintain it. Okay, that all costs money. Why do we have all these papers? You know, I have a piece of paper here for the sermon. It’s helpful for teaching, for the prayer sheet. Every single week, prayer sheet is going out. Are we supposed to pray? Yes. Is there supposed to be teaching? Yes. But if we lost our printer, can we still be faithful to do those things? Yes, we can. There’s churches far flung from us who they don’t even have the money for a printer. They’re not able to do that. But they themselves are the sheets. They are the tracks. They go out and they teach and they pray. Now I’m sure some of those brethren would really wish they could have a prayer sheet. They would praise God for a piece of paper to remember what to pray for.
So these are helpful things. But if we lost our printer tomorrow, it doesn’t mean that we would be unfaithful with what the Lord’s called us to do. Same with our website. It’s helpful for outreach. Many people find our church website, people I meet at the door, visitors, I ask, how’d you hear about us? They Googled us. Our church website is useful for those things. But can a church do outreach without a church website? Of course they can. It’s a pretty novel and new thing, a church website. You know, again, churches can have a logo, they can have a website, they can have these things. I’m not trying to rail against all these things. But it is about the priorities that we need to have in our minds. We’re not a business. We don’t need a logo like Pepsi or Cola and people think of us with this logo. Churches have been doing very well for a long time before they ever even thought of having a logo. So these are helpful things, but secondary things.
And so the separation has to be in our mind. And the danger is if we find that we are neglecting what our master has actually required of us because we’re too focused on what is not required, well, then we may be guilty of making God’s word void because of our traditions, because of the cultural assumptions that we’ve just been swimming in and just unaware of, blind to. So we need to test all things by the scriptures, go back to the scriptures. There is a place for what we could call ministry operations, or general expenses, or things that would help the building, help the printing and so forth, but it is a certain place. What is necessary, what is biblically mandated are the supporting of gospel laborers near and far, and the poor near and far. And that’s what I want us to have our attention on for the remainder of our time. I want us to consider those two groups of people and what the scripture says about supporting them.
The Church’s Role in Caring for the Poor
Now, the poor. We just had a series on benevolence earlier this year. I know some of you were not maybe even attending the church at that time, but I will not spend a great length of time on the topic of benevolence because we took a month and a half to really cover that topic. Hopefully you went away from that sermon series recognizing, wow, the scripture puts a lot of emphasis on helping the poor, on supporting the needy. I’ll just blast through some of those examples, but I encourage you to go back on Sermon Audio, go back on YouTube. What your offerings have helped you support, go listen to those sermons again if you want.
But in 1 Corinthians 16:1–4, you have the command week by week to collect money and lay it aside. This is where we get our practice of weekly offerings, which is what our church does. But Paul has a particular purpose for it, and what is that? It was a collection for the poor saints in Jerusalem. It was to help the poor. 2 Corinthians 8–9, two whole chapters where we get so much wisdom on giving (2 Corinthians 8–9). What is the context of that? It wasn’t just for general ministry. It was a collection for those same poor Jerusalem saints. Again, we can apply a lot of the wisdom of those two chapters—2 Corinthians 8 and 9 helps us in all of our giving. But the context there, the thrust of that really is about helping the poor. And note, these aren’t even the poor in their own assembly. It was of another church across the Roman Empire, which is why we say near and far there is a responsibility for us to help each other.
The Book of Acts continually touches on this. Just read through the Book of Acts and you’re gonna see a concern for the poor, a concern for those who are in crisis, famine, persecution. These things repeatedly come up. And by the time we get to 1 Timothy, one of the last letters Paul writes to Timothy and writes all together, you see in 1 Timothy 5 there is a structure of ongoing support for some of the most vulnerable in the church, the widows of the church. By this time, they’ve established some criteria and how they can give regularly to those who are in great need. And that gives us a model for caring for those in genuine poverty among us. And so near and far, the poor is a great emphasis. Again, in our short time this morning, I’m not going to go through all that, but it is a big part of our offerings.
Supporting Gospel Proclaimers (Local and Global)
What I want to focus on, and what’s not been talked about as much from this pulpit of recent, is that support to those who are called to labour in the proclamation of the gospel. How offerings are to help elders serving in a local church, as well as missionaries serving outside one’s local church. That is worth us considering. And so, finally, you get to open up your Bibles. I know it’s been too long, these topical messages, I tell you, but it’s an exception and not a norm. If it ever becomes a norm, you let us know.
Jesus’ Command: The Laborer Deserves His Food
Matthew 10:10. I want you to turn to Matthew 10:10. This is a key verse from our Lord Jesus. The context, and we don’t have time to go through it all so deeply, but this is the chapter where Jesus sends out the 12, the 12 apostles, and he gives a number of instructions to the apostles as they go out, to preach, to serve. Some of these things are harder to apply in our context, but there are definitely things that are still applicable to us. And there’s a phrase in verse 10, that very much so is. It’s right at the end of verse 10 where he says, the laborer deserves his food (Matthew 10:10). Luke 10:7 (Luke 10:7), a parallel, the laborer deserves his wages. So the same idea, the things of the physical life, money to purchase food or food itself, the laborer, the workman, is worthy of that.
Now Jesus is saying here as he sends them out, he’s going to supply—God will supply—what those servants need. They were not to charge people for their ministry. Look at verse eight. There’s a phrase in verse eight there where he says near the end, you received without paying, give without pay. Freely you have received, freely give. I’ve been struck, as Pastor Bud preaches through the Book of Acts, how financially motivated people are, whether it has been Simon the Magi wanting the Holy Spirit, whether it has been the idol worshipers, the idol manufacturers who seem concerned more about their money than really the honour of their gods. The owners of the slave girl in Philippi, they were only cared about what Paul did after they recognized, hey, we’re not making any more money out of her. The traveling exorcists, the sons of Sceva, this was very common and sadly today it still is very common. You want ministry from me, you need to pay first. And it’s become very sophisticated. There’s paywalls behind everything. You want my teachings? You want to read my blog? Subscribe for such and such a month, and you’ll gain access to this and that. It’s become very, very sophisticated, and sadly, among churches, among pastors.
But Jesus said, no, that’s not how you’re supposed to be doing ministry. God will supply what you need. You’re not to acquire for yourself everything that you’ve needed beforehand. Verses 9 through 10, Jesus is there saying, don’t collect all your things, everything that you think you need, a money bag and two tunics, extra clothing and all this stuff, and you’re walking around with all your briefcases. He’s saying, I don’t want to send you out like that. But they would receive their wages. Verse 10 is very clear about that. Well, how are they supposed to do that? Well, verse 11, look at verse 11 there. There will be houses that the apostles were to enter. People that would hear them, see them, and say, I like what you’re doing. I support what you’re doing. Here, let me give you a meal. Let me give you a place to stay. And verses 12 through 13, he goes on and says, well, if those people turn against you, don’t feel inclined to stick around. You leave. But if they’re a worthy house, accept their partnership, accept their support. And this is what we see the Apostle Paul doing as well. He would go to places, he would preach, people would be interested, people would believe, and from there, there would also be a kind of support that was gained. It wasn’t the money that came first, it came in response to ministry, not for ministry, and that’s very important.
Biblical Basis for Supporting Local Elders
1 Corinthians 9
So this does speak to various issues we have today, again, outside the scope of our purpose this morning, but it is necessary we would understand that passage, that phrase, the laborer deserves his wages or his food, because it’s going to be used by Paul a number of times in his letters. So flip over now to 1 Corinthians 9. 1 Corinthians chapter 9, Paul goes at length to talk about why those who proclaim the gospel ought to be supported for their ministry. Now, he’s going to say he’s not going to accept the Corinthian support. He didn’t accept the Corinthian support. He had reason to say no to that. But that’s the exception, and that’s something he chose to do. What he wanted to teach the Corinthians is, this is what should be on your hearts, O Corinthians. This is something that is due to those who proclaim the gospel because of the commandment of the Lord, and for various reasons.
But look at verses 13 to 14. This is where we’ll really focus on. It’s sufficient for our purpose. Verse 13, he says, do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:13–14). So, the Lord commanded. Where did the Lord command this? Matthew 10:10. That’s where the Lord commanded this. But as well, he ties it back to the Old Testament priests. You’d have to really get acquainted with the Levites in the Old Testament to understand, okay, what does Paul mean by this in verse 13? But the summary of this is, out of all the tribes of Israel, the Levites didn’t get their own allotment of land like the others. They were scattered within the tribes of Israel to serve the Lord as a set-apart group. And from there, they were to focus their time and their energy. If Bob, the Judean, and Simon, the Simeonite, if they wanted to have a business venture, hey, look, we got some great ideas to create a business. Let’s do this, let’s do that. Joe the Levite, I’m running out of names here, Bob, Bob, and Bob, but Joe the Levite, he’d have to say, I got enough work to do with what the Lord’s given me here. I’m stuck in this particular city. I got my rotation to go over to Shiloh and later to Jerusalem to help out over there. I already have enough work to do. I can’t, and I shouldn’t. God’s set me apart for a particular work, and I need to devote my time to that.
They were in cities with the cities of refuge, if you’re familiar with that concept. Those who accidentally killed another in order to escape the vengeance of the family could flee the manslayer, where we get the word manslaughter from, unintentional killing. The manslayer could run away to one of these cities of refuge and plead for justice and for protection. And the Levites were called to help with that. Now again, they didn’t have enough time to work with Bob over there and also do all these other things that the Lord wanted them to do. It would have burnt these guys out.
And so, these Levites were set apart for a particular work. And Paul there says in verse 14, in the same way, he makes a strong connection here now, in the same way those who are to proclaim the gospel get their living, the things of life, by the gospel, by that same work of proclaiming the gospel. And so commission to proclaim the gospel is a full-time job. If somebody is called to preach the gospel, you want to devote that person to focus on that for the good of your soul so that you’re fed, that your pastor has time for you, for the good of other souls. That’s the principle at work here. There’s supply. You need to supply what is needed so that work can be focused on. And so that puts right expectation on the church, but it puts right expectation on pastors as well, to devote ourselves to the work of the local church, the church that is partnering with you, freeing—I’m going to say me, I’m a pastor—you freeing me up to devote myself to you. That’s the idea, which I’m thankful for, which Pastor Bud is thankful for, which I know Pastor Elias is thankful for. When Brother Elias was having to throw out people, rowdy people, in a homeless shelter on night shift, and he would come dragging himself to the pastor’s meetings, I felt for him. If this brother’s called to proclaim the gospel, let’s free him up to proclaim the gospel. That’s the principle. And I know you felt for him, and you were very kind in that a few years ago when you devoted him to that.
Pastors cannot be like Micah the Levite in the Book of Judges. Do you know Micah the Levite? This isn’t Bob or Joe, this is a real man. Micah the Levite (Judges 17). And if you don’t know the story of Micah the Levite in the Book of Judges, I think it’s Judges 17. I think Judges… It’s near the end of Judges. You need to learn that story. He’s not an example. He’s not somebody to follow. But he is a Levite who wanted to do his own thing, and he didn’t want to stay where God wanted him to stay to serve as God wanted him to serve. But basically, whoever had the most money to give him, he would be their priest. And so he wandered around as a mercenary, willing to go for the highest bidder. And pastors can’t do that. That’s not what a pastor is to do.
But also as well, as Paul is modeling throughout chapter 9, there are times for pastors, for those who proclaim the gospel, for missionaries I can include under this as well, where you aren’t going to hold on to your rights or your liberties. There are times as well that men called for the gospel, they should not expect recompense. Paul goes into the wisdom of that. This is something that a pastor has to be ready for. We’re going to look at another passage where Paul says, I’ve learned the secret to be content, whether I have little or a lot. But in terms of what is God’s will for a church, those who proclaim the gospel should be supported to proclaim the gospel. That’s the principle. That’s what Paul teaches here. And so these passages establish this principle. It’s based off Jesus’ command. Paul articulates it further.
1 Timothy 5:17–18
But then we can also divide this into those who proclaim the gospel near and those who proclaim the gospel far. We’re going to have to speed through some of these passages. But for those who are near, local pastors, turn to 1 Timothy 5, verse 17 and 18 (1 Timothy 5:17–18). Paul writes to Timothy, let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in preaching and teaching. For the scripture says, you shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain, and the labourer deserves his wages (1 Timothy 5:17–18). What’s interesting there, Paul quotes the law. He does it in 1 Corinthians 9 as well. We just didn’t have time to look at the whole argument there. But notice he also is quoting from Luke’s gospel, and he calls it scripture. So just so you know, even by this time, they recognized the apostles’ writings as scripture. He puts it at the same level as the Old Testament. But there’s that passage again being applied here, and it’s applied toward elders, toward those who are in the Church of Ephesus. When he says in verse 17 about honouring them, you know, respecting your pastors, that’s a kind thing, that’s a good thing. But that’s not how honour is being used here. That word can also mean honoring them by recompensing them, showing them generosity and support for the work that they’re doing. And if you go back up to verse 3 of this same chapter, you have that same word coming up. Verse 3, honour widows who are truly widows (1 Timothy 5:3). And then he’s going to go on and explain the benevolence for those widows, which is clearly financial and material support. So that’s what honour means here towards the elders. He switches from the poor, turns to the elders. And so these are gospel proclaimers getting ongoing support in that local church, just like the widows were getting ongoing support, certain widows, I should add, not every single widow, but certain widows.
Galatians 6:6
Now Galatians 6 verse 6 (Galatians 6:6) is another good passage. So turn with me to Galatians 6:6 near the end of the book of Galatians. Paul there writes, let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Now to even get that more clear, you could translate it something like this. Let the one who is being taught the word share all good things with the one who is teaching. Those are your favorite grammatical term? Guess. Participles, right? They’re participles. So it’s an ongoing thing. Those who are being regularly taught the Word, there’s some ongoing activity that you are receiving teaching from the Word by somebody who is regularly teaching you. So this isn’t just at a conference. This isn’t a travelling preacher who comes through. That’s not really the heart of this. This is ongoing activity in receiving and giving the Word of God, proclaiming the Gospel. And Paul there is saying, share all good things with those who are teaching you like that. Now this is a reminder that it’s not necessarily money that is always a way a church can pay a pastor. Maybe some of you have come from a background in another country where the pastors were paid in rice or some kind of food. And if that’s what that member of the church had to share to support their pastor, he doesn’t have to go and work somewhere else in order to feed his family. He’s being freed up to devote his time to the work of ministry. You’re feeding him for that. Praise God. That is great. That captures the heart of what we are to do to help those proclaiming the gospel.
Supporting Missionaries
So those are some key passages that show near laborers of the gospel, pastors, elders. These are those you want to support with your offerings. Now as well, though, those who are far, the missionaries. Turn to 3 John 5 through 8 (3 John 5–8). There’s no chapters in 3 John. I’m sending you all over the New Testament this morning. That’s all right. If you’re not familiar with your Bible, sometimes these sermons are good. You get flipping around everywhere. 3 John, verses 5–8, this is a key passage on supporting missionaries. There’s a lot packed into here. It’s a good passage.
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. Therefore, we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth (3 John 5–8).
Okay, these are missionaries. They are sent ones, ones sent out. That’s what’s underneath the term missionary. Because they have gone out for the sake of the name, for the sake of Jesus. Now they are strangers. Look at verse 5. John says, you didn’t know these people terribly well. So clearly these aren’t their shepherds. They’re not the pastors in the church. But they were servants who went out for the sake of Jesus. And they went out asking nothing of the Gentiles, verse 7. So they didn’t go out to these unbelievers saying, for a fee, I will serve you with X, Y, and Z. They weren’t looking to do that. And that gets at the heart of Matthew 10 verse 8, freely you have received, freely give. So we see the pattern of Jesus there as well. But how are they to get their support? Well, verse 8. The believers, not the unbelievers, the believers are to be the ones who support those who go out for the sake of the name. And if we support such people, we are fellow workers for the truth, partners in what they’re doing. In another letter from John, he writes, not to receive false teachers, because you’ll be partnering with them in what they do, the evil that they do. If you feed them, bring them into your house, don’t do that. But those who are true servants, true proclaimers of the gospel, it’s a good thing to partner with them. Be a fellow worker for the truth.
Philippians 4:10–20
So clearly that involves your support, your financial support, but much more than that. And the Philippians are an excellent example of this. This is going to be the last passage I have you turn to. Philippians chapter 4, another word from Paul. Philippians 4:10–20 (Philippians 4:10–20). So we’re going to read a larger section of this. This is how the missionary Paul received and enjoyed the support of the Philippians.
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. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:10–13)
So what does Jesus strengthen you to do? Is it to win the football match? No, not necessarily. You can’t hold on to that promise saying that you’re going to be the best bodybuilder out there. He’s going to make you so strong you could do whatever. That I would be twisting the context. How does that phrase go? I can do all things through a verse that’s out of context? There’s some kind of funny statement about that. He’s talking here about Jesus giving him strength to endure whatever hardship that he may have serving the Lord. That Jesus will strengthen him for endurance and for contentment. But notice what he says in verse 14.
Yet, it was kind of you to share my trouble. (Philippians 4:14)
Or you could say, to have fellowship in my trouble. That’s a word, fellowship, that’s sharing.
Verse 15, and you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, the beginning of Paul’s ministry, when I left Macedonia, a ministry among them specifically, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving except you only. Even in Thessalonica, you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Philippians 4:15–20)
So here he’s gushing over at the generosity of the Philippians, that’s really what he was looking at here. Wow, you you’re loving me. This is good fruit among you to help in this kind of way out of love. But it showed up in material support. Again, we don’t know if, was it a big bag of rice for Paul? Was it money for Paul? It was a gift, but it supplied some of his physical needs. And notice in verse 15, there’s that language of partnership. You partnered with me in giving and receiving. Fellow workers. There was a relationship there. And so these passages show us that gospel proclaimers are to be supported at local and broader levels. We could go into other things in the scripture, but those are some key passages which demonstrate this. And I would encourage you on your own, study it, go through the scriptures yourself. If you see as explicit commands of what you should do with your money in the church, please tell me about that. But these are the explicit things that we see again and again in the scriptures, in the New Testament scriptures.
People Over Programs
And what is striking is this lack of emphasis on budgets for programs, budgets for buildings. We don’t even really have Paul saying, hey, make sure to recompense Chloe for all that space that she’s given you in her house. Now again, if those believers were benefiting from a richer saint’s house to gather in, what do you think they’re going to do out of love? They’re going to help out, clean out the house. They’re going to bring food to share. They’re going to show up helping out because that’s just the application of love.
Going back to what we began in this sermon, we need to lay that foundation of what is explicit in our stewardship as a church. And it makes sense that people—this people focus—is what we see again and again from the scriptures, because God ultimately doesn’t advance the Great Commission through programs. It’s through people. It’s not going to be through large facilities. It’s going to be the people who are in those facilities. You could have the best curriculum and you can have the biggest building and nicest things and all these plans, but if you don’t have labourers, if you don’t have loving, faithful workers, then what’s the point of all those things?
I considered what Jesus says about the harvest being plentiful, but the laborers being few. Right before Jesus sends out the apostles in Matthew 10, he commands them to pray that. Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would send out laborers into his harvest. And then Matthew 10 shows up and he’s sending some out, but first he says for us to pray. And you can have a plentiful harvest. And let’s say you have the best John Deere equipment out there. You got drones, you got flashy new equipment, you got things on the computer, plans, you got strategic business plans, you got so many of those things. But then you’re gonna lack one thing. What are you lacking? Laborers. Okay? Now, even the automated stuff, you still need somebody who programmed all that, right? You know, people are absolutely necessary to bring in the harvest. And people who are capable and devoted to that work. If at harvest time, your laborers just got off a double shift at Tim Hortons, and now they’re out here to labor and harvesting your field, how well is that work gonna go? You’re burning out your laborers. So what does a farmer do? He wants laborers who are focused on that harvest and that work alone. And it works like that in Christ’s church as well.
And so using our resources to send and to keep good workers in the fields for harvest, this is key. And God does amazing things through that. The people of God can be built up, your own works of ministry strengthened by those shepherd teachers, encouraged by faithful missionaries, seeing what God is doing across this dark world. You yourselves are strengthened to serve in the ways God has called you. Relationally, in partnership, one with another. That’s the heart of this.
Practical Application: Giving as Partnership
And so, just in closing, just as one big application for us for today, I want to challenge you to consider, do you think of your giving as partnership? Does the word partnership come to your mind when you write a check or you send an e-transfer? Some of you maybe have even automated e-transfers. Maybe you’re going over what went out of your account and you see Lighthouse Baptist Church. Does a sense of relationship come to your mind, or is it just another budget item? Is it just another thing that you feel, you know, you want to love, you want to be faithful, so you give, but it kind of is just out of the way, out of sight, out of mind after that. Because our offerings are not donations to a not-for-profit. That’s not what this is. The heart of it is not getting that tax receipt at the end of the year. This isn’t a charity in that sense. And your tithe is not taxes from the pastors. It’s not that. Hopefully you hear from this pulpit things that don’t make you think that we want you to be taxed by your tithes. It’s not your membership dues to be a part of Lighthouse. Like you have, you know, your fees for the gym and fees for this organization. Oh yeah, and then my tithe goes to my place as a church member. No, that’s not the heart that we see. And that mindset, it just disconnects you from the opportunities you have to enjoy giving, to be fellow workers in the harvest. Your giving is a part of personal partnerships and acts of ministry.
And so, I mean, what does that look like? Let’s just give this example. Let’s say you have $300. That’s what you’re going to give for this month. Okay? I just picked a random number. $300. As it stands right now in the way our budget is organized, a bit over $150 of that $300 puts food on my table, on Pastor Bud’s table, and Pastor Elias’s table. Thank you. You feed our families. Now do you think about that when you send in your money? That you’re literally feeding my family, my little children. You’re helping Pastor Bud, you’re helping Pastor Elias. Now another $100, this is a rough estimate, so if you come back to me with a calculator, I’m sorry. I’m just giving a rough estimate, but this does reflect the general makeup. Look at the pie chart that got sent out a few weeks ago after our meeting. Another $100 goes towards ministry operations. You help the office secretary, you help the financial secretary, you help pay for our cleaner in the church, the cleanliness of this building, the lights that we’re enjoying right now, the heats or the air conditioning, which maybe you don’t want to pay so much in depending on the temperature you like in here, right? But all those things. When you give, you are supporting that. Our website, the live stream that some, including my family, are enjoying using right now. You have partnered to actually give to that, and without you giving to that, we wouldn’t be able to have it. And then that final $50, it goes towards our missionaries, towards those who are sent out. You are supplying their needs from across the world. And so do you think of your offering like that? Do you actually have those relationships and uses in your mind when you give?
And you could be even more intentional about this. Let’s say out of that money you’re going to keep aside some. But you’re going to say, you know what? I’m going to save up this amount for unexpected things. We had Paige Sweeney come in and present some ministry work that she’s doing. And you have an allotment that you didn’t give to the church, but you saved it to say, I know what I’m going to do with this money. There’s some missions work I can give to. I’m going to use this to give to that. The missions updates, the needs that our missionaries have. Are you aware of what they’re praying for? Are you aware of what Herb Hunter is doing, engaged in trying to build a school in South Africa, trying to bring on another elder in their church? A Bible study in Renindale that needs to get off the ground. They need a native to be pastoring there. Are you aware of those things and how you can take some of what you would give and allocate it to say, I want to give to this specific purpose? And same with benevolence opportunities. Do you save some money aside so that when there’s a need in the church, you actually can go to that person or go to a friend because you want to stay anonymous, and you say, I’ve been saving this money for such a purpose as this. Here you go. Be blessed by that.
Or a crisis happens among a family or connections in our church. Look at the help that we were able to give to brethren in Haiti, as a family in our church has connections to Haiti. And some of you gave to that, and praise God for that. Or what our missionaries go through. Are you aware of the earthquake last year that one of our missionaries had to face in an area I can’t name over the live stream? But many lives lost, families shattered, and this brother and sister in their church are doing a lot of work to help with that. Or the cults, a few years back now, when war broke out in Ukraine, how they had a flood of Ukrainian refugees come in and their church building was filled with pregnant women who lost their homes. Were you aware of that? Did you give to that? I mean, were you even aware of that? And that awareness and that intentionality and taking something of what you would normally give and saying, either above that or a part of that, no, I’m going to be specific about this. That gives you a sense of partnership in ministry, a sense of relationship that you’re building to help those in need. And that’s a joy. And that’s what God wants us to do with our offerings.
Conclusion and Final Prayer
Now just in closing, one of the books that I know our brother Ken and others in the church have used to help straighten out some finances in our church, Money Matters in the Church, the authors of that book say, some people lack the motivation to give away their hard-earned money because the church has failed to provide a compelling vision for how the money will make a difference in the world. And we’ve curbed a lot of gratuitous spending, unnecessary spending. The pastors, we don’t get reimbursed anything for our ministry, and we’re happy for that. Come to our budget meetings, there’s no reimbursements towards us, and we’re happy with that. So while we’ve kind of stopped doing bad things, we haven’t really gotten off the ground in doing what we could together as a church. And that’s why I’m preaching this today. That’s why I’m encouraging you, as you’d consider what are offerings even for, to get a biblical view of it and have a heart in it. As we would be meeting this fall and preparing for plans for next year and a budget, pray about these things. Bring your ideas. Talk with the leadership about these things. But be motivated because you want to partner for the glory of God. You want to be a fellow worker for the truth and have joy in touching lives through the gospel.
So you have that opportunity in front of us and we want to glorify you in it. Please give us wisdom and please use what we’ve looked at in your word today to that end. We thank you in your name, Lord Jesus. Amen.
If you have any questions, please reach out to us.
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