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NASB | Luke 12:42 And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Luke 12:42 The Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and wise steward [of the estate], whom his master will put in charge over his household, to give his servants their portion of food at the proper time? [Matt 24:45-51] |
Bible Question:
Biblical guildelines on serving community? Our church has received a request for special offering from a sister branch (I don't know how it termed in English. We belong to the same denomination but just serve different regions of the city and our church is financially independent but they are not). They have deficit almost every year and they rely on other sister branches' special financial offering to help their operation. In order to understand more of their situation, each sister branch assigns a representative to sit in their meeting (4 times a year). The main reason for their inadequate offering received from their congregation is because of that the community they serve are the low income group people. Most of them are single-parent families and new immigrants of low education or unskilled people. It is a district with serious social problem. Today in our monthly deacon's meeting, we have to decide the allocation of the special offering whether it should be offered to this sister branch or another organisation. We all think that we should help this sister branch. However, when our representative further updated us on the situation, I found it questionable (it sounds so to me) on their usage of the money. She said that they have organized quite a lot of entertaining activities (e.g. picnics, outings, social gatherings) providing a big portion of subsidy for the participants (where most of them are out-sider, just a small portion of regular church members). By doing so, they hope to attract (I wanted to use "lure") people to church. I hardly agree to such practice. Although we should serve the poor and needy people, this is not the way it should be. I believe what really attracts people to church has been fully demonstrated in Acts (i.e. the gospel and love within true-believers in church). Nothing to do with materials and benefits. Therefore, I proposed that the amount should be offered for the purpose of education or training. However, I would like to know the biblical guidelines for us to serve the community. Thanks for your help. Love in Christ. Azure |
Bible Answer: Dear Sister Azure, I share your discomfort regarding this issue. As a student of Biblical Christianity, it is easy to spot churches that don't really understand their commission. Michael Bremmer once wrote, "The Great Commission of Christ presupposes the teaching of doctrine: 'Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit TEACHING them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age' (Mt. 28:19-20). Christ commanded His people to disciple the nations. There is no other way to disciple one in Christianity then by the teaching of Christian doctrine. Considering the emphasis Scripture places on the importance of teaching and understanding Christian doctrine, What should be the response of the Christian? The Christian should not take pride in doctrinal ignorance, but rather study and learn carefully the doctrines of the Christian faith, so that he or she may not be led astray by false doctrine." By stipulating how the funds are to be used, sister, I think you are teaching this other church how to go about their Christ mandated task. We should never be ashamed to offer our financial support with stipulations as you have done. By doing this you are being a good steward of the monies that God has graciously given us. A good steward uses wisdom in investing his master's goods. Also, I concur with your concerns about "luring" people while calling it evangelism. This kind of thing goes on all too often here in the USA. People here will also trim down the gospel, or repackage it in order to make it more attractive to the world. No wonder we have churches full of tares instead of wheat! Our model for evangelism comes from Christ and the apostles. We never see them sugar coating the message or using deception. God forbid! You are walking well within the guidelines of the Word. I wish I could tell you that everything would go easily. However, you will probably find a lot of resistance to doing things God's way rather than man's way. Still and all, we pray for you! Pray for us too! In Him, Doc |
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Questions and/or Subjects for Luke 12:42 | Author | ||
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St. Julien | ||
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hvnscry | ||
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pryorspride | ||
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azurelaw | ||
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DocTrinsograce | ||
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azurelaw |