Hello boys and girls! This post has been a ton of fun for me, and now it's time to recap!
What I and like-minded people in the notes ARE saying ✅
Churches of all sizes are regularly approached by 1) people in legitimate need, and 2) scammers.
These two kinds of people often appear identical. Scammers are pretty good at what they do.
Scammers may or may not be in need, but that need does not give them the right to lie, cheat, and steal. Honesty is a virtue,
The church has a responsibility to help those in need. Drug addicts count as needy, and deserve to be fed and cared for as well. They do not have a right to have their drug addiction funded by others, however.
Scammers take money and resources that should be going to those who truly need it. This is not good.
Anyone who comes to a church for help should be treated as a person with a complex life who is approaching in good faith and deserves to be met with dignity, friendship, and aid, not as a problem to be gotten rid of as soon as possible, nor should it be automatically assumed that they are a lying drug addict. No one's problems go as deep as their need for immediate food/shelter/clothing.
Churches are families, they are relational, and no one should be surprised or offended when a Christian attempts to form at least a casual relationship with someone who enters their doors. We are not government programs who receive our impetus from the secular world, but families and centres of worship. Get used to it. If this offends you, then prepare to be offended because a whole religion ain't changing their fundamental nature to make you feel better.
This forming of a casual relationship does NOT equal treating them as one of the flock, or forcing them to join the church. If you think that, then you don't know how what is actually involved in joining a church and becoming one of the flock. It’s making a new friend.
Churches have differing levels of ability to spread resources. Some are megachurches, but most churches are small, and their bank account is filled by member's donations.
Churches have many financial responsibilities. They must pay for and maintain their building if they want to continue to have a presence in their community (house churches are a thing too). They must, according to the Bible, pay their pastor (1 Tim. 5:18). They have a responsibility to care for the needs of their own first, as well as those outside the church, as they have the opportunity (Gal. 6:10). They give to local and international charities/organizations/missions that can reach farther than they can.
Christians are called to radical, even "foolish" generosity, and individuals can and should practice this, including pastors and leaders. This should not be something that we leave to the ones in charge, we are all called to it.
The radical generosity that Christians are called to can and often does involve voluntarily being taken advantage of, with cheerfulness even (Matt. 5:38-42).
Christians are also called to stewardship, to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves (Matt. 10:16), and to wisely and widely invest what has been given to us for the good of God's kingdom (Matt. 24). These things must be balanced.
Churches, and I don't mean institutions, but people, are regularly victimized by scams, large and small. Pastors and leaders have a responsibility to protect their flock from this.
Many charities, religious and non-religious, employ vetting processes to avoid this.
For lots of churches, this vetting process is short, simple, and should be painless: one conversation, one meal, some cursory questions about a person's life and what they're going through. That's often all it takes. For each person who has been revealed to be a liar, there are more that are in legitimate need, and the church can and will find ways to help them.
The reason that churches can do any amount of charitable work is because, at least in my country (not America, ask an American about American charity law), we have charity status. If we want to retain charitable status, we CANNOT give money to an individual who is not a member, attendee, partner, staff member, eg. someone who has no connection to us, in our function as a charity. We MUST, according to law, never give out cash to an individual (grocery store gift cards that can only be used to buy groceries are acceptable), and we MUST use some kind of vetting process, and it is almost always easier for everyone involved to be directed to a charitable organization better equipped to care for a person's specific needs.
How do you find out what a person's specific needs are? By talking with them and finding out. This conversation does not need to take place over a meal, but generally if someone comes to you saying that they're hungry, it is considered a nice thing to feed them.
Inviting someone to lunch is not forcibly converting them. Why would you think these two are the same thing.
These charity laws are the rules for churches, not for individuals. If an individual (Christian or otherwise) wants to give cash et al to a person in need, there is nothing stopping them! Even the pastor can do this with his own money, but not with money that does not belong to him, but to his church.
I repeat, it is disingenuous to measure the generosity of a church or Christians in general based on whether or not the pastor or church office will hand out money to just anyone.
By all means, donate to your local food bank and similar charities!! Every little bit helps someone!! Merry Christmas everyone ❤️ remember what Jesus said about the least of these brothers and sisters!!
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