In Matthew 5:42 we read, "Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you." Is it right for us to turn people away from benevolence after several withdrawals because they weren't able to meet criteria set forth by the leaders for managing their own finances? I am not implying that it is wrong to help people on their feet if they have financial management issues, but I believe there are some people in such burdensome situations that they just need lots of help over and over and over again. A good example would be a single woman with four children barely getting by... Where does leadership get the authority to decide who gets benevolence and who doesn't? In my view, if we can freely give to the poor beggar on the street, how much more should we give to one another? -- Chris (Indianapolis)
Local leadership can and must decide how most responsibly to disburse church funds. Even when a beggar asks us as individual Christians for help, we must decide how much to give. Jesus never said we should give everything we own to the beggar; nor would it be reasonable, in my view, to drain the church's bank account to meet the needs of one needy individual.
As with many teachings in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' words must be interpreted in the light of conscience, reason, and other priorities to love. (In other words, our responsibility is not to assist just one needy individual, but many. It would be wrong to help one person if that meant refusing to help our own families -- 1 Timothy 5:8.)
And, I think, especially in the case of someone who has not taken mature responsibility for her or his finances, giving without any criteria would be very wrong indeed. It could be enabling. In Acts 4, the brothers brought their gifts and moneys to the apostles, who in turn made (we presume) wise decisions as to who would be helped, how much, and how often. In other words, I am saying that this is a local decision. No single church member has a claim on the church finances; no one can say, "Hey, I asked for money, and Jesus says you have to give it to me." That would be a gross distortion of the teaching and spirit of our Lord in what he said about giving.
Finally, I would hope that this response not be used as an excuse for stinginess. Having qualified the answer, let's not harden our hearts, but rather be open-handed and generous to our brothers and sisters in need.
This article is copyrighted and is for private use and study only. © 2004. Reprints or public distribution is prohibited without the express consent of Douglas Jacoby.
