Giving to the Poor

[mtrichard]

Hi, everyone. This is my first post.

If there was a single mother in your congregation who was struggling financially, what would your church do for her? Would they help her at all? If so, how?

We have this situation in our church, and I am not sure that my church is doing the right thing. What do you feel is the biblical thing to do?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Holy Warrior]

Hey there, welcome to CF!

For the biblical thing to do, look at Acts- in the early church, the believers shared out their wealth amongst the others. eg Acts 2:42- 'Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.'

Also, I know it's kind of a cliche, but think WWJD-what would Jesus do? Matt 25:40- 'The King will reply, "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." '

To me it's pretty clear what the right thing to do is. I'm not sure what my church would do though, I don't think it's a situation that there would be much open discussion on, so as not to cause embarrassment (it's not the sort of thing that would be announced in the bulletin, for example)

Hope this helps

 

[Preachers12]

Hi, everyone. This is my first post.

If there was a single mother in your congregation who was struggling financially, what would your church do for her? Would they help her at all? If so, how?

We have this situation in our church, and I am not sure that my church is doing the right thing. What do you feel is the biblical thing to do?

Thanks,

Matt

Mtrichard, God give you Peace.

Welcome to CF!!!

That's a great question! With more than 12,000 people in our Parish, I don't know how our Church handles things like this. I think most of us never hear about many things which are happening in the lives of fellow Church members due to the size.

I know though, that were I to become aware of such a thing, I would feel obligated to help. Not just because the person is a Church member, but because he/she is a person. For example, my wife is a former recruiter/head-hunter who has extensive resume preparation and job hunting experience, she would try to help the person to get a job or a better paying/benefits job. The answer in a situation like the one you described goes beyond just helping the person get through another month, but to do what it takes to help make that person self-sufficient so that he/she can then help others in the same way. Our Church has pre-school, perhaps the pastor would be willing to bear the expense for the person in need until she could get her finances in order. I can think of tons of things that could help!

The point is, we, as individuals, need to act. As Scripture tells us, just praying for a person in need is not enough. We need to do more.

Thanks for the great question! I am going to ask the pastor at my Church what they do and have done in similar situations. If they haven't been doing anything, I suspect it is more an issue of their not knowing of the need than their not fufilling one. Which would mean we need to implement some sort of program to identify needs. Amen!!!

God Bless,
P12

 

[Phoebe]

We have had such a situation.

She had lost her job and since she had no income, lost her home. She was invited to live on the property of someone else in the congregation. I think the couple she moved in with had a cottage on their property. It may have been something used for farm hands in times past. It was kept low profile.

I don't know how public the situation should be made, and it depends on how destitute the woman is. A leg up is better than a hand- out, and it allows the person to keep a certain amount of pride.



One person, probably the pastor, should find out what this woman is in need of, and present it to the congregation in an anonymous way. Our congregation has reached out to families in need within our community this way. It was confidential.

 

[mtrichard]

Hi again, everyone.

Thank you all for your replies. I wanted to get a feel for what other people thought about this issue. I am in agreement with everything that was said. However, my church hasn't done any of the things that were mentioned.

The woman in need approached the associate pastor and ask for the church's aid. He refused to give her any help. All he told her was that she should work harder to get a job. She had been trying to do this, but that is not easy for someone with no education and no experience in today's economy. She even applied for a job at the church, but they wouldn't hire her.

I wrote to the senior pastor, asking him if we could take up an anonymous offering, but that was denied as well. The only thing they offered to do was fix a few things around her house, but they said she would have to pay for any parts they needed to use. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the money to spare for that either.

I don't know exactly what my church's annual budget is. The members in our church aren't privy to how money is being spent. However, given the size of our congregation (around 1000), I feel that at least a little could be spared to help this unfortunate woman out. I just cannot believe that a church that has been so blessed would refuse to help out a single-mother in need. I used to attend a church with only twenty members, and we would frequently take up offerings for people who were needy.

This issue has really been affecting me lately. It's hard for me to worship at my church when I feel that the leadership isn't doing God's will.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Matt

 

[Phoebe]

Is she a member?

If not, see if you can find other help for her. Maybe God is asking you to step forward, You are also the "church."

Geeze. We have a ministerial association in this town, and this is one thing they like to get donations for.

 

[reformedfan]

There are two poor people in a church. One is a hard worker, but a single mom, converted late in life; one is also a new convert, older, no dependants. Same education level, different experience. One works her single mom tail off, and makes very little, one is lazy, burning through one job after another. They both need food, housing, one needs babysitting help. What is the Biblical way to help them both?
Read Marvin Olasky's "Tragedy of American Compassion" to find out.
Maybe the church knows stuff about this woman you don't. Maybe she refuses to work, but calls it, "no one will hire me", "the work is too hard", "the boss was a jerk so I had to quit", "job politics made it not a good place to work", etc. Should church still shell out dough, buy her food, house her?
Where in that is the church upholding 'if a man doesn't work, neither shall he eat'?

 

[mtrichard]

She is not technically a member, because she has not completed the membership class. She works in the youth ministry at church, and there are scheduling conflicts between it and the class. She is a believer, she attends regularly, and she has completed all of the other requirements for membership. I would think that this would be "good enough".

I have personally been helping her, so she is being cared for. I am just disappointed that my church wouldn't do something that I feel is obviously the right thing to do. I'm sure she wasn't looking for a "hand-out" - she just needed a little help to get through a tough spot.

In better news, she has found a job, so hopefully she will be able to get back on her feet soon. God came through for her.

Matt

 

[Phoebe]

She is not technically a member, because she has not completed the membership class. She works in the youth ministry at church, and there are scheduling conflicts between it and the class. She is a believer, she attends regularly, and she has completed all of the other requirements for membership. I would think that this would be "good enough".

I have personally been helping her, so she is being cared for. I am just disappointed that my church wouldn't do something that I feel is obviously the right thing to do. I'm sure she wasn't looking for a "hand-out" - she just needed a little help to get through a tough spot.

In better news, she has found a job, so hopefully she will be able to get back on her feet soon. God came through for her.

Matt

I'm glad that you helped her.
That strikes me as odd that she didn't get a little more help. Praise God that she got a job!

 

[mtrichard]

There are two poor people in a church. One is a hard worker, but a single mom, converted late in life; one is also a new convert, older, no dependants. Same education level, different experience. One works her single mom tail off, and makes very little, one is lazy, burning through one job after another. They both need food, housing, one needs babysitting help. What is the Biblical way to help them both?
Read Marvin Olasky's "Tragedy of American Compassion" to find out.
Maybe the church knows stuff about this woman you don't. Maybe she refuses to work, but calls it, "no one will hire me", "the work is too hard", "the boss was a jerk so I had to quit", "job politics made it not a good place to work", etc. Should church still shell out dough, buy her food, house her?
Where in that is the church upholding 'if a man doesn't work, neither shall he eat'?

I know this woman very well, and she is definitely not lazy. Admittedly, the leadership may not know one way or the other. I have sometimes wondered if the church hasn't been burned in the past? Maybe there was a lazy person who was taking advantage of their generosity?

If a church discovers that someone is misusing the help that the church is giving them, then I would agree that they should withdraw that help (with an explanation, of course). However, I don't think that all help should be withheld for fear that people might be abuse it.

Matt

 

[Preachers12]

However, I don't think that all help should be withheld for fear that people might be abuse it.
Matt

Matt, God give you Peace.

Amen to that!!!!!

God Bless,
P12

 

[childofgrace]

How sad we so often miss the opportunity to truly shine forth the light of Christ rather than simply talk about it.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted from the world. (James 1:27)"

We don't have to stretch this text too far to see that a single mother in need clearly falls within the compassion of the Lord. Why are we as believers so eager to preach the purity command in this verse but so easily ignore the compassion command.

I certainly would rather be taken for a fool once or twice by someone that such the bowels of compassion desired by the Lord.

Thanks for caring about this woman Matt and demonstrating the reality of your faith.

Kirk