The Preacher's Pen

Today we received a letter from a local church of Christ asking us to help finance a county wide assembly. This congregation has already made arrangements for the speaker, set the date, and reserved the theater. Now they want Westside to help bear some of the $4000 in costs.

Several thoughts are in order. First, isn't it fair to ask where in scripture we ever read of congregations pooling funds in evangelism? I am aware that benevolent funds to help Judean Christians were sent to the elders (Acts 11:30), but frankly know of no illustration in scripture of area wide assemblies or churches creating a fund that many congregations contribute to in order to pay for such a project. One certainly doesn't want to be just an "old fuddy-duddy" but asking "Where is the authority for this?" is a fair and important question (see Col. 3:17).

Perhaps the importance of asking that question can be seen in a second observation. Can anyone point out the difference between the arrangements for this area meeting and raw Roman Catholicism? In principle are they not exactly the same? In Roman Catholicism money is sent to the Vatican by contributing congregations of Catholics the world over. The Vatican oversees how that money is used and spends it as it sees fit. Is it not so that the local church taking care of this area wide assembly is functioning as a local Vatican? They are in charge, they determine how and when and where the money is spent. They control the funds. The rest of us just send money. See the parallel? I am certain these good brethren would vehemently deny modeling Catholicism but that does not change that in principle they are doing exactly that. I freely grant that the Catholics are doing this on a larger scale but such thinking and unscriptural practices have to start small before they can go global. Is it too much to suggest that in the early centuries it was just such pooling of funds under one congregation's oversight that led to the Roman Catholic monstrosity we see today?

I expect this article will make some folks flaming mad. "The very idea of questioning an area wide assembly! After all, it's such a good work. And no one church could pay for it all so we have to do it this way! Just who do you think you are, anyway?" All such charges will certainly be made. In answer all we ask is that if this is the good work many think it is that the scripture be found that says so, since the scriptures equip for all such good works (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Until Bible authority is found that sanctions the Vatican's methods we will continue to decry both it and all those who would follow its unscriptural ways on a smaller scale.