First Negative
by Mark Roberts
It is a delight to study these very important matters with brother Vick and our readers. I am thankful brother Vick is concerned about pleasing God, as I am also.
Does the Bible authorize one congregation to send money to another church for evangelism? Discussions about the sponsoring church led to this debate, so my thoughts and applications center there. Does the Bible authorize the sponsoring church arrangement? Brother Vick says “yes” and it is my task to examine his arguments.
First, brother Vick writes about a church sending letters. Yet no parallel exists between a church sending on a letter, as an apostle commands, and a congregation sending money to a giant church (the sponsoring church) that will oversee the evangelistic work of many churches. There is no parallel to a congregation sending money to another church to do evangelism. How far is brother Vick willing to go with these pseudo-parallels of sending in the NT? In 2 Timothy 4:13 Paul asks Timothy to send his cloak and parchments. Brother Vick’s logic will have the church operating a textile mill and a paper factory! Note: this kind of appeal-to-anything kind of argumentation begins brother Vick’s material. If a clear example or command for churches to send funds to one another in evangelism existed, he would have started there, wouldn’t he?
Brother Vick also asks about losing autonomy. Sponsoring churches announce in their promotional literature that they oversee the work done. This violates 1 Peter 5:2’s admonition to shepherd the flock “among you.” Tell us brother Vick: if sponsoring churches can oversee part of another church’s work, could they oversee all of it? The key to understanding why autonomy is not lost in benevolence is realizing that the NT pattern for both benevolence and evangelism is direct assistance. Whether it was benevolent relief for needy brethren or wages sent to a preacher it was sent directly to the need. No sponsoring churches can be found in the NT for either benevolence or evangelism precisely because such schemes destroy autonomy.
Yet brother Vick tries to find a sponsoring church in Philippians 4, mistakenly arguing that Philippi channeled other congregation’s funds to Paul. This cannot be so. Philippians 4:15-16 says explicitly that Philippi alone sent to Paul at Thessalonica, while Paul says he received support from other churches at Corinth ( 2 Cor. 11:8-9). Interestingly, Paul credits only Philippi for the funds he received in Macedonia. If Philippi were a sponsoring church why aren’t those other churches mentioned? Vick’s argument has only the sponsoring church receiving the benefit from God!
Brother Vick also wrote about misusing 1 Corinthians 16 to authorize paying preachers. I have never argued this, because authority for paying preachers is not found there. Tearing up straw men doesn’t establish authority for the sponsoring church.
Brother Vick’s most important argument is his assertion that benevolence and evangelism are the same. Saying “Benevolence and evangelism go hand in hand,” “Jesus went about doing good” and “benevolence is a form of evangelism” brother Vick argues that whatever churches can do in benevolence can be done in evangelism.
This is an amazing assertion because it is exactly what social gospel advocates say. For example, in The Second Incarnation Rubel Shelly writes
“literacy programs, soup kitchens, drug dependency programs, and prison outreaches need no other justification then, in such activities, the church takes on the heart [of Jesus]” (page 29).
Do you see how Shelly argues against Bible authority saying we need “no other justification?” Brother Vick makes the same no-pattern pitch!
Where will such lead? Shelly says “doing good” includes the church being “a hospital, school, motel, publishing house or restaurant,” and includes exercise groups and even athletic teams (pp. 70, 96). How about a family life center, brother Vick? With this thinking just what is not permissible for a church to do, as long as it can be justified as “benevo-lism?”
While this debate is not about benevolence Acts 6:3-4 makes a clear distinction in evangelism and benevolence. There the seven serve tables so the apostles could instead be involved in “prayer and the ministry of the word.” The apostles knew that benevolence is doing good to people, while evangelism is teaching the Gospel. The social gospel movement merges these, urging the church to “buy” a hearing with social aid. The NT exposes this as a failure to trust in the power of the cross, our only true drawing card ( John 12:32). The NT church never did “benevo-lism” or “bought” conversions. Individual Christians did good, but this is not evangelism, nor can it be confused with the church’s work ( 1 Tim. 5:16). Brother Vick’s line of thinking here is not only ultra-liberal (hence his agreement with Shelly) but it is also ultimately ‘destructive to the mission of the church itself. The church is not a do-good agency, brother Vick. It has a much higher mission: the saving of souls!
Obviously, many today misunderstand Jesus’ works. John 20:30-31 teaches Jesus did signs to prove His deity. Vick says Jesus did miracles to “help people.” I expect folks will know who is right. Missing this is not inconsequential, for Vick’s “church does as Jesus does” reasoning includes, he says, Jesus’ healing miracles. Would such then authorize the church to build hospitals, a.k.a. Catholicism? I did not expect Vick to argue like the Salvation Army, Catholic nuns and Rubel Shelly!
In conclusion, please realize that brother Vick has failed to produce a command, example or necessary inference authorizing a church to send funds to another congregation in evangelism. Instead he can only find imaginary parallels and adopt the argumentation of the ultra-liberals, destroying all appeals to Bible authority.
Today many would remake the church into a do-good society. Others are sure the church must be what Jesus desires. I pray that even if brother Vick cannot see his errors in reasoning our readers will, causing them to do only that for which “book, chapter and verse” can be found.
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