[Part 1 is at Part 1] I recently received an email from a preacher of a 90-member church in Middle America, vigorously denouncing another, larger church in his town for charging admission to a woman’s conference. He pointed out that the Bible disapproves of charging to hear the gospel.
I felt compelled to respond, although all this was taking place several states away. You see, I think he’s right. Now, his methods are utterly wrong, so wrong that they very nearly destroy the good he’s trying to do, but he’s right. Here’s the gist of what I told him (my demon-possessed computer crashed the file, so this is from memory).
I want to begin by pointing out that I agree that it’s wrong to charge to hear the gospel. I think the church has made the mistake of being insensitive to the poor. For most people, $35 is a trifle, but this is just not true for everyone. This would be a barrier to some people, and the scriptures caution us to allow no separation between the poor and the wealthy. Thank you for pointing this out.
However, I question your methods. I mean, if your concern is for the poor, wouldn’t the cause of Christ be better served by offering to pay the admission of those who can’t afford it? Writing an email to 30,000 Christians across the planet hardly solves the problem. The whole point of all the passages you cite is not to demand doctrinal purity so much as to actually help those in need.
(1 John 3:17-18) If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
Being right is just not enough. It’s cheap and easy to condemn others for failing to help the poor. Truth is of little value if not realized through action. Here’s what I think you should do–
- Approach the other congregation in private (Matt. 18:15-17). Urge them to proceed with the conference but to offer it for free for those who cannot afford to attend.
- Offer to help pay for the attendance by those who cannot afford it. You church may not be able to cover all the costs, but you should offer to help. After all, if your concern for the poor is genuine–not just a convenient device for criticizing your brothers–then you should be delighted to have a chance to help pay the cost.
- Do your giving in secret. Don’t take credit for the scholarships you fund.
This approach would have several benefits–
- The poor would actually be helped. Some may hear the gospel who’d otherwise miss it.
- The importance of being concerned with the poor will be reinforced in both congregations and among all who hear about the subsidy given for the needy.
- Your two churches will be bound closer together in love. Condemning a church to the internet world only creates bitterness and hostility–and doesn’t help the poor, but offering to help them remedy a mistake, and doing so quietly, will build bridges of compassion. And if you have other doctrinal disagreements, this will create an environment where they are likely to listen to you.
- By making the offer, you likely shame the larger church into also funding scholarships for the poor. This will very likely be a very effective tactic for change. Sending emails condemning the church will not work nearly so well as self-sacrificial love.
While I think offering to help fund scholarships would be the height of Christian love, what you actually did seems to violate countless commands. For example,
(2 Tim. 2:24-26) And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
The tone of your email was the very opposite of what Paul commands. It was quarrelsome, harsh, and bitter. You cannot effectively counsel love for those in need in an unloving way. No one will take you seriously until (a) your tone is one of love, gentleness, and compassion and (b) you validate your arguments with action.
Oh, well. I tried. The response I received was that Paul rebuked Peter to his face and told the world about it, and so it’s okay for Christians to rebuke other Christians in a caustic and public way. It’s interesting, you know, that although the scriptures repeatedly command that we rebuke gently and with patience, we choose to claim the mantle of an apostle or Jesus so that we can be harsh and contemptuous of our brothers. This raises an interesting question: Given that Jesus was particularly harsh toward the Pharisees and other intellectual opponents, and that Paul confronted Peter, how are Christians to deal with other Christians? Can we act like Jesus? I’ll consider the question in Part 3.
