So, this is a response letter to Anonymous. I hope you take the time to read it:
Dear Anonymous,
Thank you for your comment. I would like to start by apologizing for my abbreviated post in which I only communicated on one aspect of Christian Fundraisers. The truth of the matter is that us "IHOPer's" have a great appreciation for those who "work hard" and are a "blessing" through gifts of finance. You are the reason that missionary exploits, including those of the International House of Prayer, are carried out around the globe and the gospel is being preached to all nations. Thank You!
In the book of Nehemiah we see an excellent example of the need for people such as yourself. After being in captivity, Jewish exiles returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the Temple, and demonstrated the partnership between those who "work hard" and the "lazy farts" who are called to minister before the Lord.
"So in the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the other Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the descendants of Aaron." - Nehemiah 12:47 (NIV)
The entire country was funding the House of Prayer! However, we see that partnership soon fell apart and Nehemiah once again had to bring reformation back to Israel:
"...I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Some time later I asked his permission and came back to Jerusalem. Here I learned about the evil thing...I was greatly displeased and threw all Tobiah’s household goods out of the room. I gave orders to purify the rooms, and then I put back into them the equipment of the house of God, with the grain offerings and the incense. I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and singers responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. So I rebuked the officials and asked them, “Why is the house of God neglected?” Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts. All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine and oil into the storerooms." - Nehemiah 13:6-12 (NIV)
The Family of God has always been asked to be one of many parts with different assignments. For some of us, that assignment is being in the place of night and day worship and intercession, and it is our joy! Others, perhaps yourself, have been asked to minister as laborers in the market place. It is your joy to bring finances into the storehouses for the purpose of funding God's work in the earth. That too is our joy!
Our Father has asked His children to bring to Him offerings of gold, silver and bronze for the purpose of funding His work in the earth, and I would be greatly amiss if I portrayed God as anything less then the "Divine Fundraiser". Today He continues to call us to raise money for the work of the Kingdom, including the modern day expression of the temple, the priests and many other mandates such as widows and orphans. It is His chosen method of sacrifice and we do well to agree with His statue, and that is my concern. Agreeing with what God has prescribed as His chosen means of demonstrating Himself.
We don't need to look far into human history to see that we have a disposition for adapting God's commands. In Genesis 3, Eve modified "You must not eat" into "...if we touch it we will die". That personal interpretation of God's expressed will was disastrous for all of us! Undoubtedly, Eve was just doing what she thought best by extending the bounds of God's command to further protect herself. It had the appearance of wisdom but it was a clear deviation from God's revealed will.
Not long after that we see the sins of the father being visited upon the children. Genesis 4 says this:
"In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. But Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it.” Gensis 4:4-7 (NIV)
It is apparent in this passage that both Cain and Abel had knowledge of what the Lord had prescribed. We don't know exactly what that statute was but it is apparent from the Lord's response that Cain had not done as he was commanded. Cain was a farmer, and in his eyes the fruit of the soil would have held great value and pride. It was the fruit of his labor and would surely be equally as good as the fat of an animal. His actions demonstrate that he was bringing to God what he thought would be pleasing, otherwise he would not have been downcast by the Lord not looking favorably upon it. Cain did what he thought was best and that made a way for him to enter into great sin, he killed his brother by agreeing to participate with the spirit of murder.
My concern for us today is that we have once again gone the way of Cain and misappropriated God's command in regards to dealing with the sick. God gave us a specific directive when it comes to how we should deal with those who are sick among us:
"Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven." - James 5:14 (NIV)
And so we must be clear - raising money is not a sin and praying is not laziness - disobedience is sin! Therefore, if God has asked me to do one thing, and I determine to do another; no matter how good, noble and right it may appear, I have committed rebellion against God. I have gone the way of Cain and murder is crouching at my door.
One well understood teaching of Scripture is in regards to the poor; we are to take up an offering and distribute the money for their benefit. For us to merely wish them well and pray for their needs, when we have the means of feeding and clothing their naked bodies demonstrates that we have not been made perfect in love (read James 2). Likewise, we have a clear command on what to do with our sick. (James 5) If we have someone who is sick among us and we do not call the elders to pray and anoint this person with oil, then we too have misappropriated God's commands.
Or beloved James has a wealth of teaching for us, and once again brings it into perspective when he declared: "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins." - James 4:17.
It is our knowledge of God's will that makes us responsible for doing God's will, and doing it in it's appropriate context. For as my wife would say "Doing the right thing at the wrong time is still the wrong thing!". We must be diligent in never misappropriating God's commands, interchanging one directive for another. We are to continuously be listening to His voice, trusting and obeying the One who is both the Author and perfecter of our faith.
In closing, I would like to apologize for not esteeming in my previous post those who faithfully give money for the Kingdom. You are a blessing to us all. May prayer is that we will both grow in our understanding of what is pleasing and acceptable in the eyes of our Lord, so that when He soon returns we may be found faithful. Bless you in your giving and my desire is that you will be able to bless me in my prayers.
Sincerely,
Jon Loeppky
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