Questions
My high school Bible class is studying church benevolence. Please answer the following questions about benevolence:
- If a member of the local church is hurt and unable to work, is there authority for the local church to help him/her financially? ( Please give yes or no answers and verses of scripture to prove your answer}
- If a member of the local church has some accident or physical problem but is unable to pay for necessary medical help, is there authority for the local church to help him financially?
- If a member of the local church wants to go to college but cannot afford it, is the local church authorized to pay his college tuition?
- A group of Christians decide to help orphans by building and maintaining an orphan’s home. Can they ask other Christians and non-Christians to fund their home?
Answers
These are excellent questions by your class, and they indicate the students are thoughtfully studying this important, biblical subject.
- Yes. The New Testament passages dealing with the local church helping its own needy do not specify what caused the need (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35). Acts 6:1-4 and 1 Timothy 5:3-16 deal specifically with widows, whereas Acts 11:27-30; Romans 15:25-26; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; and 2 Corinthians chapters 8 – 9 deal with assisting other congregations to relieve their needy. Being hurt and unable to work is certainly a justifiable reason for poverty. Neither the church nor individuals should assist someone who is lazy and unwilling to work (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12).
- Yes. Again this is covered by the general authority of Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35. Medical help is a legitimate benevolent need (Matthew 25:34-45).
- No. A college education is not a benevolent need (Matthew 25:34-45), and secular education is not the work of the church. The work of the church is limited to evangelism (1 Thessalonians 1:1,6-8), edification (Ephesians 4:11-16), and benevolence toward needy saints (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35; 6:1-4; 11:27-30; Romans 15:25-26; 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 2 Corinthians chapters 8 – 9 ; and 1 Timothy 5:3-16). These are all spiritual works, in harmony with the spiritual nature of the church (John 18:36; Romans 14:17). Benevolence toward needy saints is spiritual in that it is an expression of fellowship in Christ (2 Corinthians 8:1-4).
- Yes, but…. The care of orphans is certainly a benevolent need (James 1:27). The fact that one’s “own” for whom he is responsible includes more than his own household (1 Timothy 5:8), implies that the responsibility for the care of orphaned children lies first and foremost with the extended family. For example, both my brother and I have four children. If he and his wife had been killed or had become destitute while our children were small, it would had been my responsibility to care for them. Had this been a greater burden than I could handle financially, the church could assist (Acts 2:44-45; 4:32-35). The family is the divinely ordained relationship for raising children (Genesis 1:28; 2:24; Malachi 2:15; Ephesians 6:4; Titus 2:4). If there are orphans with no relatives to care for them, married Christians should adopt them (James 1:27). In this way they have a loving mother and father rather than being institutionalized.
It is possible for there to be so many orphans that families cannot take them in, although that is certainly not true in America. Uganda, the last I heard, has the highest per capita orphan rate in the world. In such a situation, where there is such a large percentage of orphans, and where there is widespread, deep poverty, an institutional orphanage might be necessary. Since the Lord has not specified the organizational structure through which individuals may help the needy, it would be permissible for Christians to set up such a structure and for other individual Christians to assist. This would be parallel to individuals establishing a college to educate young people and other individuals assisting. Brethren may operate any legal, moral business (Acts 18:1-3; Colossians 4:14), they may operate a business as a joint venture (Acts 18:1-3), and they may incorporate their business to comply with civil law (1 Peter 2:13-14). Individual Christians may do many things the local church is not authorized to do (1 Timothy 5:16), and we may share in any thing that has the right to exist and to do the work it is doing (Galatians 4:18).
