The Corruption of Money<\/a>“: What is the proper and scriptural way to support the work of preachers overseas? How should we approach situations where people write asking for money for individual health care or building buildings? I ask about these in particular because I have seen those often (and you’ve seen them abused) and I wonder if that isn’t in a class of things belonging to local responsibilities (as compared to helping famine as in the scriptures). Instead of supporting strangers, should we be supporting people like Paul; men who taught us, worked with us, and whom we know personally?<\/p>\n\tAnswer:<\/h2>\n
When you look in the New Testament, congregations and individual Christians supported preachers whom they knew. Such support was a way to share in the work that they were doing. “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now<\/em>” (Philippians 1:3-5). “Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only. For even in Thessalonica you sent aid once and again for my necessities<\/em>” (Philippians 4:15-16).<\/p>\nToo often people feel that throwing money at a problem is the answer to everything, as satirically stated in Ecclesiastes 10:19. Becoming personally involved takes more time, but it is needed.<\/p>\n
When you are considering supporting someone you haven’t met, first take the time to get the know the person. Visit him and talk to others who know him. Too often a congregation will more quickly send money to someone who asks than a company spends in considering whether to hire someone. We have ample warning in the Scriptures that frauds exist. We are required by God to investigate. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world<\/em>” (I John 4:1). Only when you are satisfied that the person and the need are legitimate should money be given.<\/p>\nOf course, the frauds understand this. That is why the appeals are always “urgent.” They count on the sympathy of people to send money because there is no time to check. But remember that you are dealing with someone you don’t know. There is always time to check and it is worth the effort since you are stewards of God’s funds. Even if it means having to send someone to a foreign country, it is still worth the investigation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Regarding the article “The Corruption of Money“: What is the proper and scriptural way to support the work of preachers overseas? How should we approach situations where people write asking for money for individual health care or building buildings? I ask about these in particular because I have seen those often (and you’ve seen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[194,1511],"class_list":["post-13566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-benevolence","tag-preachers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51459,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-churches-should-rethink-their-preachers-salary\/","url_meta":{"origin":13566,"position":0},"title":"Why Churches Should Rethink Their Preacher’s Salary","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 22, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Wes McAdams via\u00a0Radically Christian The job a preacher does, and the money he takes home seems pretty cut-and-dry to most church members, \"Our preacher 'ministers' to this congregation - he visits the sick, he counsels, he evangelizes, he preaches, he teaches, he writes bulletin articles, and does whatever else\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":31376,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-congregation-at-least-partially-support-a-local-preacher\/","url_meta":{"origin":13566,"position":1},"title":"Should a congregation at least partially support a local preacher?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Even though an away congregation is supporting an evangelist full time because the one he is preaching for is small, shouldn't they (the congregation he is working with) still\u00a0try\u00a0to provide some support for him in whatever way? Answer: If another congregation is supporting a preacher fully, then the preacher\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60458,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-the-church-may-use-its-money\/","url_meta":{"origin":13566,"position":2},"title":"How the Church May Use Its Money","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"by Andy Sochor \"Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I directed the churches of Galatia, so do you also. On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper, so that no collections be made when I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36756,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/paying-preachers\/","url_meta":{"origin":13566,"position":3},"title":"Paying Preachers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford Never does anyone argue harder for something they won't actually take than Paul does in I Corinthians 9:3-14. Through much of his ministry, especially his time with the church in Corinth, Paul refused financial support from the church with which he was working. It may be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/payment-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":10423,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-i-be-suspicious-of-filipino-preachers-soliciting-support\/","url_meta":{"origin":13566,"position":4},"title":"Should I be suspicious of Filipino preachers soliciting support?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I recently received the two attachments from preachers in the Philippines. While surfing through the net I came across a post of yours \"The Corruption of Money\". Pretty scary! Before the brethren here decide to send a one-time amount of financial support I have been asked to do some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41761,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-do-you-think-about-accepting-donations-for-teaching-on-the-internet\/","url_meta":{"origin":13566,"position":5},"title":"What do you think about accepting donations for teaching on the Internet?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 11, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I'm a student and also preach the gospel when given the opportunity. I read your site often and I trust you to give the truth in a time when I sometimes feel that many congregations are straying from the original New Testament form. That is why I am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13566"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13566\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}