Can you explain \u201cexpediency\u201d?<\/a>” for more information on this topic.<\/p>\nYou cited passages that teach the individual Christian’s responsibility to do good, but you neglected to show where God gave authority for the church to feed and clothe the destitute in general. There is a distinction between when individuals can do and what the church can do. For example, “If any believing man or woman has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows<\/em>” (I Timothy 5:16). The class of widows an individual Christian is responsible for is far broader than the ones God told the church to be responsible for. In the same way, the church was given the task of helping needy saints in times of disasters (II Corinthians 8 and 9; I Corinthians 16:1-2), but it is given to individual Christians to handle the broader needs. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith<\/em>” (Galatians 6:9-10).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Question: I received my calling into the ministry of Christ, to teach and preach the gospel and to feed and clothe the destitute, not as a welfare system, but to those in need; thus, teaching them to fish and not only giving them a fish. So in the like manner, would it be scriptural, if…<\/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_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[194,154],"class_list":["post-18431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-benevolence","tag-church-funds"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2836,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-a-kitchen-just-a-way-to-reach-people-with-the-gospel\/","url_meta":{"origin":18431,"position":0},"title":"Isn’t a kitchen just a way to reach people with the gospel?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 25, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I currently stand in the position that it is a matter of opinion concerning a kitchen or fellowship hall. Again, that is where I currently stand. Here where I preach, we do not have a kitchen per se. A majority of the brethren here would like to have one\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":92681,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-children-be-bringing-food-donations-to-the-front-of-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":18431,"position":1},"title":"Should children be bringing food donations to the front of the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am hoping you can help us with some insight into a situation happening in our local body. During the worship service, during the time of offering, the children of the congregation are invited to come up and donate food items to the church's pantry. Many members of\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":56869,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/helping-the-needy-in-our-community\/","url_meta":{"origin":18431,"position":2},"title":"Helping the Needy in Our Community","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew Allen \"My kingdom\u00a0is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not\u00a0of this realm\"\u00a0(John 18:36). I am convinced that the verse\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":48684,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-iii-john-6-prove-we-can-witness-before-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":18431,"position":3},"title":"Does III John 6 prove we can witness before the church?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 14, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Brother Hamilton, In III John 6, does this verse mean we can give testimony in the church? It's so compelling to make a point for denominational friends. Answer: \"Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, who have borne witness of your love before\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":44646,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thank-you-for-presenting-the-truth-in-areas-that-have-divided-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":18431,"position":4},"title":"Thank you for presenting the truth in areas that have divided the church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I, by chance, happened onto the La Vista congregation's web page and checked it out. What a surprise! Thank you for the work you are doing presenting the truth in some of the areas that have divided the church. I am talking about the usual controversial topics within the\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":52973,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/cant-i-just-worship-with-different-congregations-each-sunday\/","url_meta":{"origin":18431,"position":5},"title":"Can’t I just worship with different congregations each Sunday?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good evening Minister, I have been a member of the Lord's church for over five years. I've been a faithful member; however, I had some concerns about some things that were going on in worship. I left my home-based church where I felt like I was ostracized because I'm\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":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18431","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=18431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18431\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}