Of Churches and Truck Stops – Part 3
But refuse to put younger widows on the list, for when they feel sensual desires in disregard of Christ, they want to get married, thus incurring condemnation, because they have set aside their previous pledge [1 Timothy 5:11-12].
There are Christians in the church building who would rather attend all the functions and socialize, rather than work to improve their lot in life. So they play on the guilt feelings of their fellow church members to collect aid from them.
Here’s the thing. Someone in need for the church to support should be someone who is truly in need. Because I want more doesn’t mean I am in need. If I’m one of those vagabonds who gad about from one truck stop to another, feeling sorry for myself and wanting everyone else to do so too, it doesn’t make me someone in need. My real need isn’t a $10 bill: it is to accept responsibility and get a job!
So it is with some of our church folk. They would rather socialize at all the church functions and be the life of the party, rather than do the hard work to better their social estate. Indeed, I’ve known some who have no qualms about taking trips to many places, and then return and whine because they are broke! You think I’m joking, don’t you? Would that it were true, dear friends. Would that it were true.
As Christians we are accountable to God for the things He gives us. And every good gift comes from Him, as Brother James wrote in his epistle. We need to act responsibly in giving money and gifts to “the needy”. Are they really needy? What are they doing about it to improve themselves?
When those hitchhikers came to the door of the church, I never gave them any money. It’s no telling how much money they already had in their pockets from visits to my neighbors! And who knows what they would spend it on…wine, drugs, etc.
They said they were hungry, huh? Then they received food, not money. I even banded together with other pastors in the area to share in a church food pantry. We rotated the pantry between the churches monthly.
When a poor wretch knocked on the door, he was directed to the church of the month to be fed. If we deemed him truly weak enough to need transportation to that church, we drove him there. Would you believe it wasn’t long before the knocks on the door dwindled to a rarity? Word gets around with those traveling vagrants! When the freebies dry up, they know it and stop coming.
If someone at church is in need, by all means we should help them. No strings attached either. But help should be given intelligently, dear friends. We should also keep our eyes and ears open for available job openings, for example.
When someone expresses concern about their financial condition, if we direct him to job opportunities and he is a church freeloader, he’ll soon cease and desist with the sob stories. The talk about a job will freak him out and send him to new feeding grounds to whine for sympathy. If the brother or sister is truly in need, he/she will be receptive to and appreciative of our concern for his/her welfare.
We must stop for the day and take our rest. Let’s roll what we learned today over the tongue and allow the Spirit to assimilate it into our beings. We will continue this subject on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
There are Christians in the church building who would rather attend all the functions and socialize, rather than work to improve their lot in life. So they play on the guilt feelings of their fellow church members to collect aid from them.
Here’s the thing. Someone in need for the church to support should be someone who is truly in need. Because I want more doesn’t mean I am in need. If I’m one of those vagabonds who gad about from one truck stop to another, feeling sorry for myself and wanting everyone else to do so too, it doesn’t make me someone in need. My real need isn’t a $10 bill: it is to accept responsibility and get a job!
So it is with some of our church folk. They would rather socialize at all the church functions and be the life of the party, rather than do the hard work to better their social estate. Indeed, I’ve known some who have no qualms about taking trips to many places, and then return and whine because they are broke! You think I’m joking, don’t you? Would that it were true, dear friends. Would that it were true.
As Christians we are accountable to God for the things He gives us. And every good gift comes from Him, as Brother James wrote in his epistle. We need to act responsibly in giving money and gifts to “the needy”. Are they really needy? What are they doing about it to improve themselves?
When those hitchhikers came to the door of the church, I never gave them any money. It’s no telling how much money they already had in their pockets from visits to my neighbors! And who knows what they would spend it on…wine, drugs, etc.
They said they were hungry, huh? Then they received food, not money. I even banded together with other pastors in the area to share in a church food pantry. We rotated the pantry between the churches monthly.
When a poor wretch knocked on the door, he was directed to the church of the month to be fed. If we deemed him truly weak enough to need transportation to that church, we drove him there. Would you believe it wasn’t long before the knocks on the door dwindled to a rarity? Word gets around with those traveling vagrants! When the freebies dry up, they know it and stop coming.
If someone at church is in need, by all means we should help them. No strings attached either. But help should be given intelligently, dear friends. We should also keep our eyes and ears open for available job openings, for example.
When someone expresses concern about their financial condition, if we direct him to job opportunities and he is a church freeloader, he’ll soon cease and desist with the sob stories. The talk about a job will freak him out and send him to new feeding grounds to whine for sympathy. If the brother or sister is truly in need, he/she will be receptive to and appreciative of our concern for his/her welfare.
We must stop for the day and take our rest. Let’s roll what we learned today over the tongue and allow the Spirit to assimilate it into our beings. We will continue this subject on the morrow.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Deuteronomy: Volume 5 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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