The Sponsoring Church (Part 2 of 2) by Jim R. Everett (Reprinted from Biblical Insights, http://www.biblical-insights.org/)
Just recently a bulletin came in the mail in which a brother was attempting to make a defense from scripture for the sponsoring church arrangement. For the sake of a generation that is not personally acquainted with those issues and may think that it was all just a big deal over opinions, we set ourselves to exposing the fallacy of his arguments, which necessarily puts us in a negative position.
"Since Evangelism And Benevolence Go Hand in Hand…That
Which Can Be Done in Benevolence Can Be Done in Evangelism"
Here he is trying to make a connection between evangelism and
benevolence so that he can use passages relating to benevolence
to prove that when congregations sent "alms" to needy
congregation, that that becomes a pattern for churches supporting
evangelists. It is a large assumption and is not supported by
his mere assertion. None of the passages he used - Galatians 2:9-10;
Matthew 4:23-24; 5:13-16; 10:7-8 - come close to proving what
he is asserting.
However, since his argument is that "evangelism and benevolence go hand in hand," and he refers to teaching arrangements such as the "Herald of Truth" as a "little missionary society," because it is no longer under a sponsoring church, then logically and consistently he must also denounce all benevolent institutions that are not under a sponsoring church. That makes him and his cohorts "anti-orphans" to all those orphans found in those homes just as much as his brethren have charged those who are opposed to church supported orphans' homes with being "anti-orphans."
Philippi Was a Sponsoring Church-Receiving Funds from Other
Churches and Sending Them to Paul (Philippians 4:15-16)
He boldly states, without any support, that the "Church at
Philippi received funds from other churches then sent them to
Paul." The argument is that the adverbial element "as
concerning giving and receiving" modifies the type of fellowship.
And his conclusion is as follows: "The church at Philippi
set up an account of giving and receiving for Paul. At this same
time Paul was receiving funds from other churches (2 Cor 11:8).
Thus, the church at Philippi received funds from other churches,
and it in turn sent them to Paul."
There are two key flaws to his reasoning here. The expression "giving and receiving" has nothing to do with Philippi receiving funds from other churches that they might disburse those funds to Paul. That fallacy is seen first in that a "sponsoring church" must first receive before it gives. Here Paul has the order as "giving and receiving." Second the "giving and receiving" refers to the sharing that took place between Philippi and Paul, because he says very plainly, "No church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but you only" (4:15). Then he says again, "For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity," (v 16). If Paul had tried, he could hardly have made it any clearer or more exclusive - Philippi only shared with him. And what ann ingrate Paul would have been to have given thanks to Philippi and claimed that they alone gave him a gift, if other churches had sacrificed and given as well. The giving and receiving did not involve any other congregations; that is totally out of the context of Philippians 4:15ff. Philippi did the giving and Paul did the receiving. MacKnight puts it well: "no church communicated with me in the matter of giving me money, and of my receiving money from them, but ye only; I received money from no church but yours" (Apostolic Epistles 471).
Either ignorance or "reaching" has caused him to stumble into the second fallacy. It is seen in a simple observance of the chronology of Paul's travels. Paul left Philippi and journeyed to Thessalonica (Acts 17:1ff). He left Thessalonica because of the uproar and traveled to Berea but the Jews from Thessalonica followed him there and stirred up the people so that Paul had to flee to Athens (Acts 17:10-15). From Athens Paul traveled to Corinth (Acts 18:1-ff). In Corinth he met Aquila and Priscilla and, because they were of the same trade (tent makers), worked with them. Later Silas and Timothy came to Corinth and they stayed in Corinth a year and a half. When Paul wrote the second epistle to Corinth, he said, "Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely? I robbed other churches taking wages of them, to do you service" (2 Cor 11:7-8). It was during the time at Corinth that Paul took wages from other churches. But in Philippians 4:15-16, Paul says that Philippi shared with him "when I departed from Macedonia" and that they had sent once and again to his necessities "at Thessalonica." The "giving and receiving" of which Paul spoke that came from Philippi to him took place while Paul was departing from Macedonia and at Thessalonica, before he ever got to Corinth.
This brother is trying to defend something that is indefensible. In reality, the sponsoring church is designed to accomplish the same thing that prompted the organization of the missionary society-an attempt to activate a brotherhood of churches together. The only difference is that the missionary society is a purely human organization while the sponsoring church maintains the auspices of scriptural organization but assumes a work for the brotherhood. No congregation has any scriptural authority to become a "sponsoring church."
The Worth of Children by Warren E. Berkley (http://www.flash.net/~wberkley/)
"Then little children were brought to Him that He might
put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them.
But Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not
forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' And He laid
His hands on them and departed from there." (Matt. 19:13-15)
Jesus cares deeply for children. He did not consider them an annoyance
on this occasion, but honored them by His touch and tender attention.
The text is from Matthew 19. Ken Chumbley well observes: "In
this paragraph Christ blesses little children (ironically, the
ones most often the victims of divorce or 'live-in' mates)...,"
(The Gospel of Matthew, p. 343).
A society cannot survive the mistreatment of its children. Hence,
our indignation and anxiety when the news includes word of their
oppression daily:
* The adult use of children as weapons
* The aggressive incitement of children to hate and kill in the
name of religious or national preservation
* The abduction of children to satisfy perverse and lewd desire
* Leaving children in cars to die in the summer heat
* Using children as instruments of revenge in divorce/custody
cases
* The modern practice of abortion
* The absence of fathers
* Paid, substitute parents
In addition to misbehaviors commonly disapproved, there is the
sad failure of parents to attend to the spiritual and moral education
of their children. And the neglect of providing warmth, protection,
time and example.
Jesus perfectly models the attitude we ought to have toward children
and our treatment of them. In our time there should be a renewed
emphasis on the preciousness of children. We ought to start at
the earliest time to bring them eventually to Christ. Pray with
them, pray for them and teach them to pray. Read the Bible to
them and with them. Jesus looks with pleasure on all good efforts
to protect, nurture and lead children to Him (see 2 Tim. 1:5,
3:15; Prov. 22:6; Psa. 78:1-8; Eph. 6:4; Tit. 2:4). Let us protect
their innocence, brighten their lives, teach them our sincerity,
give them reasons to trust in God and obey Christ.
Love is Kind by Steve Klein (Selected from The Beacon)
Simple descriptions of deep things are usually the best. And that
is surely the case in the beautiful description of love given
by the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 13. Here we are told that,
among other things, "love…is kind" (13:4).
Love is kind in many ways.
1)-Love shows mercy. Mercy is what allows us to refrain from
being harsh toward others, even toward our enemies. Mercy enables
us to help the poor -- perhaps not charging the full price for
something they need or even giving it to them outright (see Proverbs
14:21, 31). Jesus said, "But love your enemies, do good,
and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be
great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to
the unthankful and evil. {36} Therefore be merciful, just as your
Father also is merciful" (Luke 6:35-36).
2)-Love forgives. How unkind it is to refuse to forgive. In Ephesians
4:32 we are instructed to "be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you."
If God found it in His heart to forgive you and me, surely we
can be kind enough to forgive others, no matter what they have
done to us.
3)-Love does good deeds for others. When Paul and his company
shipwrecked on the island of Malta, Acts 28:2 says that, "the
natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and
made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and
because of the cold." This was a simple act of loving-kindness,
performed by people who were not even Christians. There are so
many little acts of kindness we can do. Out of love, let us look
for these opportunities.
4)-Love rebukes. Although we would not automatically think of
rebuke as a kindness, it often is. People who love us want us
to be the best we can be. From such motives a parent might rebuke
a child, a friend might rebuke a friend, and a Christian might
rebuke another Christian. Yes, "Let the righteous strike
me; It shall be a kindness. And let him rebuke me; It shall be
as excellent oil; Let my head not refuse it" (Psalms 141:5).
Proverbs 22:19 says that "what is desired in a man is kindness."
Today, my challenge to me is to look for opportunities to be kind.
This is what God desires. This is the behavior of love.
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MONTHLY BIBLE READING: Lessons from the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5-7
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