Expert: Ernie Laurence, Jr. - 11/14/2007

Question
Did the bible authorize helping non-believer or outsiders from the church treasury? What really is Saints only teaching? Is it scriptural or non-scriptural?


Answer
Yes.  The Bible authorizes giving to the poor in many places.  The distinction between giving as an individual Christian and giving collectively as a church is an artificial separation created by some.

When I worship collectively with the church and sing, am I singing as an individual or as a member of the church?  If a person other than me worships with a guitar in the collective worship, are they, alone, sinning as an individual or is the entire congregation sinning?

Who can separate the acts of the individual Christian from the body of Christ they are apart of?  When I give individually, I represent Christ (Col. 3:17).  Whenever I sin individually against a non-member, is it only I who bears the shame or do I bring shame upon the whole body of Christ? (1 Cor. 5:1-7; Rev. 2-3)

The gospel is the greatest blessing we can give anyone.  Do we preach the gospel as an individual or as a collective work of the church?  Do we preach the gospel only to members or to non-members as well?

If we can minister the greatest blessing, God's grace, the gospel, to non-members, how much more so can we minister the lesser, physical blessings?

Matt. 25:35-46 gives a very clear picture of how we, as a nation, are to treat strangers, giving them food, clothing, shelter or meeting whatever need they have.  Matthew 25 is referring to nations, not individuals (see Matt. 25:32).  The church is Jehovah's spiritual nation, His kingdom so as a nation we meet these needs, not just as individuals.

1 Cor. 9 speaks of the ministering to the saints expressly for the purpose of ministering the gospel to all.  In verse 13, Paul commends the Corinthian church "for your liberal distribution unto them" [the saints] "and unto all" [a universal all, the end purpose for ministering to Paul’s needs in this passage].  In ministering to the physical needs we open up those people to being more receptive to the spiritual gift, the gospel, which can save them.

I applaud the sincerity and the desire of those who seek to do the will of God without addition or subtraction, but sometimes those who seek to do so focus in on interpretations taught by men and fail to read the Bible through for themselves and come to their own decisions.  Having said that, my final suggestion to you is to read through the entire New Testament with your question in mind and see what answer presents itself from the Word, not from what I have to say about it.

I hope this gets you started towards an answer.  If I can further clarify, please let me know!

In Truth and Love,

Ernie