In his excellent book, Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches, author John Hammett observes that one of the characteristics arising from the church being a family is what he calls “mutual solidarity”: the sharing of resources among brothers and sisters in Christ. Another author summarises the same characteristic in these words: “We share our stuff with one another” (Hellerman). How true, how beautiful, and how necessary.
Raising children provides a lot of lessons about human nature, including both the resistance and the willingness to “share our stuff.” Some of my daughters were quite happy to share their stuff, while others—well—not so much. But they learned to do so. The same is true as I observe my grandchildren. One of them, in particular, is quick to share with his siblings. Recently, I gave him access to my stash of candy. (I have several “candy caches” safely hidden both in my office and my home.) His first response, after saying thank you, was, “Will you give some to my sister and brother?” How lovely, how commendable, and how to be emulated. Especially by Christians.
Sharing our stuff comes more easily for some than for others. Perhaps for some it is a matter of personality. For others, it may have been learned from being in a generous family. For still others, it is a simple matter of trusting the Lord to make good on his promise to meet the needs of those who sacrifice for his name sake (Philippians 4:15–19).
The Scriptures provide both examples and exhortations concerning Christians sharing their stuff. Interestingly, when the new covenant church was birthed, one of its distinguishing marks was the sharing of stuff. Luke records, “All who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need” (Acts 2:44–45). Again, when church members were in need, other members shared their stuff: “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common” (Acts 4:32). Finally, when believers in another part of the world (Jerusalem) were known to be suffering deprivation, another local church (Antioch) sacrificially shared stuff: “So the disciples determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul” (Acts 11:29–30).
In each case, it should be noted and emphasised that, though, at times, there were doubtless corporate collections, nevertheless individual sacrificial giving is the focus. That is, individuals were moved to share their stuff with those in need rather than simply looking to the corporate church budget. It seems that neither the church in Jerusalem nor the church in Antioch had a line item in their budget for benevolence. They may very well have had such, but the text emphasises compassionate individuals meeting the needs of one another. The examples in Acts indicate that there were times of “unorganised” stuff sharing apart perhaps from a central fund. But why all this talk about sharing stuff? Because we need to.
The benevolence needs of our church are growing, quite rapidly in comparison to previous years. But though we have a centralised, congregationally-approved benevolence budget, it is not sufficient to meet all the needs. What is therefore needed is, among other things, individual members becoming aware of needs along with a willingness to share our stuff to help to meet those needs. If you don’t know of any needs, then please speak to a deacon of benevolence and they will point you in the right direction.
But further, I raise this matter in preparation for our Quarterly Members Meeting (21 May) at which I want to lay out a biblical view of benevolence, both institutional and individual. That is, I want to try to help us to understand that our church budget cannot sustain all the needs that exist within the church and that, as individual members, we must be willing to share our stuff while not compromising the gospel-ministry focus of the church budget. But until then, I am grateful to know that many are sharing their stuff. May we each join in that blessing.
Thankful for you,
Doug