A genuine work of God may use money, but it is never dependent on money. It is dependent only on the power of the Holy Spirit. Where any work is dependent on money, it is not a genuine work of God.
Jesus' ministry was dependent only on the Holy Spirit. He did accept gifts of money from His followers for His work (Luke 8:2, 3). But He never asked anyone at any time for money and He never made His financial needs known to anyone but His Father. This is the way that any ministry that honours God will work even today.
Jesus was the first physical "Body of Christ" on earth. Today we in the church are called the spiritual "Body of Christ". And so we seek to follow the example that Jesus Himself set for us in the matter of finances, during His earthly life.
And so, in the four decades that we have existed as a church (since 1975), we have never asked anyone for money for our needs and we have never sent out any prayer-letters hinting about our needs either. We have never taken an offering in our church in Bangalore or in any of the many churches the Lord has planted through us in India and abroad. We only place an offering-box at our church-meetings, for those who wish to give - secretly, cheerfully and voluntarily - for the work of the Lord. We have also offered food and accommodation freely always to all who attend our annual three-day conferences in different parts of India. All the elders in our churches support themselves with earthly jobs (like the apostle Paul did) and none of them is supported financially by the churches. Our books, articles and audio and video messages on the Internet are also available for anyone in the world to read/hear/view freely. We have received everything freely from the Lord and we give it all out to others freely.
All of this ministry certainly requires a lot of money - and we don't have any millionaires supporting our work in any of our churches. India may be a poor country, but we have sought the kingdom of God first - and God has supplied ALL our needs always. Therefore, we have never been in debt at any time since we commenced our ministry. We have never taken a bank loan or a mortgage for constructing any of our meeting halls. We do not judge other ministries who do things differently from us. But this is the way God has led us. We have sought to follow the example of Jesus Himself - the first "Body of Christ" on earth.
And so when people ask us whether they can give to support this ministry, we ask them to go through this checklist first:
1. Are you a born-again child of God? Do you agree with our doctrinal statement as given here: What We Believe? It is a great honour and privilege to support the work of God on earth; but that privilege is given only to His born-again children (3 John 7).
2. Do you have enough money for your family's needs? Are you sure that your giving will not put your family under any financial strain? You must take care of your family's needs first (See Mark 7:9-13 and 1 Tim.5:8). Our Father in heaven is very rich and He (like any rich earthly father) does not want any of His children to starve or suffer in any way, just because they gave Him money for His work.
3. Do you have any large debts to repay? If so, do clear those debts first. God wants His children to live restful lives, free from all debt. We must first give to Caesar what is his, before we can give anything to God, because God does not want us to give Him Caesar's money, or anyone else's money (Matt.22:21; Rom.13:8).
(Note: A house-loan is not a "debt" (in the meaning in these verses), because the house is an asset that you posses that is equal in value to the loan taken. For the same reason, a vehicle-loan is also not a debt - provided the vehicle is insured for the value of the loan taken).
4. Do you have a clear conscience? Have you done your best to be reconciled with those whom you have hurt in any way? God will not accept any offering from anyone who has hurt someone and still not apologised to that person (Matt.5:23, 24)
5. Are you giving freely and cheerfully - and not under pressure from any man or even from your own conscience? God loves cheerful givers, not reluctant givers. He does not want gifts from those who give under pressure, or who give in order to fulfill some obligation, or who give merely to ease their conscience, or who give in order to get some reward from Him in return (2 Cor.9:7).
Please bear with us as you go through this checklist. We are seeking to follow the example and teaching of our Lord Jesus in financial matters.
Giving to Christian Fellowship Church
After having carefully considered all the above points, if you still feel you want to support this ministry, then please write to: [email protected]
Thank you for reading this. May the Lord bless you and guide you in your personal life - and in your giving.
