By Teri Ong

In Part One of this essay, I introduced the “Planned Giving Toolkit,” a new program recently rolled out Regular Baptist Ministries. It is being promoted as a means for revitalizing church ministries by getting people excited (or should I say “energized”?) about tithing on their retirement plans and/or net worth so that God will have enough money in ten years for the spread of the Gospel. Evidently, the prospect of millions of dollars coming in as the troublesome (a.k.a. “change resistant”) oldsters go out, is enough to make any congregation jump for joy as they envision having a hoppin’ ministry as far into the future as the glint in their eyes will let them imagine.

The first benefit of the financial products and services offered in the prospectus is “They can help sustain the ministry of your local church with increased income.” This is to attract the attention of  the pastor, who has to be recruited to sell the sizzle of the program to his congregation. We looked at that aspect of the plan critically in Part One. The second benefit put forth is “They can provide peace of mind for the future.”

I am sure that just such a program would have brought great peace of mind to Peter during his stay in prison. Can you imagine how Acts 12 would read if the church had been seeking “fervent donations” instead of “fervent prayers”?  One of the men of the church might have been dispatched to yell through the bars, “Hey, Pete! It’s going to be all right. We’re up to a million drachmas in deferred giving. In about six years, we will have enough money in interest to bail you out. Just hang on, Buddy.”

One of the specific uses of the amassed funds that is mentioned in the prospectus is the relief of a “bi-vocational pastor.” Bi-vocational means that a pastor has to work a job outside of ministry in order to support himself and his family. Bi-vocational pastors work very hard. I know; I am married to one. “Bi-vocational” used to be called “tent making,” in honor of one of God’s choicest servants– the Apostle Paul.  Paul did not always make tents, but sometimes he did so that he would not be a burden to those he ministered to. If he had not engaged in enterprise in the market place, he might not have met some of the people he witnessed to, who ultimately helped spread the Gospel, like Aquila and Priscilla. (Acts 18:1-6) 

Being a tentmaker, or “bi-vocational,” is not a second class way to minister. If God is allowing circumstances that cause it to be a necessity in a pastor’s life, He has a good reason for it. It should be looked upon as a foreordained good work that he is to walk in. (Eph. 2:10) We shouldn’t always be “looking to fix the fix God is fixing to fix us with,” as a favorite teacher of ours has said. Paul understood that God had multiple reasons for having him work.

7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; 9 not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example. 2 Thes. 3:7-9 

Projecting what will happen in the future is risky business. God is the only one who does it perfectly, since He already wrote the whole story. From our vantage point in time, the best we can do is to see through a glass darkly. And any projections that leave God out are deadly. Jesus told a story about a person who did just that.

15 Then He said to them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”  16 And He told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man was very productive. 17 “And he began reasoning to himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?’  18 “Then he said, ‘This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 ‘And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry.”‘  20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ 21 “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:15-21

The man in the story had provisions for many years into the future. He projected a life of financial security and “ease”– taking it easy from having to work every day, and taking it easy from worrying about where the next paycheck would come from. Do we dare say that he had “peace of mind for the future”?  God called him a fool, something that He does not do lightly.

The man’s attitude was the opposite of what Jesus wanted for His disciples.

22 And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on.  23 “For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 “Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds!  25 “And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? 26 “If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? Luke 12:22-26 

Ironically, the purpose statement of Regular Baptist Ministries is “making disciples through healthy local churches.” Do we really think we can have healthy churches by providing financial “ease,” the very opposite of what God wants for the making of His disciples?

Other New Testament teachings about wealth paint a grim picture of the prospects of those who seek financial “peace of mind for the future.”

6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8 If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Tim. 6:6-10

Words like “temptation,” “snare,” “foolish,” “harmful,” “ruin,” “destruction,” among others, are not very peaceful words. These words, of course, apply to those who are longing to be rich, not necessarily to those who are rich. This is a great danger, however, because our churches are going to have more wannabe’s in them than rich people, since God does not call many of the rich and mighty. (1 Cor. 1:26)

What does God have to say to those who are rich? Surely the picture is better for them!

17 Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed. 1 Tim. 6:17-19 

God tells them not to be conceited, not to puts their hopes in their money because riches are “uncertain.” Solomon put it this way:

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. Prov. 23:4 KJV

Our “Christian” financial planners are just making a little adjustment to that program. They want people to lay up treasures on earth, make a promise of dedicating some of it to God in the future, so that they can live in the fool’s paradise of financial “peace of mind.”  God’s program is one of storing up for the future, but it is the eternal future He has in mind, and it is the treasure of good works in the present that we are to store up– not better retirement and deferred giving plans.

Jesus warned about the attitude that is often infused in deferred giving plans. The Pharisees used deferred giving plans to justify not having to meet the needs of others, even their aging parents, in the present. They used the Old Testament principle of “corban” in order to use their money for their own posh lifestyle, and feel no obligation to make any true sacrifice on behalf of others. (See Mark 7:11-13) This can happen in the church as well. Deferred givers may well justify their  paucity of giving in the present because they will be making a big donation after they are gone.

Another potential problem with deferred giving is analogous to the practice in colonial days of rich men paying other poor but able bodied men to take their place in military duty. Those who feel they have done their duty through large-scale giving may feel that they no longer need to be foot soldiers for the Lord on a daily basis as part of the Lord’s church militant. Others can take up their slack.

If these attitudes were not an ever-present danger, Paul would not have told Timothy to warn the financially “secure” in his congregation about them. Paul told Timothy to issue a “charge” about their responsibility to use their wealth for good works in the present.

Another area of uncertainty that we do not often face up to is the uncertainty that ministries that are Biblically sound now will remain so in the future. We have been around long enough to see trustworthy ministries, including churches, Bible colleges, para-church organizations, and mission agencies, come and go. Some were no longer needed because social conditions changed. For example, George Muller’s orphan houses in Bristol, England, though still there, no longer operate as orphan houses because orphans are no longer placed in large institutional settings. But some ministries fall into compromise in doctrine and/or practice, and it is a grace of the Lord when they have to shut their doors.

Charles Spurgeon did not want his pastors’ college to have any endowments because he did not want the college to remain financially viable if it was no longer doing a righteous work that would be supported by God.  Oswald Chambers had the same principle for his Bible Training College. His college operated on a faith basis, like Muller’s ministry, and when it was time to shut down the college and minister to troops in Egypt during World War I, he did just that, and gave his life doing it.

Whatever happened to the old-fashioned notion that “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply”? We should be thinking about doing His work in His way now, and trust Him to raise up faithful saints who will serve in their present after we are gone. That is a different perspective than trusting uncertain riches bestowed by humans on ministries of uncertain faithfulness carried out by human leaders of uncertain faithfulness.

Sometimes Jesus will curse and wither one of our human fig trees. Sometimes He will cast one of the mountains of this world into the sea. Our part is not to set up a high yield financial account to prevent the one or do the other: our part is to pray and trust God’s faithfulness to all generations. (See Mark 11:20-24) 

I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. Psalm 89:1-2 KJV

[Scripture quotations are from NASB unless otherwise noted.]

*Reference:

Regular Baptist Ministries, “Planned Giving Toolkit,” p. 2