Back in June, I had a couple of posts (here and here) about why we don’t do fund raisers at Good Shepherd Church.
But I neglected to include what is perhaps the most important reason why churches should do no fund raisers other than the weekend offering.
Here it is. Ready?
When we use fund raisers to generate income for the church, we are teaching people that they give in order to get something in return. It’s like “I’ll give some money to the church and in return I’ll get a barbecue dinner, a halloween pumpkin, and some pine straw to boot!”
That’s the opposite of biblical giving. When we give according to the Scriptural pattern, we give something with the expectation of getting nothing in return. Nothing tangible, that is.
Because didn’t Jesus say something about the intangibles of giving? “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 12:20)