Fundraising

I was recently asked the following question:

"Should churches have yard sale fundraisers? Whether its to fund a youth mission trip or raise money for a church family member in need?

I can't help but think of Jesus cleansing the temple. I know the money changers were ripping people off, but also they were not using the temple for worship and prayer only.
I don't believe that we should use churches in this way.

What say you? Am I to legalistic?"

This person then gave the verses about Christ overturning the tables of the money changers to support their thought process. 

Where does one even begin? 

I wasn't the only person in this conversation so I sort of sat back and listened for a while, waiting to see what others would say. I heard the following statements, among others:

One person went into an explanation of what the temple was and how it was set up. I'm not sure what that was supposed to mean. Maybe their justification was that it's okay to sell things in certain parts of the 'church' and not in others. I don't know. I never did quite understand their meaning.

Someone else said something to the effect of 'what message are we giving others when we go out begging for money? Shouldn't the church be able to provide for their own and aren't we saying we don't trust God to supply our needs if we hold fundraisers?'

Someone else said that 'God looks at the heart' and so long as they are fundraising with their heart in the right place there is no harm.

Eventually I did what I almost invariably do...I stuck my toe in the muddy water and gave a response that went something to this effect:

I see what you're getting at but I think there's a couple of main points being missed here. First of all this 'church' sounds as though it's a typical American 'church', meaning it's the worship building seen on just about every street corner, more than likely Arminian in soteriology and are probably more interested in keeping their numbers up than giving the real gospel.

To which I was told it is a 'Southern Baptist Church' and that the kids that went on the mission trip that prompted the question went somewhere where they played with kids for a half day then visited Buddhist temples and other holy places for other religions.

Now I really wanted to know where one starts. This person was asking questions that were of no consequence. Who cares if they have fundraisers when they are encouraging the youth they are responsible for to dabble in other religions, even if only through visiting their 'holy' places?

I did what I shouldn't do...I wiggled my toe a little in that muddy water then stuck my entire foot in. Here's the gist of what I said, 

They are Arminians. They put their stock in a prayer that does nothing but gives a false sense of security. They take on the appearance of the 'church' but are really nothing of the sort. In that case, yes, let them have their yard sales and their bake sales. There's nothing they do that's really going to hinder anything because they probably fail to give the true Gospel.

 I can guess that's what this worship building is because of what you said the youth did on their mission trip. Why do you take offense at them holding fundraisers and not at what the kids did while on their trip? That to me is a much bigger issue.

 This 'church' does not sound like anything that is associated with the true Christ of Scripture so why worry over their fundraisers? Second, do you oppose them taking up tithes? That is no less an unbiblical practice. Whether they have fund raisers, which they at least work for the money they get, or take up tithes, no working involved, they are begging money off others. Our society is already conditioned to see 'churches', which are not the 'church', (an unbiblical word, the true description is Ekklessia, or the called out ones), as money seeking people. Fundraisers are held, but worse, offerings are taken, sometimes insistently so, at nearly all 'churches'. I have even seen 'church' members standing on the street corners approaching vehicles with buckets outstretched like common beggars. 

Most of these 'churches' and their members believe salvation comes through a prayer and/or water baptism. They are the same people that gain Christians the reputation for being hypocrites and worse. What harm do their fundraisers do? The buildings they hold them in are not temples, they are not houses of God, they are not holy ground. They are elaborate buildings designed to entertain. And they do that well. They have 'sermons' on Sunday that may or may not be Scriptural, they have potluck suppers, movie nights, kids camps, even singles meetings. Their music often is more concert and less holy.

 I see what you're getting at about the fundraisers but the issue is not the same thing. In Scripture Christ overturned the tables because holy things were being desecrated. These 'church' buildings are not holy. They are just gathering places, often no more truly Scriptural than the movie theater down the street. It's not an issue of the heart, it's not an issue of doing business in holy places, if that were the case, all 'churches' should be closed immediately because they are all doing business. They are in the business of selling their brand of religion at the cost of a minimum of 10% of the income from everyone that steps through their doors, plus whatever extra they can get from them. They count the numbers in 'offerings', that expected money placed in the plates that are passed as silent pressure to be seen 'giving to God', and in the number of people they 'saved' this week. If we are going to take offense at something the 'churches' do, let's not start with what kids do to support their trips, lets go to the top with the preacher, that often gives a false gospel and passes it off as 'working', accepting an income from those very offerings the members are pressured into giving, and to the 'deacons' and whatever other higher ups in these 'churches' that perpetuate the problems.

Let's just say I got little response to that. There was a bit of mumbled reply but not much. The person asking the original question went on to explain how they were questioning things because this is a 'church' their future son in law is a member of and how their daughter has insisted that the soon to be son in law leave that 'church' when they marry because the 'church' teaches wrong things, and...  The general statements went right back around to how wrong it is to hold fundraisers in the 'church'.

I quietly bowed out of the conversation.

Did I mention this person claimed to understand true Scripture? 

I'm going to leave this post at that. I do not wish to go any deeper into this than I already have. I simply wanted to share this conversation here so that I can look back on it if need be and so my husband has something new to read today.