The
Lord said to Moses, ‘Speak to the people of Israel, that they take for me a
contribution. From every man whose heart moves him you shall receive the
contribution for me. And this is the contribution that you shall receive from
them: gold, silver, and bronze, blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine
twined linen, goats' hair… And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell
in their midst.
Now in
these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named
Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine
over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 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.
Exodus
25:1-8 & Acts 11:27-30
Are there examples of
fundraising in the Bible? The answer depends on what you mean by fundraising! If
you mean the sorts of repetitive, manipulative requests for money that are
common today, then no. If you mean straightforward requests for funding, then
there are up to six examples, depending on how you interpret the events.
In Exodus 25, Moses asks the people for donations to fund building the
tabernacle.
In 1 Chronicles 29, we read King David’s request for funding to build
the temple. The appeal was to community leaders and, in response, ‘the leaders
of fathers' houses made their freewill offerings, as did also the leaders of
the tribes, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and the officers over
the king's work’.
In 2 Chronicles 31, King Hezekiah called on people to resume tithing.
The Temple authorities were so overwhelmed by the response it seems that either
they had underestimated how much the tithe would produce, having not collected
it for many years, or the people did much more than was asked, perhaps making
up for previous tithes not given.
In Nehemiah 1-2, the man who was to become Governor of Jerusalem and
to supervise the continuing restoration, asks the King for resources.
In Acts 11, a prophet called Agabus visiting the church in Antioch
tells of a famine that will cover the whole world and the Christians there decide
to send a donation to the Christians in Judea.
In 2 Corinthians 8, St Paul encourages the Christians in Corinth to
give, citing the example of the Christians in Macedonia.
As we look at these examples of
funding, I think we begin to get to the heart of the Bible’s teaching on
giving.
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Copyright © All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans
2013.
Scripture
quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright
© 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by
permission. All rights reserved.
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