Col. 3:17

When an individual does what God has authorized him to do – he is doing the work of God. When a congregation does what it is authorized to do, it is doing the work of God. There is a Biblical difference

“They say it is all right for Christians to support colleges but that it is wrong for a church to do so. Thus, they make a difference between Christian duties and church duties, Christian responsibilities and church responsibilities, Christian work and church work, all of which is absurd on its face” (Harding College Lectures, 1947).

“Any ‘good work’ which the individual, as a Christian, is obligated to support financially, the church is equally obligated to support financially…If it is a good work, which the Lord wants done, the obligation falls equally upon individuals and upon the church, for individuals are the church” (Questions & Issues of the Day, 1963).

Mt. 18:15-18 When an individual goes – the church has not acted. When two or three go – the church has not acted. The church works through individuals – when it does its work.

An individual may go to a restaurant and pay for his meal – not the church. He may take two or three with him (or every member) - each pay for his own, or one pay for all of them – the church has not acted. The same group may eat together – the church may pay the bill…has acted.

1 Tim. 5:3-16 Children, or grandchildren, v. 4 If does not – has denied the faith, v. 8 Qualifications for being enrolled in permanent care, vs. 9,10 Refuse those younger, v. 11 Believers act – not the church, v. 16

Accumulated by “good” work, Eph. 4:28 Provide for family, 1 Tim. 5:8 Be a good Samaritan, Lk. 10:25-37 Do “good” to all men, Gal. 6:9-13 Give to the church, 1 Cor. 16:1,2 The church does not give from its treasury on the first day of the week!

Provide and arrange teaching – Place, Materials, Personnel, Heb. 10:24,25; Eph. 4:11,12; 1 Cor. 9:11,12 Support teachers in other places, Phil. 4:15; 2 Cor. 11:8

Its own needy members, Acts 4:34,35; 6:1-4 Send to churches that cannot take care of their own, Acts 11:27-30; 2 Cor. 8:13-15 There is a difference between a church unable to care for its own and one that promotes something it cannot afford.

Wm. Banowsky, “The Mirror of A Movement” A.C.C. lectureships: “They could not resist the temptation to shop about and contrast their plight with the obvious strong points in denominational machinery. Thus, they sought for some practical, scriptural means of brotherhood-wide co-ordination without creating an agency for brotherhood-wide control” (p. 315).

F.B. Shepherd (1919) – “Shall the church in the aggregate send out missionaries? If so, it needs some official board and the Bible makes no provision for such. Is it not the God- ordained appointment of the local institution?” (M.C. Kurfees expressed basically the same objection.)

J.N. Armstrong (1935) – contended an “exaggerated presentation of the autonomous nature of the local congregation had robbed the brotherhood of its power and influence as a united institution” (p. 315). This attitude produced the American Christian Missionary Society also!

Individuals may: support politicians, work in their own business or for others to earn money, support secular education (public or private schools), provide recreation, or anything that is good. There is no authority for churches to engage in such – and churches that do are not following God’s way.