Rev. Harlan C. Vanden Einde is pastor of the Oakdale Park Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“ON FUND RAISING”

An Iowa reader writes: “I have been wondering about raising money for different causes by using methods like bike-a-thons, walk-a-thons, and now a new one, wake-a-thons. Can a Christian take part with that kind of gimmick to raise money? Considering stewardship and God’s created order of day and night for work and rest, may a church go along with such?”

“Giving,” writes David McConoughy in a little book entitled Money The Acid Test, “is the unselfish outpouring of one’s self in substance. It is the voluntary bestowing of one‘s own possessions, expecting nothing in return. With the gift goes one’s own goodwill, a part of one’s very self.”

I would like to go even one step further than that by saying that whatever we give, we have first of all received. Giving is simply “returning” a part of that which we hold in trust from God. We are not the original owners of anything, but we are stewards of what God has given.

The Scriptures speak quite plainly about the fact that God wants us to give a portion of that with which He entrusted us for the support of the cause of His Kingdom. Such giving should be voluntary and from a heart filled with gratitude for God’s goodness. Our giving to the church, for example, should not be viewed as “paying our bills,” but as part of our total worship to a God who gives and gives unceasingly.

Then what of these various fund raising methods such as you mention in your letter? You do not mention who is using these methods, but I presume some young people’s group or Christian education society, or the like, and not the church itself. I would oppose these kinds of methods of fund raising for the programs of the church itself, but not for some of its related causes. And that for this reason. Let’s say a young people’s group is raising money for paying expenses for convention costs, or a Christian education society is raising money for tuition support. In instances such as these, we are “paying ourselves” as it were; we derive direct benefit from it in the end. In part that may also be said of at least the “operational” part of the church budget, but there are many causes outside of our immediate community which are supported by our gifts to the church.

Now then, in the case of the youth group or the education society, I find no biblical principle which prohibits fund raising activities. Those activities may range all the way from a bake sale to a car wash to a walk-a-thon. The intent of these events is to raise money for the costs which we incure for a given cause from which we benefit. I realize that in the case of the bike-a-thon, walk-a-thon, or the wake-a-thon, there seems to be a great deal of wasted energy expended, but the fun and fellowship enjoyed in the process can hardly be called evil. I have personally participated in walk-a–thons for our Christian education society support, and have seen no evil in it. There are groups which also sponsor bowling events or golfing events, of which a portion of the proceeds are donated to a specified cause. If we may enjoy these good things which God has given us to do in fellowship with other Christians, then must we yet say that the proceeds derived from such events may not be used to support Christian causes?

Of course, let our spirit of “giving” in these instances too be one characterized by love. These are not “gambling” events; nor are they a “get-rich-quick” scheme for one person‘s profit as in a raffle. But as I see them, they are means by which the participants may enjoy fun and fellowship, and the organization by which the event is sponsored may benefit as well. And where such is the case, I do not know of a biblical principle which would indicate that God is offended by these things.