JUST OPEN YOUR HEART, DAMMIT!

[Bob Kelso]

Does the worship of God benefit Him? Or us?

*Forgot about this thread  *

You know my answer, Randy, but I suppose the Christian answer is that it benefits the believer. Does it follow that, in providing, he wishes that an excess of resources be used for extravagant wants or the needs of people who cannot provide for themselves?

Let's say that a wealthy individual dies and leaves a sizable sum of money to her church with the stipulation that it be used to purchase a new gymnasium for the youth ministry. Can the Church can legally accept the money earmarked for that purpose but divert the funds to starving children in Africa, instead?

I get where you're going but let's look at this realistically, it's entirely dependent upon the situation. Are their specific requirements on how the money is to be utilized? Should the gym be built and outfitted for a reasonable price -meaning it's not top of the line, but reliable- can the remainder be used for charitable services? 

It's really pointless to go further on this because I'm not of the opinion that the church shouldn't have decent resources for it's own purposes; but the level of extravagance we see from megachurches and what have you is what I balk at from a religious community that pats themselves on the back for being the epitome of charity.

Now, let's consider the value of Church growth. If a group of 200 Christians forms a new church in a storefront of an old strip mall, they will put up some signs and attract a few new members. So, at 250 members, they rent out a larger space in an old warehouse near the airport. And they attract a few more members. At 500 members, they buy a small church that another denomination had for sale. Then they grow some more.

At every stage of growth, people are hearing the gospel and being saved. Baptisms, weddings, funerals happen. And the collection gets larger and larger and larger...which means that even MORE money is sent to Africa.

Or they could have sent all their money to Africa in the beginning, never built up the physical buildings, never attracted the youth with a rocking band, etc. Staying small, they would have nothing more to send.

Surely there is a balance to be found in here somewhere.

Balance? Yes. Massive amounts of needless bullshit? Not so much. 

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