How to Take a Church For All Its Worth! (Hint: It's Easy)

I've got two very different money-related experiences from last Sunday on my mind, and they're related in a powerful way.

"I'm Sorry, Did You Say Cash Voucher?"

I want to share the second experience first. A random guy called me, wanting to know if our church takes cash vouchers? I didn't know what he meant by this question, but after prying a bit, I discovered that he was looking for a cash handout.

He told me that he's called all the other churches in town and they all have policies about not giving out cash.

I told him that we're a new church with a small number of members and not a lot of resources, and that we don't have policies about giving or not giving cash, but we also don't have any funds designated specifically for people who call asking for help.

I then asked him, "Is there any other way that we can be of service?" I was thinking that he would then ask for gas for his car, shelter for the night, a meal, a ride, or help with moving furniture (all ways in which our church has helped strangers who have called looking for help). Unfortunately, he declined any other form of assistance besides cash and that was that. Phone call over.

Help That Goes Beyond Cash

I get desperate phone calls like this fairly often, but what makes this experience memorable isn't the call itself, but rather, it's how the stranger's request corresponds to something our church did less than an hour before he called. You see, I just got done collecting cash to give to a family in need.  
    
What gives? What made one family worthy of a cash gift from my church, and why did I feel uneasy and even irresponsible about just giving money to a random stranger calling for assistance?

Answer: The family goes to our church, while the stranger does not.

"But Kaler, isn't that showing favoritism? Aren't you supposed to help everybody that asks for help?"

Yes to both questions. You see, for people who make up our church community, their needs take priority and we have no qualms about providing them with cash if they need it. And in regards to the second question, I did offer to assist the man in a way that would practically meet his needs, but he was only interested in getting cash.

Another important aspect to these two stories is that the family from our church didn't even ask for money. Instead, my wife heard about their need by way of hanging out with them. When our church gathered on the following Sunday, she presented the need before the group, which lead to an offering being taken up for them.

When You're Here, You're Family

Herein lies the power of community; when relationships within a community reach a certain depth, a person won't have to even ask for help because the community will already know about it and its people will respond accordingly. 

You know what other social group offers this kind of support for unspoken needs? That's right, a family, and for people who make up the congregation of a church, they're supposed to see each other as a family. Spiritually speaking, this is a reality that's at the core of what we believe a church is--one big family.

With this in mind, I began to think about the stranger who called me for cash and I had a sobering thought, "What if, instead of looking for assistance by calling every single church in town (and it was obvious that our poorly financed church was at the bottom of his list), what if he actually visited these churches?"

And I'm talking more than a one-time Sunday morning visit, "What if this man would become a regular at a church? What if this man were to become known on a first-name basis with the congregation, join a committee, become an usher, help serve the city's poor, or even just show up regularly at the weekly gatherings?" 

I know exactly what would happen if this stranger-in-need attempted this approach. He would be welcomed into the life of the church community, he would cease being a stranger, and in a very short time, he would be treated like family.

This would be the best thing that could happen to a man in need, because once you've genuinely joined a Christian community, it's like you've gained a whole new family that has your back along with your best interests in mind. And as part of such a family, the church will stop at nothing and move mountains to take care of you and meet your needs, even if it means asking other members of the church family to give sacrificially in order to make it happen. 

Why? Because this is what any family who loves one another does for each other. In fact, if the church is doing what it's supposed to, and deep friendships and relationships are being fostered, then the man in need wouldn't even have to ask for assistance because the church body would be quick to respond to the need and meet it as soon as it's found out by another church member (like with the family we took up an offering for). 

Concluding Thoughts

A stranger looking for assistance from a church will often find it, but it will usually be in a small way that's limited by budgets and policies. However, for someone the church considers to be family, why, that person will essentially be able to "take the church for all its worth;" thanks to every resource of the church being made available to meet the needs of one of their own.

And how does one become a part of such a loving, supportive family? For starters, it's as easy as physically visiting a church and spending time with its people. If they show you love and accept you for "coming just as you are," then you've found the right church and it's just a matter of time until its people work tirelessly and give sacrificially in order to meet your needs. 

Granted, due to the disregard for the financial future of the church organization, this approach makes for an absolutely lousy business model, and it's a poor way to provide a social service. But a church is not a business, a church is not a social service; instead, a church is a family--a family that prioritizes in taking care of one another.