Question: How should we distribute money in the local church at the center of the work? There we have both elders and co-workers, and some of the elders need to be in the distribution. How should the distribution be carried out practically?
Answer: It is a matter of the arrangement that we mentioned earlier. Although it is not something formal, there need to be some decisions. If there is an additional need, we must look to God. Why did I help the brothers in Foochow and Shanghai make their arrangements? It was because it was more convenient for us to bear this responsibility. Even though I do not have the time, I still did it because it was more convenient for me to do it. Naturally, if they were to do it, they would feel that it was awkward.
The distribution of money in a local church should always be for local expenditures first. Canton, for example, may receive one thousand dollars every month. The first responsibility of a local church is to take care of the local expenditures and the needy brothers. The needs of the elders can often be included with the needs of the co-workers. At the same time, according to the principle, the money which a local church receives should be sent to other localities.
This is because as soon as a local church keeps money for its own use, many problems will arise and many improper principles will be introduced. In the future difficulties may arise among us, although I do not mean that this could happen today. We need to remember the situation in Rome. In Rome the situation became such that the Romish apostles would go out only to those localities where there would be an income; if there was no income, the Romish apostles would not go there. At that time the situation in Rome had actually developed to this extent. In England, whenever a pastor goes to a place to be a pastor or an overseer, he will say, “I am called to” a certain place. Amazingly, many are called to wealthy places, but no one is called to impoverished places, and everything of the world follows them. This is very ugly and absolutely not spiritual. Worldly thoughts and thoughts of money came into the church.
I have considered this matter much before God. You can see that at the beginning in Antioch Paul was one who carried money. There was no mention at all of the need in Antioch or of the need of the work in Antioch; Paul only carried money to Jerusalem. Later, the region of Achaia sent money to Jerusalem, the region of Galatia sent money to Jerusalem, and the area around Corinth also sent money to Jerusalem. At that time there could have been the misunderstanding that Paul’s tentmaking business was prosperous and that he did not need more money. Therefore, I believe that when we manage money in our region, the best way is not to let the local co-workers have it but to always send it to other places. Our needs will be met with what comes from other places. We prefer to let the bank earn a service fee for sending the money. We have to put the church on spiritual ground. As soon as our ground is not spiritual, we are useless.
Today in China the work must begin in several regions. All of the brothers in a region should endeavor to consider the work in other regions. What Paul did was very comely. He went out from Antioch and brought money to Jerusalem. He entreated Galatia, Corinth, and the whole region of Achaia to send money to Jerusalem. It seemed that while there were needs on every side, he personally did not have any need at all. Actually, his two hands did not cease to work. We have seen how he said to the Ephesians, “These hands!” Man always thinks that his needs come first, regardless of everything else. I hope that we will care for the need in other places and let our needs be cared for by God. God will lead brothers to care for our personal needs. Our way is to believe in the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit. The entire Bible shows us that God has His arrangement in everything. We believe in the arrangement of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if I have an extraordinary need today, I can look only to God to grant me a special miracle. Then a brother may suddenly meet my need and resolve my difficulty. God is living!
Furthermore, I do not want there to be a dead method in the region. I fear formal things. I believe that the brothers who have been with me for so many years all know that I fear formal things, because once something becomes formal, it ceases to be spiritual. However, I want you to keep the following principle. If in the region of Canton you have some income, at the most you should keep a portion of it, perhaps one-third or two-fifths, always less than half, and designate the greater part to be sent to other localities. Presently, we have ten regions of work. We do not send the same amount to each one. You yourselves have to receive the leading before God.
In this way God will easily maintain the support in the church. Please remember that as soon as the Israelites ceased to provide, the Levites went hungry. For the Levites to have a problem indicated that Israel had a problem. For the Levites to have no lack was a proof that the Israelites were standing on God’s side. Therefore, we need to learn to send money to other localities to care for their work. As for us, we need to let God spontaneously maintain the work in our locality.
The advantage to this is that the locality which has the supply will not have too much, and the locality which does not have the supply will not have too much lack.
When responsible brothers or co-workers have a need, we should make some arrangements. We need to see what the magnitude of their need is and give to them proportionately. Then we will not have troubling thoughts. In this way I believe that many problems will pass away, and that we will avoid many troubles. Otherwise, how are we going to apportion the money in a local church? It will be very troublesome. Who would then give money to a responsible brother? Being a responsible brother in that locality, how could one take the money himself? Who would give it to him? His sense as a Christian would not allow him to take it. Therefore, we must make arrangements for him to spare him this inconvenience.