Engaging the Financial Chaos That is Upon Us

Eusebius (bishop of Caesarea and a historian of the early church), wrote about the actions of the early church in “The Church History” during the plague of the fourth century:

All day long some of them [the Christians] tended to the dying and to their burial, countless numbers with no one to care for them.  Others gathered together from all parts of the city a multitude of those withered from famine and distributed bread to them all.

Eusebius goes on to state that because of their compassion in the midst of the plague, the Christians’ “deeds were on everyone’s lips, and they glorified the God of the Christians.” 

 A few decades after Eusebius, the last pagan emperor, Julian the Apostate, recognized that the compassion of Christians was central to why the faith of a grassroots spiritual movement was now affecting much of the Roman Empire.  He wrote the following to a pagan priest (as recorded in The Works of Emperor Julian):

“When it came about that the poor were neglected and overlooked by the [pagan] priests, then I think the impious Galilaeans [i.e., Christians] observed this fact and devoted themselves to philanthropy.” *

“[They] support not only their poor, but ours as well, all men see that our people lack aid from us.”

Julian was so moved by Christian charity among the church that he proposed that pagan priests should imitate the Christians’ in order to bring about a revival of paganism in the empire!

So why the history lesson?

We are potentially on the brink of an overwhelming amount of financial need in our city and among this network of churches.

We don’t know how to gauge the potential domino effect of the economy shutting down for this long…but we need to be preparing our minds and our lives for what looks to be on the horizon.

We, as representatives of King Jesus, can continue to be known by our compassion, charity and support of one another.

Here’s a basic framework to help us begin to maneuver what may lie ahead in the weeks and months to come.

1) Churches need to be prepared to hold everything in common.

When we think of the early church in the book of Acts, we often think of the following passage in Acts 2v42:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Whether or not this verse was meant to be the Magna Carta of Jesus’ church, we’ve patterned most of the church in American out of these four elements: teaching, fellowship, eating (including the Lord’s Supper), and prayer. Toss in some worship music and tithing and you have the core metrics of the current American church.

But look two verses later:

And all who believed were together and had all things in common.

And then skip ahead two chapters; look at Acts 4v32-35

Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.

In each relational community of believers (what our network calls “churches”), there may be among us those who will experience great financial loss as a result of Covid-19. Jobs may be lost, savings may be depleted and businesses may have to be rebuilt. But there will also be those of us who will not suffer financially during this time. For instance, landscape supply companies have been experiencing increased amount of income over the past weeks because of the quarantine during warm weather. Some industries have, to date, dodged most of the restrictions of social distancing. Not every industry will be affected the same. And some people have money saved for a times such as this.

It is important that each member of the church understand the need to hold everything in common. If your family has two cars, but someone in your church can’t afford to fix the only one he/she owns, then consider that extra car one to be shared. If you have a spare bedroom, but someone in your church cannot make rent payments for an apartment, then treat the bedroom as if it’s a common resource to be shared. If you have six months of salary saved for emergency, but your job doesn’t suffer, then consider that money an emergency fund for your brother or sister in your community who doesn’t have the ability to pay bills.

“Contribute to the needs of the saints” Romans 12v13

This doesn’t mean we bypass the needs of those are not in Christ; it means the church remains a radically inclusive family that meets the needs of one another that are far beyond financial. Every man, woman and child is invited to be a part of the devoted family of God.

If those who have and those who lack hold ALL things in common, needs will be met and God will be glorified by the unity of the Church.

Here’s what we suggest to begin to put this into practice

• Make a list of your resources that may be of value during a time like this (finances, cars, space in your home, etc.). Go ahead and begin to put these things on the metaphorical altar to ensure that you are holding these resources with open hands. If you can commit to understanding that these are HIS resources to be used for HIS glory, then you will have ears to hear as God directs you to share.

• Be careful how you are spending money right now. This is a bit of a Catch-22, because we don’t want the economy to completely tank. Essential items (food, supplies, etc.) are going to have to be purchased; and it’s going to be wise to support local, small businesses as much as you can because they don’t have contingency plans for times like this. But…we would recommend being very prayerful in purchasing non-essential items right now with money that might need to be redirected to essential items for someone else. That bigger lawnmower might go on sale, but there might be a need arising in your church that could be met with that money.

• Be open with your church about financial struggles during this time. There is no glory for yourself or God in suffering alone. Nor is there wisdom in silently sitting in fear over lacking resources. We are called to suffer together (1 Corinthians 12v26) and to carry each other’s burdens (Galatians 6v2). Pride, insecurity and shame all weigh into our social interactions in a fallen world. But if you are in Christ, you are not of this world (John 15v19). You are part of God’s kingdom; God’s family. If you choose to suppress your needs, you are handicapping not just yourself, but the entire church from expressing love and encountering God. Scripture puts it like this in 1 John 4v12:

  “No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”

• Pursue one another with proactive conversations. Let each other know your list of resources. If nothing else, this gives people the peace of mind that your church is God’s insurance plan for times like this. When it comes down to it, we really be careful putting our hope in insurance companies or the favor of other organizations to pull us out when things get hard. These are businesses that exist to make a profit and can’t be trusted to help out at their own expense. But the church gives willingly at our own expense; because that is what love is. Be diligent to offer help, but also to ask others in your church how they are doing financially. It would be shame if a lack of communication kept a member of your church from being assisted at a time like this.

• Work as a church to help one another with financial budgeting. Many of us may need to scrap the anticipated 2020 budget and re-assess based on where we are as culture. For members of your church who are uninformed or undisciplined about creating and keeping a budget, this may be a need for discipleship and mentoring in your church. Again, be proactive to talk about financial stewardship, including generosity.

2) We will leverage the collective resources of the network to take care of one another.

Similar to the churches in the New Testament, we operate as a network of churches. As a non-profit organization, we accept financial offerings to allow for operating expenses. Our operational costs include renting a space to collectively worship, paying for staff who equip the saints, funding missional platforms like this one, etc. We consider ourselves to be very lean with finances, and we by no means have accrued large sums of money in the bank (hence the term NONprofit). That being said, we do have money budgeted for times like this. And here’s what our network can and will leverage as needs arise:

• We are committed to utilize the funds in our collective bank account to responsibly take care of financial needs of individuals within the network of churches. We, of course, will have a vetting process to ensure that loads are being carried by the individual (Galatians 6v5), financial wisdom is in play, and there is an personalized plan for moving forward. We are ready and willing to utilize the resources and we ask that anyone who is in need within our network contact us at covidsupport@radiusgreenville.org.

• As needs arise, we may ask the overall network to pitch in to ensure that no one is left behind during this time. Of course, the name of the individuals will not likely be shared, but we will communicate if a member of a church is in need and the finances within our account cannot shoulder the burden. It is our hope that each member will consider all other members as part of their extended family and will seek the Lord regarding if and how much to give in support.

• We are committed as a staff to be even MORE lean in our spending during this time. We have already cut back on a degree of spending since all meetings, gatherings, etc. are no longer happening. If all else fails, all current staff have other income streams within their families and we will pull together to tighten up salaries as needed. We will do whatever it takes to support one another.

3) We all need to steward financial support from the government wisely.

If all goes as planned, each individual adult will be receiving $1200 ($500 for children 16 and under) from the government in the weeks to come. A married couple with two small kids would likely receive $3400. Also, small businesses are being offering loans (essentially grants). We urge everyone to be intentional with this money. The definition of a stimulus is something that creates activity…it is up to you to decide what kind of activity the Lord wants to create with this money. If this money had come 6 weeks ago, the inclination might be to save, do a home project, or buy that newer car you’ve been eyeing. But we are in a different time now. So let’s consider the following ideas as we seek to ask God how to steward this money.

• If you aren’t hit hard financially during this time, consider others that are and consider giving a portion of your stimulus check to those individuals, business owners, families, etc. Generously bless those in your church who you know have suffered financially.

• If you know of a restaurant in town that is struggling to survive this, consider purchasing a gift certificate for a sizable amount. This puts cash in their pocket and you can utilize that gift certificate over time.

It is our prayer that we, as the church, will recapture the genius and unity of holding all things in common as we maneuver this difficult time; and in doing so, God’ kingdom will come and his will will be done.

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.  To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen” 1 Peter 5v10-11