Silver and Gold
Silver and Gold
Thirteenth-century theologian
Thomas Aquinas has enjoyed a somewhat checkered career among Protestants. Some,
including Luther himself, considered Aquinas' theology to approach the epitome
of the Biblical presentation of salvation by grace alone through faith alone,
and in some circles Aquinas was considered the virtual "anti-Calvin" (though of
course they were not contemporaries). More recently the works of Aquinas have
begun to achieve a degree of acceptance, approximately of the sort (though not
in quite the way) our Belgic Confession [Art. VI] applies to the Apocrypha --
useful so far as they agree with Reformed theology but neither to prove nor to
refute it. With this in mind, a story told about Aquinas offers a helpful
insight into a situation the Church has had to face since the first
century.
According to the story, Thomas Aquinas was once shown some of
the tremendous wealth the Church had accumulated, and told "You see, Thomas, we
need no longer say as did Peter of old, 'Silver and gold have I none.'" [Acts
3:6] "No," replied Thomas, "neither can we command the lame, as did he, to
'arise and walk.'"
The first-century Church was unquestionably, and
unreservedly, generous. In the closing verses of Acts 2 we are shown thousands
of believers giving not just generously but sacrificially, doing in fact what
the rich young ruler of Luke 18:18-22 was told to do. Yet a few verses later we
find Peter stating he has no gold or silver to offer the lame beggar.
How things have changed!
In the recent U.S. Presidential
Campaigns, one candidate based much of his professed faith on what he openly
identified as a "Social Gospel," a theology which seeks first to offer things,
confident that the Kingdom of God will somehow be added unto the recipient, a
virtual inversion of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:33. This view is not confined
to questionable big-city churches. One ostensibly Reformed congregation offers
such "ministries" as a "Laundry Ministry" (a free alternative to Laundromats and
an "Oil-Change Ministry" (for cars, not lamps). Not only do these withhold or
inappropriately link the Gospel, but in the process they undermine those, some
of them Christians, whose livelihood depends on offering those services for a
fair price. Many churches support an organization which distributes free
groceries with the stipulation that recipients may neither be approached for
evangelism nor given evangelistic materials. Others receive offerings for aid
groups which similarly avoid any presentation of the Gospel. The silver and
gold flows freely, while the Name of Jesus is lost somewhere on the package or
omitted entirely.
Perhaps even more odious, Christian Fundraising has in
many cases descended far into worldly practices. Within churches this has
sometimes taken the form of high-pressure sales tactics, while outside the
church many organizations have adopted every trick and gimmick used by their
counterparts in the world. A few years ago, one Christian leader decided to
collect every fund raising appeal he received for a month. From school alumni
groups to political parties, from secular clubs to hospitals and libraries, from
advocacy organizations to Christian charities, every card and letter was set
aside. At the end of the month he compared all of the appeals, and found that
nothing whatsoever distinguished the Christian requests from any of the others.
In every case, the Christian solicitations encouraged supporters to give for
personal gain of some sort, whether prestige, tax deduction or some token
premium, mimicking the secular appeals.
None of this refutes the need for
Christian charity; after all, it was Jesus Himself who gave the command in Luke
18 to the rich young ruler to "Sell all that you have
and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven ..." It has
been calculated that the Bible mentions possessions more than any other single
topic. Clearly our relationship to the things God grants us is central to our
relationship with Him. The work of the Church is supported by our giving, but
that giving must neither be coerced nor misapplied, and never should silver and
gold become more important than the Church's true mission, the spread of the
Gospel.
"And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature." [Mark 16:15]
_________
Gary Fisher
Thirteenth-century theologian
Thomas Aquinas has enjoyed a somewhat checkered career among Protestants. Some,
including Luther himself, considered Aquinas' theology to approach the epitome
of the Biblical presentation of salvation by grace alone through faith alone,
and in some circles Aquinas was considered the virtual "anti-Calvin" (though of
course they were not contemporaries). More recently the works of Aquinas have
begun to achieve a degree of acceptance, approximately of the sort (though not
in quite the way) our Belgic Confession [Art. VI] applies to the Apocrypha --
useful so far as they agree with Reformed theology but neither to prove nor to
refute it. With this in mind, a story told about Aquinas offers a helpful
insight into a situation the Church has had to face since the first
century.
According to the story, Thomas Aquinas was once shown some of
the tremendous wealth the Church had accumulated, and told "You see, Thomas, we
need no longer say as did Peter of old, 'Silver and gold have I none.'" [Acts
3:6] "No," replied Thomas, "neither can we command the lame, as did he, to
'arise and walk.'"
The first-century Church was unquestionably, and
unreservedly, generous. In the closing verses of Acts 2 we are shown thousands
of believers giving not just generously but sacrificially, doing in fact what
the rich young ruler of Luke 18:18-22 was told to do. Yet a few verses later we
find Peter stating he has no gold or silver to offer the lame beggar.
How things have changed!
In the recent U.S. Presidential
Campaigns, one candidate based much of his professed faith on what he openly
identified as a "Social Gospel," a theology which seeks first to offer things,
confident that the Kingdom of God will somehow be added unto the recipient, a
virtual inversion of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:33. This view is not confined
to questionable big-city churches. One ostensibly Reformed congregation offers
such "ministries" as a "Laundry Ministry" (a free alternative to Laundromats and
an "Oil-Change Ministry" (for cars, not lamps). Not only do these withhold or
inappropriately link the Gospel, but in the process they undermine those, some
of them Christians, whose livelihood depends on offering those services for a
fair price. Many churches support an organization which distributes free
groceries with the stipulation that recipients may neither be approached for
evangelism nor given evangelistic materials. Others receive offerings for aid
groups which similarly avoid any presentation of the Gospel. The silver and
gold flows freely, while the Name of Jesus is lost somewhere on the package or
omitted entirely.
Perhaps even more odious, Christian Fundraising has in
many cases descended far into worldly practices. Within churches this has
sometimes taken the form of high-pressure sales tactics, while outside the
church many organizations have adopted every trick and gimmick used by their
counterparts in the world. A few years ago, one Christian leader decided to
collect every fund raising appeal he received for a month. From school alumni
groups to political parties, from secular clubs to hospitals and libraries, from
advocacy organizations to Christian charities, every card and letter was set
aside. At the end of the month he compared all of the appeals, and found that
nothing whatsoever distinguished the Christian requests from any of the others.
In every case, the Christian solicitations encouraged supporters to give for
personal gain of some sort, whether prestige, tax deduction or some token
premium, mimicking the secular appeals.
None of this refutes the need for
Christian charity; after all, it was Jesus Himself who gave the command in Luke
18 to the rich young ruler to "Sell all that you have
and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven ..." It has
been calculated that the Bible mentions possessions more than any other single
topic. Clearly our relationship to the things God grants us is central to our
relationship with Him. The work of the Church is supported by our giving, but
that giving must neither be coerced nor misapplied, and never should silver and
gold become more important than the Church's true mission, the spread of the
Gospel.
"And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature." [Mark 16:15]
_________
Gary Fisher
posted by Gary at 3:56 PM
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