2015.11.01_Concerning the Lord’s Day Collections

God gives blessings
God is the creator. The power of God who created all things is not limited to the past. God created all things, blessed all things, and still continues to bless them. Before Jesus ascended to Heaven, He lifted up His hands and blessed His disciples. This was another demonstration that God is still giving His blessings.
God said, “I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live” (Deut 30:19). God wants us to be blessed. However His blessing will not come to us unless we choose blessing.
If we choose blessing, not only will we be blessed but our children will be also. Upon obeying the Word of God, Abraham was not the only one who was blessed. He became a source of blessing so that through him, his descendants as well as the Gentiles were blessed. The same is for anyone who is in Jesus Christ. We too are a source of blessing through whom our descendants and all the nations will be blessed.

Offerings were commanded by God. And as Jesus said, “Teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you,” pastors have a responsibility to teach their members about offerings. Nevertheless, there may be some members who do not view the pastor as having honest intentions, and hence it is very difficult for the pastor to emphasize about offerings to the saints. However, for the pastor himself, he cannot but teach his members about those which the Lord has commanded.

When I first started attending church, Korea’s economy was suffering after the war. At that time, there was a lot of foreign aid sent from other countries, most of which was distributed to people through churches. People gathered to the church to receive supplies, and as a result, there was some prejudice created against the church that it was a place where poor people went to.

As I was actively serving the church from the time I first went to church, I got the opportunity to closely observe people working inside the church. Some of the things I noticed at that time were most unexpected and came to me as quite a shock.

Every Lord’s Day after the service was finished, a number of deacons met together and counted the offerings collected that day, but one of their main tasks was to flatten and sort out crumpled bills. The bills counted from the offering box were all crinkled like scrap paper. I was very shocked that the members were giving their offerings to God in such a manner.

Not only that, the amount collected was very little, and most of the bills were 1 won. I often heard the deacons say to each other, “There’s not enough to give the pastor’s monthly stipend again”. As someone who looked up to the pastor, the fact that his stipend was a collection of 1 won bills which was more appropriate for kids’ snacks, and that there was not even enough collected to give the agreed amount, was very distressing.

Though I wanted to give offerings, I was also in a difficult financial situation. However, I could not accept the fact that the pastor whom I respect was receiving such a treatment. So in order to give offerings, I went wherever I could find work available every Saturday, saved up what I earned and gave offerings as best as I can. In those days, the offering I gave was actually dozens of times more than the amount others gave on average. That fervor I had then became part of my entire life of faith.

Then one day, I was greatly touched by a testimony of a deacon. He had fled from North Korea to the South by himself. With all of his family and properties left behind in the North, he was in very bad circumstances. He barely supported himself by selling fine-toothed combs. However, his greatest concern was his family left behind in the North. He said he saw a vision one day when he was worrying about how his family was surviving without the head of the household. The vision was that of Jesus feeding the five thousand with five barley loaves and two fish from the little child. From the vision, the deacon was assured that as long as he served the Lord, the Lord would take care of his family, and began giving offerings eagerly. As a result, he gave much more offering than the whole church collectively.

Several years later, I had become a revivalist and happened to meet him at Daejeon while I was there to lead a crusade. I was really touched when he told me how he had been doing. In contrast to his poor past, he had become the CEO of a company with 70 employees, and with the profit his company made, he was helping new churches build worship centers. He told me that this was going to be lifetime business. Through him, I was able to witness just how God blesses those that dedicate for the kingdom of God. His faith was a great influence on me.

Seoul Sungrak Church’s offering types
There are various forms of offerings mentioned in the Bible and based on them, we have different types of offerings at Seoul Sungrak Church where I am ministering, such as Lord’s Day offering, thank offering and monthly offering.

Dedication offering
Among them, dedication offering is one that has been given at Seoul Sungrak Church ever since the church was planted. Members make every effort and give this dedication offering once a year. Over the years, there were families that sold their houses and dedicated everything, while some even dedicated all of their retirement savings. In this way, many have demonstrated their love for God with faith that this world cannot handle.
Indeed there have been members who felt burdened to give dedication offering yearly. Occasionally there were some that complained as to why the church spends so much money in running the church. However, dedication offerings do not get used for church maintenance expenses. Over the past few decades, Seoul Sungrak Church has been building regional worship centers to help souls living in those areas. And dedication offerings have played a significant part in that ministry.
Jesus commanded us saying, “Drink My blood! Eat My flesh!” In accordance with this command, we drank His blood and became freed from sin, ate His flesh and received eternal life. This is a truth which the Holy Spirit testifies to Himself. The church exists because God sacrificed Himself and gave His blood and flesh. Also, Jesus commanded to take the Lord’s Supper, that is, testify of God’s flesh and blood within us, and of the works Jesus did to make it possible for us to have His flesh and blood inside us. The important point is that now we need to bear the sacrifice of shedding our blood and tearing our flesh in order to spread the meritorious works of Jesus and save souls.
When Jesus commanded His followers to eat His flesh and drink His blood, many of them grumbled and left Him. They could not understand Jesus. However, some still stood by His side and when Jesus asked, “Do you also want to go away?” Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Similarly, some people leave the church complaining that they have to give dedication offering every year. Yet, if they truly ate and drank of Jesus’ flesh and blood, they would not only thank God for His sacrifice that gave His flesh and blood, but also sacrifice themselves in order to save many more souls.
Jesus did not hold back those people, who could not understand His words and left Him saying, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?” Jesus did not force those who were not worthy to eat and drink of His flesh and blood. Though God desires to give good things to all men, the choice to receive them is up to each person, and everyone will have to bear the consequences of their choices.

Tithe
Among all the types of offering given to God, tithes are like seeds. A few decades ago in Korea, there was something called ‘the barley hump’. This was a period of time when people did not have much to eat since all the harvested grains were run out and the barley crop was not yet ripe. During those days, everyone was short on food and it was common for both the elderly and young to skip meals, and many people became ill and died. Despite such conditions, no one ever touched the seeds which were kept in reserve to be sown the next season.
God commanded us saying, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house” (Mal 3:10). Tithes are the seeds which must be kept in God’s storehouse. Even if a farmer has wide tracts of farmland, he cannot grow anything without seeds. Hence there must always be reserves kept in God’s storehouse. In other words, the church must always have financial reserves.
If anyone does not tithe, he is robbing God. A punishment follows anyone who steals from others; so if one steals from God, how can anyone escape eternal punishment? What is more, the person who robs God will be cursed (Mal 3:9). A curse means the absence of blessings. Though a person might have great material wealth to enjoy for some time, that is not a blessing.

Vow offering
A vow offering is to give what one has promised to God. It says in Deuteronomy 23:21, “When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it; for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and it would be sin to you.” Ecclesiastes 5:4 says, “When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; for He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed”. If someone makes a vow to God but does not keep it, God will surely require it of him, even from his children.
In the Bible, there are two men who sacrificed their children as offerings to God. One of them was Abraham and the other, Jephthah. Abraham offered his only son according to God’s command, while Jephthah gave his daughter who was his only child just as he had vowed. Before going out to war against the people of Ammon, Jephthah made a vow to the Lord, and said, “Whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering” (Jud 11:31). When Jephthah returned to his house after defeating the people of Ammon, the first person to greet him was his daughter, who was his only child. Jephthah was utterly grieved and sorrowful, yet to keep his vow to God, he gave his daughter as an offering.
Whatever vow a person makes to God must be honored even to his own harm (Ps 15:4). Therefore, we should not make vows rashly. Proverbs 20:25 says, “It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, and afterward to reconsider his vows.” Even if a person vows to give an offering to God and then changes his mind saying, “God, I was imprudent. My situation does not allow me to give that much offering yet”, God will still remember his vow.

Monthly offering
Monthly offerings are offerings of a fixed amount given every month, and the person decides the amount at the beginning of the year. This originates from the offerings the Israelites gave at the beginning of each month (Num 28:11-15). Monthly offerings are used to provide financial support to ministers and staff who serve in the church. They do not work to receive monetary compensation; their rewards are in Heaven. Nevertheless, everyone needs a minimum income to keep a living in this world, and monthly offerings are used for that purpose. Church ministers and staff receive very little compared to the average wage other people receive from work out in the world. Some of them struggle over that wage gap and quit working for the church. Though we try to increase their stipend even slightly, it is impossible unless the church has sufficient funds.

Lord’s Day offering
Lord’s Day offerings are given to God every Lord’s Day. Concerning Lord’s Day offerings, 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 says, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given orders to the churches of Galatia, so you must do also: On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.” Nowadays, the words ‘believer’ and ‘saint’ are used interchangeably. However, the word ‘saint’ is not used to refer to ordinary members but those sanctified, who have left behind their means of livelihood to devote themselves to the Lord’s ministry. The members of the church must prepare their offering for the saints during the week and bring them to church as they come to worship God on the first day of every week.

The collection for the saints are also mentioned in 2 Corinthians 9:5, “Therefore I thought it necessary to exhort the brethren to go to you ahead of time, and prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation.” God regards our souls as His fields. He sows His word in them and desires to reap a hundredfold fruit from them. Then again, God’s word is our field. We must sow blessings in that field. The word ‘offering’ carries the meaning of blessing. Hence to give offering means to sow blessings for one’s own self.

What is the point of praying hard to receive blessings? One has to sow much to reap much. It is written in 2 Corinthians 9:6, “But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully”. Though Jesus is rich, He was made poor so that we might become rich through His poverty (2 Co 8:9). If anyone believes this, he would give the Lord’s Day offering richly with gladness and thereby reap many fruits.
We must sow all the more when we are in deep poverty. The disciples planted the five loaves and two fish in the Lord’s hands, and thus reaped enough food for thousands of people to eat and be satisfied. The Lord can do what we are unable to do. When we feel that we have too little to achieve anything, that’s when we need to sow whatever we have into the Lord’s hands. From the blessings we sow, not only will we but our children for many generations will be blessed.