In 2007, the House Committee on Oversight investigated the “Coalition to Salute America’s Heroes and Help Hospitalized Veterans.” Something was seriously wrong with CEO Roger Chapin’s leadership (and it wasn’t just the absurdly long name of the charity). Chapin had raised nearly $170 million between 2004 and 2006, but only 25% of the money reached veterans. Over $125 million was funneled to Chapin and his cronies.
Whether at a national or local level, we don’t have to look long and hard for mismanagement of donations. There is nothing that breaks the trust of a donor more than seeing their hard-earned dollars misspent. We should care about where our giving goes. Churches ought to lead the way in financial transparency and accountability.
In the Bible, God calls out leaders who use their position for their own benefit. Ezekiel cries out against the leaders of Israel:
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. (Ezek. 34:1-6)
God does not take kindly to shepherds who feed off of the sheep. He calls them not to lead for the purpose of “shameful gain” (1 Pet. 5:2). Fortunately, organizations such as The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and Charity Watch help provide some accountability.
And yet.
While leaders ought to take heed to manage wisely and prudently, and there is wisdom in evaluating where we give, God does not hold donors accountable for their generosity.
Consider one of the most well-known biblical stories about generosity. In Mark 12, as Jesus observes those giving to the temple, he tells his disciples to take note of a poor widow.
41 And he sat down opposite the treasury and watched the people putting money into the offering box. Many rich people put in large sums. 42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny.[f] 43 And he called his disciples to him and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. 44 For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.” (Mark 12:41-44)
The most crucial point of the parable is this: that the measure of generosity is the sacrifice, not the amount. Later in 2 Corinthians, Paul will commend the church in Macedonia similarly, who out of their “extreme poverty” “overflowed in a wealth of generosity” (2 Cor. 8:2).
However, there is a secondary point that should not be overlooked. Jesus commends the poor widow for giving her last two coins to the temple! This is the same temple where Jesus would decry the leaders for making “the house of the Lord” into a “den of robbers” (Matt. 21:13). This is the same temple that was led by the Sanhedrin whose attempts to undermine and sabotage Jesus culminated in a kangaroo court meeting in the dead of night to wrongfully accuse Jesus and force Rome’s hand to execute him.
Jesus commends the widow for giving to his enemies.
If you examine scripture, you will find this is not a fluke. Even when Israel’s religious leaders are wicked, God never puts a freeze on or calls the people to divert their tithes and offerings.
Our responsibility is to give generously. God’s responsibility is to judge those who are responsible for those institutions.
Wait, didn’t I earlier encourage donors to utilize tools to consider where their dollars go? Yes, I think there is wisdom in navigating our generosity with discernment. Like many others, my wife Angel and I have been influenced by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert’s work, When Helping Hurts, which outlines how Western non-profits have failed in their mission to help those in need and suggests a way forward. And yes, to reiterate, a healthy church should provide financial statements to the congregation.
The point is this: for many of us, our temptation as donors is to try to over-control our giving. As we scrutinize, we tend to grow more tight fisted. Every institution is fallen. No non-profit or church in the world perfectly manages its finances because imperfect human beings lead these organizations. And beyond sin, any organization makes a wide swath of decisions that are matters of preference or conscience.
Are you not giving as generously to your church because you don’t like how they are stewarding the funds? If serious mismanagement and impropriety are going on, bring those concerns up to the elders or denomination or even (in severe cases) law enforcement. After appropriately navigating the process, you might even need to leave the church. But don’t expect perfection and don’t let mismanagement dampen your generosity. Yes, we are called to give financially even to fallen institutions.
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Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash