Non-Profits

Dear Victorious,

My best friend started a non-profit charity to help homeless people. She's constantly talking about it and has asked on several occasions why I won't donate to it. Frankly, it's getting in the way of our friendship. But I really cannot afford to donate to one more charity. What should I do?

Nadine T. - Overland Park, KS

Dear Nadine,

You should tell your friend you're happy that God has called her to this ministry and that you want only the best for her. At the same time, you assure her that your money is God's money and you only do with it what He's told you to do. At this point, He has not given you permission to spend money on her charity. So it would appear that God has called you to something different than He's called your friend to. And you don't apologize for this truth either.

The thing about para-church ministries (i.e., Christian ministries who do work that Jesus would condone) is that they are not Biblical. The Biblical model is that everyone would give at least a tithe (10%) of their total household income to the church. In addition, they are to bring offerings and gifts for the poor, etc. to their church.

The Biblical model is that the storehouse (of the temple) be filled and that the poor, elderly, needy are taken care of by the temple out of that storehouse. So if the church were doing its job, we wouldn't need para-church ministries or government welfare programs either. Christians should be more focused on empowering their church to do its job than on ministries that circumvent the church in its role.