Such firsthand giving far better than delegating such giving. Jesus makes this quite clear.

Well Placed Giving

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy Angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. Before him all the nations will be gathered, and he will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’
Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you; or thirsty, and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger, and take you in; or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’
The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ Then he will say also to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
Then they will also answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’
Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46.

Does that giving strike you as meaning: “The tithe is The LORD’s and the fullness thereof..”? (Psalm 24;1)

Then, as we set in the pew, saying: “Put it in our collection plate?”

Of course, that will not take care of our responsibility to personally give to a brother or sister we personally see in need.

Or, does it strike you a meaning: “Give to our world wide charity to feed the hungry and take care of widows and orphans, including pagans?”

Of course, that will not take care of our responsibility to personally give to a brother or sister we personally see in need.

Do you think such giving will qualify us to inherit The Kingdom?

Jesus counts well placed, firsthand, giving to His brothers and sisters as ministry of the first order. “You did it to Me…..”

“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to Me!’” Matthew 25:40 emphasis added.

Jesus tells us we are His followers if we love one another.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 emphasis added.

Jesus fits us together with one another within His unified community, the body of Christ.

Loving one another requires first hand, face to face, interpersonal relationships.

“You did it to one of the least of these my brothers [and sisters].” Matthew 25:40.

The predominate setting for such close relationship is with our families and in our homes.

Consider this: the only recorded New Covenant collection taken for third party distribution was by Paul for the poor holy ones, brothers and sisters of Jesus, in Jerusalem.

“But now, I say, I am going to Jerusalem, serving the holy ones. For it has been the good pleasure of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor among the holy ones who are at Jerusalem. Yes, it has been their good pleasure, and they are their debtors. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, they owe it to them also to serve them in fleshly things. When therefore I have accomplished this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will go on by way of you to Spain. I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of the Good News of Messiah.” Romans 15:25-29 (Cf: 1 Corinthians 16:1-4; 16:15; 2 Corinthians 7:6-17; 8:1-6; 9:2.)

The collection was delivered to James an apostle and the elders in Jerusalem by Paul an apostle and Barnabas (Acts 11:27-30; 21:17-19).

My Experience

I’m 82 years old and the only substantial one another giving I have witnessed or been a party to outside of families was by those in a rural Nebraska congregation and by those in house congregations Judy and I participated in or led.

The rural congregation was Zion Lutheran Church, Worms, Nebraska back in the 40’s and 50’s. When a member was hurting, that member got the needed personal help. The same was true in the house congregations we were part of.

The main reason we are no longer house congregationers is we had no apostolic or prophetic connections with like minded groups. The early followers of Jesus had that.

Fit Together

In The Kingdom of the Son, the body of Christ functions as His body, each being fitted and knit together and working in measure of each individual part.

“He gave some to be emissaries [apostles]; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, shepherds [pastors] and teachers; for the perfecting of the holy ones, to the work of serving, to the building up of the body of Messiah, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a full grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Messiah, that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error; but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Messiah, from whom all the body, being fitted and knit together through that which every joint supplies, according to the working in measure of each individual part, makes the body increase to the building up of itself in love.” Ephesians 4:11-16.

Instruction in Right Doing

“Every Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for convincing, for correction of error, and for instruction in right doing; so that the man of God may himself be complete and may be perfectly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 WNT

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from WMB.

 

~ Bill Bremer

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Bill Bremer is Founder and Managing Director at Kingdom Relationships Colorado.

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