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“Consistent Contribution”
Categories: THE COLLECTION, THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH, WORSHIPHow do contributions work if I miss a Sunday? Say I am visiting another congregation, so I am unable to contribute at my home congregation. Should I contribute at the congregation I am visiting or should I just double up on my contributions the next week at my home congregation?
Sincerely, Collecting My Thoughts
Dear Collecting My Thoughts,
It is left entirely to your discretion. The command to take up a collection on the first day of the week is a congregational command (1 Cor 16:1). The congregation has the responsibility to take up the collection each week from its members. That is their responsibility.
Your responsibility as an individual is to give cheerfully, purposefully, and voluntarily (2 Cor 9:7). The intent of 1 Cor 16:2 seems to be that the individual would be preparing to give their contribution to their own ‘home’ congregation, but we would hesitate to be too dogmatic on that point. It isn’t a sin for an individual to ‘double-up’ a contribution the next week after visiting elsewhere, nor is it a sin to contribute to the work of another faithful congregation. In matters of freedom, pray for wisdom (Jas 1:5) and do what seems best. There is no wrong answer.
