“In A Bond Bind Pt. 2”

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

[This question is a follow-up to “In A Bond Bind”]

You said it that the weekly collection was the only biblical way for a church to raise funds. Then you said that selling bonds was the same as getting a loan (though it really is not). You then said a church needed to use wisdom whether it should borrow money from a bank. Can you please show how your first point relates to the last? If the collection is the only authorized way, where does wisdom enter the ball game?

Sincerely,
007

Dear 007,

A bond is exactly the same as getting a loan.  In finance, a bond is an instrument of indebtedness of the bond issuer to the holders. It is a debt security, under which the issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay them interest.

There is a difference between a church borrowing money and a church raising money.  When a church borrows money, their income hasn’t changed – they just have an obligation to pay the borrowed money back, typically with interest, at a later date.  It is the same as when someone borrows money to buy a car.  The borrowing requires them to raise money eventually to pay back the loan… the loan doesn’t change their income.

This is where the real issue is.  The church is only given one example of raising money for its work – through a collection of the saints on the first day of the week (1 Cor 16:1-2).  The congregation must then be wise about how they steward that money.  Acquiring, or not acquiring, loans to purchase a church building (or other major expenses) is part of that stewardship.

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