5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

Our church recently had to make a major decision.  One man mentioned that we should consider Scriptural examples of how the disciples made major decisions, and the most similar example he could think of was when the apostles cast lots in Acts 1 to choose who would replace Judas.  Some people dismissed this instantly, saying that we don't have the Holy Spirit the way the apostles did.  Another person said we shouldn't have to resort to casting lots; we could work this out logically.  Is casting lots an appropriate way for churches to make decisions today, and if so, what does casting lots look like?

Sincerely,
Luck Of The Draw

Dear Luck Of The Draw,

Casting lots was an ancient way of randomly deciding on something.  It is akin to flipping a coin or drawing the short straw in today’s culture.  Historically, what little we know of casting lots involved using dark and light colored stones and blindly choosing them, with each colored stone representing some aspect of the decision that needed to be made.  In Acts 1:26, they cast lots to decide who would replace Judas the traitor and be numbered as one of the twelve apostles.  There are several key ideas that need to be understood before we make this a common practice in the church.

1. All logic had already been applied to the situation.  The apostles had already consulted Scriptures (Acts 1:15-16, Acts 1:20).  They had also used wisdom in setting up the minimum criteria for becoming an apostle (Acts 1:21-22).  This decision was not made randomly and without prior thought.  They came to the conclusion of two potential candidates using Scriptural guidance and wisdom (Acts 1:23).
2. This was a decision between two perfectly Biblical and healthy choices.  Both Joseph and Matthias were godly, faithful, competent, and qualified men.  Either one would have been a good decision.  Once again, all logic had been applied already.  The only reason they had to choose between these two men was because there was only one slot to fill in the apostleship.  Casting lots left the decision to random chance because there was no downside.
3. The power was in the prayer, not the casting of lots.  Before they cast lots, they prayed (Acts 1:24-25).  There is only one time in the entire New Testament that we see casting lots used in a decision-making process… but we see prayer involved in hundreds of decisions.  The common denominator throughout the New Testament is prayer.  They prayed for wisdom and then “flipped a coin” because they honestly couldn’t choose between these two godly men, and God blessed their decision because they prayed and asked for the blessing.

In short (as if this was a short answer!), casting lots is as applicable as drawing straws – you can do it, but it really isn’t going to do you any good in and of itself.  Prayer (Jas 1:5), searching the Scriptures (Acts 17:11), and a multitude of wise counselors (Pr 11:14) are the real keys to good decision-making.

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom

What guidance does the Bible have for how a church should use its money?  It seems from places such as 1 Corinthians 16 that when the early church collected funds, they were primarily used for benevolence.  Today it seems like the majority of a church's income tends to go towards paying utilities and mortgages, and churches frequently have a large savings account.  What guidance does the Bible have as far as how much a church should keep in savings, how much debt it should take on, etc.?  If a church buys land, should it consider the investment value of the land as well?  What about earning interest on money in savings?

Sincerely,
Not For Profit

Dear Not For Profit,

The church is allowed to spend money on anything God commands the church to do.  If God commands the church to assemble (Heb 10:24-25), the church can spend money to assemble in the most practical way it sees fit.  If God commands the church to teach (1 Cor 4:17), the church is authorized to spend money to facilitate teaching the saved and the lost.  If the church is told to do something, they are authorized to spend money to make it happen – that freedom to spend money is inherent within the command.  It would be the same as if someone asked you to take their car to the car wash… it would be understood that it was okay for you to spend the gas to drive the car to the car wash, and it was also okay for you to spend the money to pay for the car to be washed.  Whatever is necessary to fulfill a command is automatically allowed.

In the particular case of the Corinthian church, they needed to collect funds for benevolence… and that was a very common reason for collection in that time of Christian persecution.  In today’s culture and world the church finds itself in, we need to pay for things that the first-century saints would never have dreamed of (“Electrical bills?  What’s that?!”).  However, just because the expenses we face are not the same, that doesn’t mean that the same guidelines don’t apply.  1 Cor 16:1-2 outlines the mode with which to collect funds to pay for whatever expenses a church may incur.  It also explains that it is appropriate for the church to have a store of money for future expenses (1 Cor 16:2-3).

As far as how big that savings account can be, what level of debt the church can incur, savings accounts with interest, etc. – the church has the same guidelines for financial management as individuals… use wisdom (Pr 8:12-18).  Too little of savings is foolish; too much is greedy.  Interest is condoned by God (Matt 25:27) and shows wisdom, but “playing the market” with the church’s treasury is very different from gaining simple interest.  In other words, the church needs to show wisdom and discretion in its financial management.

5 minutes a day 5 days a week - a year of Bible Wisdom