Wishful Interpretations

What happens when you have a good idea and then go to the Bible to try to back it up?

Well, I heard that a church with which I'm familiar apparently has an official position against fundraisers (like bake sales, carwashes, church garage sales, et al.): they don't want to receive money from non-christians. No problem so far. But it gets a little iffy when they say the Bible prohibits such fundraisers. Where? 3John verse 7 which says, "It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans."

My literal translation of the phrase in question: “…taking nothing from the gentiles”

Looking at the context of 3John, that’s kind of a stretch to apply this to fundraisers in the church. The basic rules of interpretation (and common sense) ought to raise a few red flags:

• Straight-forward understanding: This is not speaking about church fundraisers, it’s talking about the method of support used by missionaries in this instance, ie. church-supported vs. self-supporting.
• Historical background: In ancient times, itinerant teachers would charge a fee to the locals for teaching their philosophy. The particular missionaries here were distinguishing themselves from those sophists by not charging the recipients.
• Purpose: This is not proscriptive; it’s not a command against going and doing likewise. It’s obviously a factual statement about what happened in one instance. It’s commendable but not a commandment.
• Contrary to other scriptures: What then would we make of tent-making mission work? Other missions were supported financially by the population to which it ministered. Wouldn't Jesus have violated this principle, at least at the beginning of his ministry? Was the early church wrong to not be supported 100% by Christians all the time? Does this principle extend to Christian-owned businesses as well? Where do you draw the line?

In general, I can understand why a church wouldn’t want to do a fundraiser (considering factors such as the church’s witness in the community or the stewardship responsibility of the believers involved). But we should always be careful not to make a habit of reading into the text, even if we believe our position to be right. Historically it has led to bad things.