Feature: Why We Loan God's Money
Larry Parker
by Larry Parker, administrator, Christ Church of Northgate, Seattle
Neither a borrower nor a lender be:
For loan oft loses both itself and friend.
Hamlet, Act I, Scene 3
If there is a poor man among your brothers … do not be hardhearted or tightfisted. Freely lend him whatever he needs.
Deuteronomy 15:7-8
Churches have traditionally sided more with Shakespeare than Moses when it comes to the thorny matter of helping members financially. Many have assumed that loaning church funds to individuals would only cause trouble, trigger gossip, alienate those who fall behind in repayment, and drain the church's resources.
Over the last eight years at Christ Church, an Assembly of God congregation of some 1,700, we have worked toward a goal of financial maturity among our people. We also want them to feel cared for in a practical way. Like many churches, we make outright gifts—benevolences—to members who are unemployed or in other difficulty. At other times, it seems the best approach is to grant the person a small, no-interest loan.
We presently have about $8,000 outstanding in amounts averaging $250. Because we tie our giving and lending to financial instruction and counseling, our defaults have run less than 2 percent (almost all of them in cases where the person was loosely associated with the body).
Consider this statement from a single mother: "When I lost my job recently, my parents saw how the family of believers helped me with food, rent, and utilities—how they cared. That spoke more than 100 sermons or anything I ever shared with them about the Lord. They cried."
Our sharing at Christ Church happens on two different levels.
• Institutional caring. We loan money from the common purse, and we also make gifts (about $20,000 last ...
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