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"...Is This A Matter Of Fellowship?"
Harrell Davidson |
Question: "Brother Davidson, We are a small congregation, but able to provide the preacher a small salary and a house. The janitor work at the church building is done by a person who is a Methodist and is paid $100 a week out of the church's treasury. This person has access to the building and whatever information that is in it. Is this good stewardship to use the Lord's money — to hire someone who isn't even a member of the church to do this work? Is this a matter of fellowship?" Answer: We shall start at the last question within the broader question regarding fellowship. This is not a matter of fellowship. Fellowship is described as "joint participation." In our judgment one of the best Inspired definitions of fellowship is found in Luke 5:7. "And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink" [emph added HDD]. Some of the apostles were partners in the fishing business and this is the meaning of the word fellowship (cf. Luke 5:10). The janitor is rendering or providing a service — being hired by the church in much the same way that the church building has a telephone. The church is paying for a service that the phone company is providing, but the church is not in fellowship with the phone company. In the question we see a couple of other words that stand out in our mind. They are "a small congregation," and "able to provide a small salary." There is nothing wrong with being small. In fact, smaller congregations have almost always been the "backbone" of the church and often do more work than larger congregations. We wonder if the preacher could use the extra funds to help him with his living, if of course, he is willing to do the janitorial work. When not engaged in gospel meetings we preach for a small congregation. In this congregation families take turns cleaning the building. Actually, families sign a sheet that contains months on it, and by agreeing to clean the building, they are also volunteering to prepare the Lord's Table. This procedure works wonderfully well and helps involve more people in the work of the church. Though you did not mention in your question anything regarding the Lord's Supper, we can hardly imagine a Methodist preparing the Lord's Supper for the congregation with the same kind of compassion and love that members would. Methodists do not partake of the Supper every first day of the week, but quarterly or semi-annually. We also think that you have a valid point in the fact that a non-member of the body of Christ is able to look at every note and look in every nook and cranny of the building to find out anything that may be available to their eyes. To this writer, this is a very unwise practice. Is there a passage that condemns such? Not that we know of, but wisdom cries out in this matter that poor judgment is being exercised. Thanks for the question. |