Is Support Raising Biblical?

“Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” - 1 Tim 4:16

Support Raising for Christian initiatives is nothing new, if you reading this you’ve likely been contacted by a Christian for support. Different organisations have different methods, and here at Tandem our support raising method is called Ministry Partnership Development.

MPD is an excellent method that Christians can use to raise support. However, MPD is not inherently Biblical (no support raising method is). What I mean by that is that there’s no part of scripture that lists out the exact steps of a modern support raising method. Unless you’re making tents or sending Greek letters, you’re out of luck.

What scripture does affirm though are the principles behind raising support. We’re going to spend some extended time in scripture looking at those principles.

Often when talking about support raising, proof texts are used, which have some value. However, it is exceedingly valuable to study individual verses in the context of their chapter and book. Therefore, we are going to read a whole book that regularly deals with the principles of support raising, Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.

Paul vs the Super Apostles

A major focus of 2 Corinthians is Paul warning about “Super Apostles”. They were prideful and eloquent con-men who went around sharing the Gospel, and charging people to listen.

In this letter Paul calls out the Corinthians for putting their faith in the super apostles, regularly clarifying how his ministry is different. His comparison also includes the topics of ministry money and giving. Therefore, we can not only gather some principles from Paul on how support raising should be done, one of the few things we can be grateful to the super apostles for is that they show us how support raising shouldn’t be done.

For this exercise read through all of 2 Corinthians (or at least 2 Cor 8-11). To help grasp the context we recommend you set aside about one hour to read it in a single sitting. We’ve also highlighted some areas that we found especially significant. You can access that below:

As you read, here are some things to especially look out for/underline:

• The general principles behind Paul’s ministry.

• How Paul talks about money and giving.

• How Paul calls out his opponents.

• The relationship between the Gospel, money and giving.

Reflection Questions (and Answers)

1. What attitudes and habits did Paul have when raising support vs the super apostles?

As Paul talks about giving we can see he’s humble, God and others focused, honest, intentional, authentic and Gospel-centred. In contrast the ‘super apostles’ were prideful, selfish, deceptive, exploitative, fake, and peddling a false-Gospel.

2. What was Paul’s attitude on boasting and self-commendation? How might that influence our approach to MPD?

Paul was very careful in ministry and support raising to boast in God and not himself. He wasn’t selling himself, in fact, his worth wasn’t even found in himself, but in Christ and the people he was ministering to. We can relax and be authentic in support raising as we’re not salesman, and our worth is found in something much, much greater.

3. Another key principle in Paul’s support raising is that he made sure the Gospel never came with a price tag. (2 Corinthians 11:5-7) What do you think that means?

Whilst the super apostles would charge people to hear their message, Paul would do anything to keep the Gospel free of charge. This meant that when Paul first arrived in Corinth, he didn’t ask his mission field (The Corinthians) for support, instead getting support from other churches and tent making. He would do anything to keep the Gospel accessible in his life and ministry.

4. Paul was adamant that he would not be a burden to the Corinthian church like the super apostles (2 Cor 11:9, 12:11-19). Yet he was still happy to ask them and other churches to give for missions (2 Cor 9:5, 11:8). What do you think being a burden meant in that context? What could it look like today?

The burden was putting anything in the way of getting the Gospel to those who need it. Clearly it wasn’t a burden to ask the churches for financial support. It was a burden to raise money for false ministry, and make oneself wealthy whilst others are in poverty. Are we sure we are raising support to get the Gospel out, and not selfishly? If so we can take heart and ask for support.

5. How do you think Paul’s tent making fits into his support raising? (Acts 18:1–4)

Tent making was an effective way to supplement Paul’s Gospel ministry. In New Zealand since we have many established churches and believers with resources to give, Tandem Staff often don’t need to tent-make to supplement support raising. However, in other cultures/seasons it can be useful.

6. How does Paul describe the act of giving as a gift itself? (2 Cor 9:6-15)

Giving not only blesses the givee, but also the giver. It is a chance for them to express love for God and his people, and grows them in their relationship with Him.

7. Equality is a principle mentioned in giving (2 Cor 8:13), does that mean we shouldn’t ask people for support if we think they’re poorer than us? Why/why not?

With wisdom, it is fine to ask any mature Christian for support, regardless of how ‘wealthy’ or not we might perceive them (especially given how these perceptions can be wrong). Who are we to deny them the gift of giving if they cheerfully do so? The main question is: are we willing to give generously to others in need, just as we were given to?