One of my favorite expressions came from a Christian writer, William MacDonald, and it says, “GOD’S WORK, CARRIED ON IN GOD’S WAY WILL NEVER LACK GOD’S RESOURCES.”  We must ask ourselves, “Does God need the support of the unsaved people to carry on His work?  Of course, the answer would be…NO.  Then, we must ask ourselves, “Does God want the support of the unsaved to carry on His work?  Again, the answer would be…NO!  Let’s see what the Bible has to say on this topic.

We read in Proverbs 15:8, “The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.”  For the wicked, or unsaved, to try to give a gift (sacrifice) to the Lord, while rejecting His gift of eternal life through His Son, is reprehensible to Him.  To reject God’s gift yet try to give God a gift is such a terrible thought.  There are several reasons why a non-Christian would want to give a gift to support the Lord’s work.  Perhaps they think they can buy the Lord’s favor by giving their money.  Perhaps they are looking to impress others by their generosity.  Perhaps they want to be respected for giving to a good cause.  These are all selfish reasons, and the Lord is not interested in accepting these gifts. 

Let’s consider the words of 3 John 5-7, “Beloved, thou doest faithfully whatsoever thou doest to the brethren, and to strangers; Which have borne witness of thy charity before the church: whom if thou bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt do well: Because that for his name’s sake they went forth, taking nothing of the Gentiles.”  The Christians here were commended for their generosity in ministering to the needs of those brethren and strangers, alike.  These brethren who were ministered to and entertained by Gaius (verse 1) were missionary evangelists and as such, they refused to receive any support from the Gentiles, or the unsaved.  You might think, well, if they would accept more support, they could do so much more.  That is the thinking of the natural man, not of the Lord.  It was for the Lord’s name’s sake they would not accept help from the unsaved.  How wicked it would be to give the unsaved the opportunity to boast on how they enabled the Lord’s work to continue.  So, when these missionaries went out, they resolved to receive no part of their support from them, but to depend on the aid of their Christian brethren as led by the Lord. 

This is one reason why we should avoid the public collection of money in our churches.  It allows all to give, whether they are saved or not, and will enable the unsaved to take part in the Lord’s work…and He does not want that to happen.  He desires His work to be carried out and supported by His people. 

We read in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2, “Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”  This is the order for the churches, or the local body of Christ, comprised of only believers.  On the Lord’s Day (the first day of the week), it is proper and orderly that a collection should be taken from among those the Lord had prospered (believers) to give for the needs of the local church and the saints in need.  (Read also 2 Corinthians 9:6-8).  Here, we see the proper order for the collection in the local churches.  There is just no place for the unsaved to participate in this wonderful act of giving to the Lord out of that which He has given to His people.  (CC)  (671.4)