Go Fund Me

[Walt]

I haven't seen a topic about this, so I thought I would start one.

Should a Christian participate in Go Fund Me?  Should be fund people on there, if he so wishes?  Should he post his own needs there?

I've been seeing more self-declaring IFB friends and colleagues post various requests for money on gofundme, and it has always bothered me a bit, but I really didn't know why.

After discussing it in our family, our daughter hit the nail on the head: "The preaching we've heard all of our lives is that God is able to meet our needs; by posting a request for help from strangers is effectively saying that it's not true.... that God is not big enough to meet our need."

(that's not her exact quote; I just took the thought and rephrased it).

How is this any different that begging on a street corner?

I haven't heard any preaching about it one way or the other, but was curious as to what people on this forum think.

 

[HeDied4U]

Would it be different if we went "hat in hand" to our church to ask for monetary help?

And what happens when said church says, "we're sorry, we just can't help you right now," other than finding a new church to call home?

If family / friends can't, or are unwilling to help, GoFundMe or some such service might be the only way to get help.

Surely God can use the kindness of strangers if he so chooses.

 

[Walt]

Would it be different if we went "hat in hand" to our church to ask for monetary help?

And what happens when said church says, "we're sorry, we just can't help you right now," other than finding a new church to call home?

If family / friends can't, or are unwilling to help, GoFundMe or some such service might be the only way to get help.

Surely God can use the kindness of strangers if he so chooses.

I think we should try to help out brothers and sisters in Christ when they have a real need.

It's always a problem; if the church gets a reputation of really helping out their members, people would join for the sole purpose of having "needs" met.

Knew a man who couldn't ever manage to be on time, and couldn't hold down a job.  He was delivering pizza and wrecked his car, and wanted to use my car.  On the one hand, I wanted to help, but at the same time, I needed my car to function, and could not afford to have him wreck ANOTHER car.  He was constantly in "need".  He also seemed to be my "buddy" only when he wanted money.  In hindsight, his poor character led to most of his problems -- would he have been helped by a generous church that met his "needs"?

 

[Walt]

yes... God is able to meet all our needs..... but where in scripture does He forbid us from asking for help?......  and more importantly..... where... as a christian... does He forbid us from giving that help when it is asked?.....

I don't have  a problem asking for help among friends, family, and church members.  I'm less certain about Christians going to the world to meet a need.

 

[Walt]

Luk 16:19 - 25 ..... there was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:...and there was a certain beggar named lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores ....and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

and it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;...... and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth abraham afar off, and lazarus in his bosom ..... and he cried and said, father abraham, have mercy on me, and send lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for i am tormented in this flame.

but abraham said, son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented

there is more..... but you get the idea...... sometimes God puts people in our path... even fellow christians...  because He wants us to help them.... the worst thing we can do is lecture them about God supplying all their needs and then walk away....  ... i;m not saying this go fund me site is a good idea or that i would even answer one if i saw it....... ....but isn;t it ironic that in the end the rich man in scripture found himself begging for assistance at the hand of the very man he ignored the needs of in life?........... 

what i do is look at each case individually and assist those i feel God is leading me to help .......  but i also feel He puts those people in my path.... or at my gate......  i don;t believe He expects me to look for them on websites..... unless it was a friend or somebody i knew..... then i would go see them and find out what is going on..... .

I think James 2:16 is probably more to the point.

The main point of the story you quoted was that station in this life does not guarantee any particular position in the afterlife. The rich man was not in hell because he didn't help Lazarus; he was in hell because he thought he was self-sufficient and didn't care to have anything to do with God.

Lazarus, apparently, though very poor, trusted in God.


Anyway, as I wrote earlier, how far does one go in helping someone with a need? Suppose my uncle passes away tomorrow, leaving me $40,000, but then a church member suddenly develops a need for $35,000 --  just because I "can" meet the need, am I supposed to?

 

[rsc2a]

It's always a problem; if the church gets a reputation of really helping out their members, people would join for the sole purpose of having "needs" met.

So?

 

[praise_yeshua]

Gofundme is ripe for abuse. Also, they charge way too much for there service.

Either way. It's up to the individual.

 

[subllibrm]

I will set one up so we can test this out. 

 

[Binaca Chugger]

Yes.  God will take care of us.  If you are expecting money to fall from they sky, why not the cloud?  Your daughter's premise is that God will magically send us money.  And, he can.  God can also use the good will of others to meet that need.  Let's be honest - the church has abandoned it's purpose of benevolence.  Since the church won't do what it is supposed to do, can God not use the desires of others to share their own wealth to provide for needs?

Let's go a little further.  Quit your job.  You shouldn't depend on your employer or yourself - you should depend on God.  Quit your job and just pray and tell me how it goes.

 

[subllibrm]

<snip>  The rest is history.

Never heard of him.

 

[The Rogue Tomato]

I read some cases on Go Fund Me.  It reads like Queen For A Day.  You'd have to be pretty old to understand what I mean.

 

[Mathew Ward]

This verse comes to mind...

Luke 16:9  And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

 

[Walt]

It's always a problem; if the church gets a reputation of really helping out their members, people would join for the sole purpose of having "needs" met.

So?

So, most churches I know of don't have unlimited funds, and must therefore make choices.

 

[Walt]

Gofundme is ripe for abuse. Also, they charge way too much for there service.

Either way. It's up to the individual.

What do they charge?  I thought they didn't charge anything unless you used their payment system.

 

[Walt]

After discussing it in our family, our daughter hit the nail on the head: "The preaching we've heard all of our lives is that God is able to meet our needs; by posting a request for help from strangers is effectively saying that it's not true.... that God is not big enough to meet our need."

Now we can stop all those pesky missionaries from coming and asking for money.  No more Faith Promise.

By "strangers", I was meaning "those outside the body of Christ".

Would you really be OK with missionaries posting for support on GoFundMe?

 

[Walt]

Yes.  God will take care of us.  If you are expecting money to fall from they sky, why not the cloud?  Your daughter's premise is that God will magically send us money.  And, he can.  God can also use the good will of others to meet that need.  Let's be honest - the church has abandoned it's purpose of benevolence.  Since the church won't do what it is supposed to do, can God not use the desires of others to share their own wealth to provide for needs?

Let's go a little further.  Quit your job.  You shouldn't depend on your employer or yourself - you should depend on God.  Quit your job and just pray and tell me how it goes.

God has stated that man should work for a living, and that it is the man's job to provide for his family.  Quitting my job to have God provide would be arrogant presumption, much like throwing oneself off of a building and trusting God to save one from the effects of gravity.

I'm not opposed to helping people; I'm not opposed to pleas for help from fellow believers.

Apparently, I'm alone in this, but I do feel bothered by the thought of Christians posting needs/wants on GoFundMe...

If someone wants to go on his senior class trip, should he just post something on GoFundMe?  As a teen, we had to work for the money, not just ask people in the cloud to give it to us.

 

[Walt]

This verse comes to mind...

Luke 16:9  And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

Interesting.  Best Scriptural argument for using GoFundMe.

 

[Binaca Chugger]

Yes.  God will take care of us.  If you are expecting money to fall from they sky, why not the cloud?  Your daughter's premise is that God will magically send us money.  And, he can.  God can also use the good will of others to meet that need.  Let's be honest - the church has abandoned it's purpose of benevolence.  Since the church won't do what it is supposed to do, can God not use the desires of others to share their own wealth to provide for needs?

Let's go a little further.  Quit your job.  You shouldn't depend on your employer or yourself - you should depend on God.  Quit your job and just pray and tell me how it goes.

God has stated that man should work for a living, and that it is the man's job to provide for his family.  Quitting my job to have God provide would be arrogant presumption, much like throwing oneself off of a building and trusting God to save one from the effects of gravity.

I'm not opposed to helping people; I'm not opposed to pleas for help from fellow believers.

I agree with you.  But, what about when tragedy strikes?  What about when a baby is murdered by an intruder and the family doesn't have money in savings to care for the funeral?  What about when a lay-off happens and the family was struggling to begin with and now they can't pay the electric bill?  Can a Christian not appeal to his fellow man for assistance?  Yes, God will provide, but He most often provides through the good will of other humans who cannot provide unless they know there is a need.

Apparently, I'm alone in this, but I do feel bothered by the thought of Christians posting needs/wants on GoFundMe...

If someone wants to go on his senior class trip, should he just post something on GoFundMe?  As a teen, we had to work for the money, not just ask people in the cloud to give it to us.

We started collecting money for a class trip or missions trip or our first car by asking family and friends first.  This is the model of GoFundMe and the rest.  A request is sent to people you know.  They may or may not contribute.  Your hope is that they will pass on the request to others they know who would want to support you.  It truly is simply an easy way for people who know you to make a contribution.  The number of absolute strangers supporting GoFundMe's is an incredibly low percentage.

 

[Bruh]

Quit your job. 

Reminds me of evangelist Tom Williams.

If memory serves, he did exactly that when he felt God call him to be an evangelist.  He didn't tell anyone God had called him.  He didn't call anyone asking for meetings.

It got to the point where his wife was sorta like Job's wife.  Not  "Curse God and die", but "We're gonna starve if you don't call and get a meeting".

Nope, he said, if God called, God can provide meetings.  It got real bad for them, but then the phone rang.  The rest is history.

Ive heard it said, your story always sounds better when you tell it, verses if someone else were to tell it.

If his story happened exactly as he tells it, that's awesome, but the problem is, how many people actually do this?

 

[Bruh]

I have no issue with helping someone with a financial need. If I know there back ground or there story I will decide from there. If I don't and its s stranger I'm more apt not to help. I will help a stranger and have if I'm really prompted by the Lord.

The church we use to attend had a man that lost his job. He never hit the pavement and went knocking on businesses for s job. He just sat at home. There was another older couple that would take the wife grocery shopping every week. The husband didn't go the wife went. God bless this older couple that's their business.

The husband without a job was not willing to get his hands dirty for work or do laborious type work. I approached him about a company I knew was hiring and he said, not my type of work. I said, ok.

A week or two later my wife asked if we could give them something, I turned to her and said, is he willing to dig ditches to support his family? She said, probably not. I said, he doesn't get a dime from us unless the Lord says otherwise.

Before he lost his job he was criticizing me because I travel a lot for work at the time. He looses his job I'm still traveling and have a job and allowing my wife to stay home and not worry about grocery money.

I know another man in that same church that had 5 kids at the time and told me once, I need food stamps look at all the kids I have. I turned to him and said, stop having them. There on there seventh pastoring a church on food stamps and Obamacare, I'm sure.



I'm not working right now because the oil field is dried up around here. I haven't been a helper for a lot of years now. I'm talking to a company right now to hire me to be a helper. I'm thankful God has given me the strength to provide for my wife and kids.

I have no idea how these men feel like men that don't have the manhood to do whatever they have to to provide for their families. I will never understand this.....never.

Do you think I'm gonna enjoy being a helper? No. I've worked long and hard to get to where I am. But I will be thankful for the work.