Srpski English

Money and Church

WHEN ADDRESSING THE QUESTION of the relationship of money to the Church one immediately comes to the realization that, although the Church does not exist to make money, the Church as an institution living in the world needs money to exist. In saying this, one does not diminish the importance of the presence of God for the existence and the continuation of the life of the Church; indeed, even if we had all of the money in the world but lacked the abiding presence of Chirst who dwells among us in and through the Holy Spirit, there would not, nor could not, be the Church.
At first glance, it may appear that money and the Church have very little to do with one another except for the fact that money is used to “pay the bills” of the Church. While it is true that God and not money is the true content of our faith, we must seek to understand the theological vision of giving to the Church that is presented to us within the Tradition of the Church.
By taking flesh from the Virgin Mary, Our Lord Jesus Christ accepted to enter into the fullness of the material world. In the action of the Incarnation, Jesus united heaven and earth and once and for all abolished the dichotomy between the “spiritual” and the “material”. The myth that there is still a dichotomy between spiritual and material realms of life is no more than a denial of the true implications of the Incarnation. In Christ heaven and earth are united. By entering the material world, our Saviour has sanctified matter. Therefore even money can be used for the glory of God and the upbuilding of the Church.

Offering Our First Fruits…

When we give money to the Church, we are offering back to the Lord something of ourselves. All things ultimately are from God. We have been given all things from God, and we have been given the task of being faithful stewards throughout all of God’s creation.
As a way of giving thanks to all God has given us, we are called to set aside our “first fruits” for God:“Honor the Lord with your substance and with the first fruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine” (Proverbs 3:9-10). We are called b y the Scriptures to offer back to the Lored something of what the Lord has allowed us to earn. Notice that the Scripture emphasizes the first fruits of our labor. Many times we present our offering unto the Lord only after everything else is taken care of…necessities, vacations, entertainment, liquor, cigarettes. To offer our first fruits however, is precisely to look to God and give thanks to Him first of all. The first fruits of our labor are not the leftovers.

How Much Should I Give?
The Church does not exist to collect and make money. Rather the Church exists to reveal and witness to the Kingdom of God which has been inaugurated in Jesus Christ and which will come in its fullness at the consummation of time.
To ask the question, “How much should I give to the Church so that Her essential mission may continue?” is perhaps not the correct question to ask at the beginning. Rather, the essential question must be: “How much have I been given by God? What has Jesus Christ accomplished for me? How does the work of Christ and His Church mean to me? Contemplate…ask the righ questions…then give a consistent, responsible way. The important thing to remember is that we have been given called to offer up the first fruits of our labor; hence the Church should occupy a place of priority in our budget. There is something radically wrong with us spiritually if we have money allocated not only for necessities but for recreation, entertainment, liquor, cigarettes, hairdressers, waitress tips, and then offer to the Lord only the “crumbs” of our labor.
The Bible provides us with certain quidelines for giving to the Church:
1. Whatever we give, however much or little, we should never boast about it (Matthew 6:l-4)
2. We should give regularly. The Apostle Paul tells the faithful of Corinth to “put something aside…on the first day of every week” for the Church (I. Cor.16:2)
3.Whatever we give we should give cheerfully. The Apostle Paul keenly illustrates this point when he writes: “The point is this: he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (II. Cor. 9:6-7)
Throughout our discussion two conclusions have been assumed. First of all we have tacitly assumed that the first way of supporting the Church must be through sacrificial giving, offering something of ourselves to the Lord as a thanksgiving to God. Although it is possible to raise Church funds through dinners, picnics, etc., this way of raising funds must always be secondary. We must reject the notion that the Church is part of our consumer society, always under the obligation of giving us something for us to use and consume in return for our money.
Our second common assertion and conclusion must be that our Lord’s Church is not a CHARITY. Our Lord is not a beggar, and His Church in not a poorhouse having the need to constantly beg for people’s nickels and dimes. As Orthodox Christians we know that the Church is our participation in the Life of Christ Himself, communicated to us by the Holy Spirit in the Liturgical and Sacramental life of the Church. We are therefore certain that whatever we give to the Lord with a simple intention and with a cheerful heart, the Lord will accept and send down upon us in return His Great Mercy.

---

Novac i Crkva

Kada se postavi pitanje o vezi izmedju Crkve i novca, jasno je da Crkva ne postoji da bi zaradjivala novac, ali da Crkva postoji u svijetu koji zahtijeva novac za opstanak.
Naravno, niko ne zanemaruje znacaj Bozije volje u opstanku Crkve i nastavku njenog zivota, odnosno cinjenice da ako imamo sav novac ovog svijeta, ali nemamo prisustvo Isusta Hrista, koji dolazi iymedju nas preko Svetog, Zivotvornog Duha, onda nemamo i ne mozemo da imamo Crkvu.
Na prvi pogled novac u Crkvi veoma malo znaci za nas odnos, tek pokriva regularne racune. Mada je istina da je BOG, a ne novac sadrzaj nase vjere, ipak je dobro da uvidimo teoloske poglede na ovo pitanje koje nam je ostavila nasa tradicija.

Nas Gospod Isus Hristos se ovaplotio od Marije Djeve, od Presvete Bogorodice, postao je covjek i tako stupio u materijalni svijet. U ovom dijelu je Hristos ujedinio nebo I zemlju I jednom za svagda razbio dihotomiju izmedju “duhovnog” I “materijalnog”. Mit da jos postoji dihotomija izmedju ova dva aspekta zivota, na isvjestan na;in opovrgava ovu istinu. U Hristu su ujedinjeni nebo I zemlja. Silaskom u materijalni svijet, nas Spasitelj je osvetio materiju. Prema tome, cak I novac moze da se koristi za velicanje Boga I podizanje Njegove Crkve.

“Postuj Gospoda svojim prvinama…”

Kad damo prilog za Crkvu, dajemo nesto od samih sebe, nazad Bogu. Sve u sustini dolazi od Boga. Od Njega dobijamo stvari, kao I zadatak da budemo vjerni pomagaci u svijetu koji je stvorio Bog. Kao nacin da se zahvalimo Bogu za ono sto nam je dao mi ostavljamo prve plodove za Njega: “Postuj Gospoda imanjem svojim I prvinama od svega dohotka svojeta; I bice pune zitnice tvoje obilja, I presipace se vino iz kaca tvojih”.
Nas poziva Sveto pismo da podarimo nesto Bogu, zauzvrat nasim darovima. Primjetimo da se od nas trazi da damo prve plodove. Umjesto toga mi cesto sacekamo da se nase potrebe podmire, kao sto su putovanja, zabava, pice, cigarette. Prvi plodovi medjutim, nisu ostatci, vec izrazavaju velicinu nase zahvalnosti Bogu.

Sebicnost: Cesto Iskusenje

“Tastina je sve ljudsko sto posle smrti ne ostaje; ne ostaje bogatstvo, niti prati slava; jer kad smrt naidje, sve se to unisti…” Ove rijeci su uzete iz teksta Pravoslavne pogrebne sluzbe, koje nas potsjecaju da mi nismo u stanju da sebicno prisvojimo nesto za sebe, zbog same prirode naseg bica. Kad umremo, bogatstvo, novac, posjed, pa cak I siromastvo ne znace vise nista. Kada se dodje do horizontal nasih zivota, sve ostaje iza nas. Hriscanstvo nam otkriva da je sebicnost grijeh, tako sto nam otkriva da je sebicnost laz o nasoj moci da posjedujemo bilo sta zauvjek. Ako jesmo Pravoslavni hriscani, onda je mudro da izbjegavamo paznju I uvazavanje materijalni dobara (idolopoklonstvo), kao I prepustanje iskusenju sebicnosti. U suprotnom, ako bi dopustili ovo “ropstvo” izgubili bi Hriscanku viziju zivota, posjeda I smrti. Sustina ovog jeste da Hriscani treba da se oslobode I kada su u pitanju prilozi za Crkvu. Sebicnost je u suprotnosti sa vizijom zivota koju nam je otkrio Isus Hristos.

Koliko Treba Dati?
Crkva ne postoji da bi prikupljala novac.
Umjesto toga ona postoji da otkrije Bozije carstvo koje je predstavljeno u Isusu Hristu I koje ce se pokazati u svojoj punoci po isteku vremena. Ako bi postavili pitanje: “Koliko treba dati za Crkvu da se omoguci nastavak Njene misije?”, treba da ostavimo za kasnije. Umjesto toga mozemo reci: “Koliko sam ja dobio od Boga? Sta je Hristos ucinio za mene? Koliko meni znaci Njegov rad I rad ove Crkve?” Razmislimo o nekim ovim pitanjima… a onda dajmo odgovor. Vazno je da zapamtimo da se od nas trazi da podarimo prve plodove svog rada, sto znaci da Crkva treba da predstavlja prioritet u nasem budzetu. Nesto nije u redu, ako ostavljamo novac za rekreaciju, zabavu, pice, cigarette, frizere, kelnere, a onda podnesemo pred Boga prvice sa naseg stola.
Biblija nam daje neke savjete za davanje priloga Crkvi:

1.“Pazite da milostinju svoju ne cinite pred ljudima da vas oni vide: inace plate nemate od Oca svojega koji je na nebesima” (Matej 6:1-)

2.Apostol Pavle nam govori da morao redovno davati. “Svakoga prvog dana nedjelje (sedmice), neka svaki od vas ostavlja kod sebe sakupljajuci koliko moze…” za Crkvu. (1.Kor. 16:2)

3.Sv. Apostol Pavle nam opet savjetuje da, kada dajemo prilog za Crkvu, uvijek dajemo sa radosnim srcem: “A ovo velim: Ko skrto sije, skrto ce I znjeti, a ko sa blagoslovima sije, sa blagoslovima ce I znjeti. Svaki kako odluci u srcu, ne sa zaloscu ili prinudno; jer Bog ljubi onoga koji dragovoljno daje.” (2. Kor. 9:6-7).

Kroz ova razmatranja dosli smo do dva zakljucka: Prvo, da smo svi svjesni da je pravi nacin da se podrzava Crkva kroz zrtveno davanje, ponudi neceg od nas, za Boga, u znak zahvalnosti. Mada jeste moguce da se novac sakuplja kroz ruckove, piknike I sl., ovo je tek sekundarni nacin sakupljanja. Moramo da odbacimo misao da je Crkva DUZNA da nam uzvraca u materijalnom pogledu za nas novac, kao da je dio potrosackog drustva.

Sa druge strane, Crkva nije DOBROTVORNO DRUSTVO, vec sabor Bozija Crkva! Nas Bog sigurno nije prosjak, a nasa Crkva nije sirotiste u kome neprekidno treba da molimo za ljude za njihove priloge u sitnini. Kao Pravoslavni Hriscani znamo da nase ucestvovanje u Crkvi predstavlja zivot u samom Hristu, koji se sa nama povezuje putem Svetog Duha I Liturgijsksog I Svetotajinskog zivota Crkve. Zato smo sigurni da sta god damo za Gospoda, to treba da ucinimo sa jednostavnom namjerom I radosnim srcem, a Bog ce taj dar primiti, poslavsi nam Svoju Veliku Milost.