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2 Chronicles 16:1-10 – Our Own Personal Temple Bank Account
There is a recurring theme found within the history of the Southern Kingdom of Judah; that is, the temple became the personal bank account of the king. Time and again, when threatened by outside armies, the king robs the temple of its gold and silver. This is done to bribe the invading king, or to buy protection from a king of another nation (2 Chron.16:1-4).
Personally, I can understand their thinking, after all, who dedicated the gold and silver to the temple in the first place? The kings! Therefore it was “theirs.” But just because I can understand and rationalize that does not make it right (2 Chron.16:7-9). After all, who gave the gold and silver to the king? God!
We would never be so brazen today, now would we? (Please note the sarcastic tone in which that sentence was typed). Do churches today act as if the church bank account is theirs? Yes, and in two very distinct ways.
First, by spending the money on things God never authorized. Church treasuries are often supplying camps for kids, sports and social meals. Not the focus is funding spiritual works such as preaching the gospel and supplying the needs of indigent Christians.
Second, by not spending the money on things God did authorize. Churches are so afraid of spending unscripturally that they seldom scripturally spend. A wise preacher, David Tant, once said that the business of the church is to save souls, not to save money.
Let’s make it a recurring theme in our own church that we recognize that everything belongs to God. Let’s not make the church account our own personal bank account.
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