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August 15, 2008
Church rejects donation from lottery winner
One church received nearly $1 million donation from a lottery winner and the pastor refused to accept it. Is he crazy, self-righteous or right on?
No doubt there has been a lot of pontificating related to this subject. Some church leaders are quick to puff up their chests and boldly proclaim that they would never accept money from the lottery--even if it came directly from a church member. Others say, "Bring it on!"
I remember learning about some of the town history while serving my first church--a small rural community. At one time in this town's history, there was a distillery that was the largest employer in the area despite it being a dry county. This debate was raging within the church during this time: should the church accept money from an organization or entity that seems opposed to its view points. One chruch member is attributed to saying, "I'll take money from the devil himself if I can use it for the glory of God."
It's an interesting debate. One that has yet to be settled today. What would you do?
Posted by bstroup at August 15, 2008 8:08 AM
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Comments
I see the reasoning, but if an active member or participate that I knew and had a relationship with won the lottery, I would accept a donation.
What I would encourage though probably is, instead of making one large donation, commit to increase your giving over the long haul of the pay out. Take the million and support a missionary or an educational institution with it, but increase your tithe over the next 50 years as you either receive the payout or reap the benefit of investing 10 to 300 million dollars.
Posted by: jason smith at August 15, 2008 2:34 PM