Rev. Don Campbell
2 Kings 12-13; 2 Chronicles 24
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, July 5, 2019
“MONEY MATTERS
Money does matter. It mattered in the days of Joash and it matters today.
It had been over 150 years since Solomon’s temple had been dedicated. No matter how grand the structure, time will take its toll. In addition, Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, upon the death of her son the king usurped the throne and attempted to kill all the royal family and plundered the temple: “For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals” (2 Chronicles 24:7). In the 7th year of her reign, Jehoiada the high priest “took courage and entered into a covenant with the commanders of hundreds. One son of the royal family had been hidden and he, at age 7, was crowned king and Athaliah was executed.
Joash decided to repair the temple and gave the tasks to the priests and Levites. He had ordered them to “act quickly,” but they did not (2 Chronicles 24:5). In the 23rd year of his reign, he summed the priests to give an account of why they had been collecting money, but not building the temple. Were they misappropriating money for themselves or where they simply lazy or inept? After all, they were priests, not masons, stonecutters, or carpenters.
We do not know the answer, but from this incident and all-too-common news reports, we learn that the financial affairs of churches and nonprofits should be managed by those capable of doing so and all matters should be above suspicion. To avoid any charge of misappropriation of funds, Paul did not place contributions in the hands of one man: “He was appointed by the churches to accompany us as we take the offering to Jerusalem—a service that glorifies the Lord and shows our eagerness to help. We are traveling together to guard against any criticism for the way we are handling this generous gift. We are careful to be honorable before the Lord, but we also want everyone else to see that we are honorable” (2 Corinthians 8:19-21, NLT).
CONNECTIONS
1. Several very high-profile nonprofits have made the news since 2016: The Clinton Foundation, The Trump Foundation, the Wounded Warrior Project, National Rifle Association, the college admissions scandal which exposed several high-profile universities. If it were not for “watchdog” groups these scandals may never have surfaced. How might such scandals harm all nonprofits?
2. What safeguards does your church or nonprofit have in place to protect those handling the money from temptation and the organization from loss and scandal?
