Fundraising and fellowship
I understand that we need to be careful about asking others who are not of our fellowship to support our ministries. This is the reason often given for why we don’t have fundraisers outside of our own church family . . . bake sales, craft fairs, and the like. Yet many of our area Lutheran high schools are connected with thrift stores whose mission is to support those high schools. Is this okay? How can this practice be justified in light of the warning against seeking funding from those outside of our fellowship?
You are correct in noting that congregations are rightly concerned about the impression fundraising in the community can give to people in the community who are not part of the congregation. Congregational fundraising in the community can reinforce what many wrongly think in the first place—that “all the church is concerned about is money.” Congregational fundraising in the community can reinforce work-righteous thinking in some of the unchurched, leading them to think that “I’ve given to God, so I’ve done my duty.” Congregational fundraising in the community can undermine a church’s efforts to encourage its members to grow in their management of God’s blessings if they grow instead in their reliance on community revenue.
There is reason for our area Lutheran high schools to have these same concerns about fundraising in the community. And so, federations and associations of congregations do well to approach this matter of Christian freedom—and that is what fundraising in general is—with prayerful deliberation and application of scriptural principles in the best interests of its constituents and members of the community.
Federations and associations of congregations that have come to the conclusion that a thrift store fits well in their circumstances are exercising their Christian freedom. As with any area of Christian freedom, people are bound to have differing thoughts and opinions. That calls for patient discussion and listening on the part of those who are connected to an association/federation that operates a thrift store and non-judgmental Christian love on the part of those who are viewing such a venture from a distance.
When it comes to that which you asked about, as in any area of life where there is Christian freedom, we seek to do all things to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). We look to show love to our neighbor (Romans 13:9-10). We want to be guided by faith and not doubt (Romans 14:23).