FUND-RAISING;
CHURCH: FINANCES

Now, let’s get something straight at the outset. When Jesus said that His disciples could lay up treasures in heaven, He did not mean to imply or infer that if you give $10 to foreign missions this year, you will have $10 waiting for you in heaven!

You actually would not believe some of the gross misinterpretations which have been placed upon this teaching in order to get people to part with money for religious purposes.

I have seen a printed certificate issued by a certain tabernacle and which purports to be a bond issued against the Bank of Heaven. They printed it with all those fancy little curlicues, with gold and gilt edges, and stamped with an official-looking seal that really made it appear bona fide.

While I didn’t memorize the wording of the text on the printed bond, it was something to this effect: “You pay into this church the sum of $100, and then, when the Lord comes, you take this bond with you, and you will get your $100 back, plus 100 percent interest.”

Yes, I tell you, I saw that certificate as it had been issued. People often say to me, “Now, Brother Tozer, be charitable!” But I can’t be charitable with a skunk! That kind of thing needs to be exposed before the whole wide world.

That is religious racketeering, pure and simple!

Matthew 6:19–21; Acts 20:33; 1 Thessalonians 2:4–6

The Tozer Pulpit, Volume 1, Book 1, 45, 46.