Is Raising Support Biblical?
Raising support is not simply a form of Christian begging. When Jesus entered a new town, he regularly accepted the hospitality of others and instructed his disciples to do the same (Matt. 10:11). Jesus didn’t just receive money from people on the “most likely to give” list, either. Luke records that Jesus even accepted monetary gifts from women, a culturally unacceptable practice at the time (Luke 8:3).
It’s no surprise that you or anybody else might doubt the biblical basis of raising support; the New Testament records individuals and churches who didn’t believe in the idea either. Take the Corinthian church: these Christians felt their missionary should work for a living (1 Cor. 9:3-6). Because of this attitude, Paul never asked them for financial support (vs. 15). Yet, the whole chapter defends his right to receive financial assistance from them. Later, Paul scolded them for their immature view toward him and their reluctance to support him when he wrote, “I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you” (2 Cor. 11:8).
Throughout Scripture, we find God expects His people to support those involved in full-time service. He instituted a tithe as the means to support the Levites (Num. 18:24, Neh. 13:10-13). And throughout the history of Israel, God promised to bless those who invest in this work (Pro. 3:9-10, Mal. 3:10).
Paul said emphatically to the Corinthians, “The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel” (1Cor. 9:14). And John wrote Gaius saying that it was a good thing to support missionaries because “it was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans” (3 John 5-8).
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