Equality Among Believers

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In a free society, where there is free enterprise and economic competition, there is much talk about equality, and making sure that everyone is treated fairly. Certainly, fairness and compassion are appropriate. Unfortunately, in secular society, the evolving arbiter and coordinator for the widespread distribution of wealth is often central government. A good example of this was witnessed in the Soviet Union, in which the state took over the receipt and redistribution of resources from those who “had” to those who were “without”. The problem that evolved quickly, however, was the loss of freedom for those to whom state provisions were being made. Taken to an extreme, equality in society requires management by some force to see that absolute equality is observed, which can lead easily to a totalitarian style of government.

Many times, those who want greater enforcement of equality want bigger government. Others want smaller government and believe that free enterprise will meet individual needs better than big government. The tug of war between these two factions is an ancient one, and I have no interest in sorting out all the differences. I will only say, without elaborating, that Scripture supports free enterprise.

We can say, unequivocally, that there is no such thing as equality in the world. This will shock you, but you will understand it shortly. There are two races in the world. One race is superior, and the other is inferior. You see, one race belongs to a “royal family”, and the other can be characterized as belonging to the “huddled masses”. But get this: the two races that we will discuss have nothing to do with skin color, ethnicity, or national origin. The two races consist of believers and unbelievers. If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are a member of a superior race. I cannot distinguish height, weight, I.Q., wealth, skin color, national origin, taste in fashion, gender, age, natural ability, or anything else about you that will make you eligible for membership in my race...only that you have been saved. If you are a believer, we are not only members of the same race, but we are in the same family. And NO unbeliever can belong!

So, we begin with inequality in the human race. The unusual thing about our superior race is that we want all people to join us. Our club is not exclusive or prohibitive. All have an open invitation to become members. Those who accept the invitation will become sons of God, and they will join the collection of humans who can now claim royalty as members of God’s family. Gal. 3:26-28 says this:

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

“Human” qualities go out the window, when it comes to God’s family. If we are sons, then we are in the family. Rom. 8:15 says, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.” As members of the family of God, we are part of a superior race...so there is no equality between the two “races”.

Now, equality is very much called for in Scripture, in spite of everything we have just said about economic inequalities in society, or about the absolute inequality between the two races in the world. Equality is commanded among believers. The scriptural ideal is one that calls for equality in all ways. And I will contend that the “church” is a place where equality and redistribution of resources can legitimately be practiced. Satan wants to discredit God’s plan for believers’ care for one another. He does this by influencing or even creating counterfeit “churches”, which are governments that control its citizens in the name of “taking care of them”. Unfortunately, those whom governments claim to care for always end up suffering more as a result of the governments’ control of their lives. Basically, the job of government is to provide safety and protection, and to preserve the integrity of its borders. Otherwise, the watchword for societal structure is “freedom”.

We want to explain what we mean by “equality” in the church. Oddly enough, the communist creed of “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” fits well in the relationships that go on in the royal family (though they were not effective in Satan’s world). And who administers the distribution of resources in the church? It is the Holy Spirit. Here is how it works: When a maximum number of believers achieve maturity, with each member functioning under the control of the Spirit in the exercise of his/her gifts, the needs of all church members will be met. The mutual exchange of gifted services results in each member getting what he needs to function effectively with his or her gifts. Each supports the other, as they build each other up, edify each other, and help each other in every way.

Our primary job as believers is not to evangelize...that will get done...it is to HELP EACH OTHER!! As each of us grows, we help others, and as more believers grow, more help is available to all of us. There should never be a need of any kind that is not met by members of the family of God. Keep in mind that gifted services are primarily for believers, though some gifts may reach out to the world at large, with food distribution, medical assistance, child care, and dissemination of the gospel message standing out as examples. But the central purpose of gifts is to strengthen each other, because this is the way the war is won. The greatest damage we can do to the cause of Satan, and the greatest way that we can glorify God, is to feed His family!! That means taking care of fellow believers in every way.

Taking care of each other in ways that advance maturity is very important; we have covered all of these in the past, and will have more to say about them in the upcoming book on “service”. But there are physical and material needs as well, that must be taken care of. Fortunately, when things work like they are supposed to, there are gifts to cover every need. The thing that promotes the greatest success in gifted operations is the correct teaching of truth, so that believers can grow in understanding and wisdom. As believers grow, they will master the concepts and methods of grace that enable them to enter advanced levels of training; these, in turn, lead to maturity and the enhanced function of spiritual gifts. The reason too little is being done with spiritual giftedness is that there are too few mature believers to carry it out.

Once the hurdle of maturity has been negotiated (no small leap), then the arrangement of gifted operations can start to congeal. And once gifts are operating freely in the power and love of the Holy Spirit, then all believers will be elevated, and equality among them can become a reality.

One of the most obvious ways in which there is inequality among believers is in the area of financial capability and personal care. Some believers do not have enough basic resources to take care of themselves, which means gifts are not operating to take care of them. When it comes to gifts, both the receiver and the giver must be in fellowship for the exchange to be meaningful. For gifts to have their intended effect, the Holy Spirit must be the one directing their operation. Once again, we see the need for spirituality and maturity. God uses believers to meet the needs of believers. There are other ways He can get things done, but one way for sure is through the operation of gifts.

We need to take a look now at some scriptures that define and govern the operation of gifts, especially those that pertain to equality. In Ex. 16:17-18, we see the process for gathering manna each day that was used by the Jews during their time in the desert. This passage says the following:

"The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. And when they measured it by the omer [about two quarts], he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed."

Each person was to have the same amount as everyone else. This is the divine principle for equality among believers. Everyone is to have roughly the same as everyone else. Gifts are designed to bring about two things: 1) edification, and 2) equality. In 2 Cor. 8:10-15, we see equality called for by Paul, where he included the quote from Exodus just given (“no one has too much or too little”). He is discussing the giving done by the Corinthians to support other churches. Here is what he told them:

"And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have. Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, as it is written: 'The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little'.”

First of all, notice that giving is to be done “according to what one has”...with “willingness”. Notice also that anyone can give money or resources, not just those with the gift of giving (see the “gift of giving” in Rom. 12:6-7). This is true of most gifts. Just because we do not have the gift of encouragement does not mean we cannot be encouraging. And just because we are not gifted in showing mercy does not mean we should not be ready to show mercy...under the leadership, and at a time determined by, the Holy Spirit. By the same token, just because we do not have the gift of “giving” does not mean that we should not give generously, as led and prompted by the Holy Spirit. But this does not mean we must “give until it hurts”; Paul says we should not give until we are “hard pressed”, but IF WE HAVE IT, especially if we HAVE THE GIFT OF GIVING, we should assume that much of what we have must be labeled as aid for specific believers in need.

 “But my granddaddy and my daddy and now I...worked hard for this money, and you want me to just give it away?” 1 Cor. 4:6-7 answers this questions, as follows:

"Now, brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, 'Do not go beyond what is written.' Then you will not take pride in one man over against another. For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?"

What do you have that God did not give you? It is yours to use in service; if you redirect what you receive into selfish pursuits, rather than sharing it with those in need, then you are living for the world and yourself, and not for God. You should not be hard-pressed in your giving, so that your “lifestyle” is completely disrupted, but you must make sure you are giving what God asks. Your focus must be on the needs of fellow-believers, and not on ever-grander schemes to provide yourself with excesses in the world, such as increasing non-essential properties, or adding optional privileges in the world...things that have nothing to do with your function in God’s work.

1 Tim. 6:17-19a gives the correct posture and practice of believers with wealth. This passage says this:

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves..."

It is easy for those with money to put their faith in what their account numbers tell them they are worth. There is an enormous pull that draws them into believing that what they have in the world is real and reliable. God’s eternal resources for accomplishing His superior purposes get downplayed. Perhaps the giving of the rich will not create true economic “equality”, but their giving will alleviate problems for believers that prevent them from studying and praying and exercising their own gifts. By the wealthy giving, the wheels of a group of believers are oiled and the church machine is functioning smoothly with each believer contributing according to his gift.

I am going to say something else about such gifted giving. Most gifted functions take place between one individual believer and another. (I know, you and I both can think of exceptions.) A committee does not have to meet to decide that John (a gifted “prayer warrior”) will pray for Elizabeth. It comes to John’s attention that Elizabeth needs prayer for something, and John prays for her regarding her need, without some group decision (this is actually laughable). When someone needs encouraging, deacons don’t gather to see if Mary (a gifted encourager) should meet with Matthew (a discouraged believer) to offer her services to him. She becomes aware of Matthew’s discouragement, and avails herself of the first opportunity to provide encouragement to him. When wealthy believer Schmidt discovers that believer Smith is down and out, he goes straight to him to fill the need. This allows the Spirit to privately meet the needs of Smith, while providing Schmidt with the opportunity to exercise his gift. God’s children are thus served, He is glorified, the function of the church is enhanced, and everyone benefits. The exercise of gifts all around benefits all believers.

Obviously, the “church” has certain institutional needs, for which corporate collections become useful. This is to be directed by God through individual giving according to personal fund availability and not through some tail-twisting system for fleecing the flock (to mix a metaphor). Opportunities to give are fine, but there should be no pressure exerted to give, especially among those who simply do not have it to give. Do not listen to preachers that demand money through cajoling, demagoguery, shaming, dangling immediate prosperity, legalistic tithing, or the use of Madison Avenue techniques to part you from your money. So what should you do? Grow in grace and knowledge, and follow God’s lead! If you have it, and want to give, God will bless this. But never give because someone is prodding you to turn loose of what God has given you to live and perform your own functions within His system of gifted operations.

On the other hand, if you can be considered “wealthy” by common standards, you should look closely into opportunities to use what you have accumulated to assist believers who need it. Never should there be a believer who is hungry or destitute or homeless with a wealthy believer nearby. Earning money is a GIFT that must be shared. You can keep it all, but don’t cinch up your tie on Sunday morning and expect to go stand in the church with a clear conscience or any sense that you are operating in God’s will. If you value God, grow and build your faith and learn to operate in the Spirit, so that you can give according to His direction. If we all follow Him, all needs will be met!