Would Your Church Accept $600,000 From a Lottery Winner?
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Mon, August 18, 2008
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- (70) comments so far
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After Robert Powell hit the Florida Lottery jackpot last month and took home more than $6 million, he thought of his church. And he offered to drop his tithe, around $600,000, in the collection plate of First Baptist Orange Park. But the church and Pastor David Tarkington politely declined and told Powell they will not accept the lottery winnings. Pastor David Tarkington would not say exactly why the church refused the money, saying only he 'didn't want to talk about members' gifts'.
So... here's the question of the day... if someone in YOUR church won the lottery and wanted to tithe the money. Would you accept or deny the money. If you accept the money, why? And if you would deny the money, do you also check to see where your other tithes and offerings are coming from... you know... just to be safe? Please take a moment to leave your comment...
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Adam on Mon, August 18, 2008
Definitely would…..the devil’s had it long enough.
Andrew Dow on Mon, August 18, 2008
A friend related to me about a “Christian” Daycare they were involved with that had been offered money from a fundraiser that they declined. It seems that some of the mom’s who used the daycare services worked at a local strip club. So being appreciative of the care their children were receiving they organized a carwash fundraiser, albeit a bikini carwash! While laughing at the absurdity of the situation the daycare found themselves in, I also wondered what kind of message the mom’s received in being denied the opportunity to give back to the place that gave them so much. When we offer God our gifts they really are worthless in comparison with his Glorious Gift of Life. Yet he accepts our gifts with all the love and grace that we can handle.
fundyfailure on Mon, August 18, 2008
Todd,
Absolutely take the money! There is no reason not too. There are probably a lot of people in my church and others that give money they got in unethical and wrong ways. Why not take the money and use it for good to be sure it’s not used for any other purposes.
Matt
Honor Bound on Mon, August 18, 2008
Finding money that isn’t “tainted” will be pretty tough since every donation is from a sinner ... ooops, scripture says we’re all sinners and at the same time tells us to give money.
And I don’t have time to look for it right now, but there is a scripture verse that says “take the money” from sinful sources and use it for God’s work. [Is that “gambler” donor more of a sinner than the liar in the next pew, the luster among the deacons, the curser who greets people at the front door, the smoker, drinker, porno viewing members?]
I believe I could get on a rant about this !!!
Rober Powell ... call me if you’re having difficulty donating this money to a church. We can work something out !!!
Jamie Westlake on Mon, August 18, 2008
I’d suggest the donor give at least 20% to “clean up” the lottery money!
Matt on Mon, August 18, 2008
I would take money from Satan himself if there were no strings attached!
Bill Harrel on Mon, August 18, 2008
I was approached by a member with a question like this between services one Sunday. Before I could answer one or our senior adults responded for me. She said “Billy Sunday said one time that this money has been in Satan’s hands long enough. Let’s take it away and see what God can do with it.”
I can’t verify the Billy Sunday quote, just that she stated it with great confidence. We were in the midst of raising $1.5 mil for a land purchase. To my knowledge, no one ever won so we never had a chance to try it out. We did raise the money and bought the 20 acres.
On another occassion someone placed two new lottery tickets in the offering plate. I scratched them that week and announced to the church the next Sunday that we had not won and then encouraged them in the future to put the price of the ticket in the offering plate instead and warned against the desire to get rich quick.
Brian L. on Mon, August 18, 2008
I heard of a Christian school who kicked out the young elementary aged girl because mom was a stripper (and yes - she paid with her tips).
I can understand the quandary of not wanting to appear to support the mom’s vocation, but the bigger question is this: did anyone think of befriending this single mom and helping her find Christ (and a different job as God allowed), being honestly concerned about HER and HER CHILD instead of where the money came from?
I can’t agree enough with those who have said that the money has belonged to the enemy long enough. Accept it and be grateful to God for the unusual method of His bringing it to them!
Leonard on Mon, August 18, 2008
BrianL that happened in my town at a church I a very familiar with. They not only offered to befriend, they offered her other jobs, tried to help with employment and were very Christ like. She refused.
That said, I don’t think money was ever given anywhere that wasn’t given by a sinner… Except for Jesus of course.
Tom on Mon, August 18, 2008
I know this is a touchy subject for some. However we as pastors and such, have a mandate from Christ Himself. Jesus ate and associated with the dregs of society. Jesus and his disciples had to eat and live on the road, as it were. Where did they get the money to survive the three years that Jesus was training them? (Hint, it must have been from those filthy sinners and tax collectors, and prostitutes, don’t you think?)
My ministry is in the inner city. A lot of our people live in squalor and hopelessness. The State of California has been a lotto state for many years. Our people, in spite of being members, or just attendee’s of our little church, will buy a lotto ticket, even when they know they should not be wasting their money on such. If one of them was to come to me and told me they had won a large lotto, and wanted to help the church out, I would counsel him/her to take care of their family first, and of course tithe the rest. (Not greedy, just grateful to God for the excess of His bounty.)
Also, I have married those who were living in sin, after counseling them, as Jesus said, to go and sin no more. (What? You would have them continue in rebellion against God’s marriage plans)? I have Baptized the most horrible of sinners, and welcomed them into our fellowship. (By the way what were you, ((Or Me for that matter)), before we came to a saving relationship with Christ)?
I guess what I am getting at, is that God has the ability to surprise us and provide from various and diverse directions.
Lord Bless you, and all of your givers.
Brian L. on Mon, August 18, 2008
Leonard,
Yeah - that’s one of the caveats of ministry.
We can offer, but we can’t force them to take us up on our help.
W. Mark Whitlock on Mon, August 18, 2008
In my church, the pastor doesn’t know who gave what—just the deacons on the finance board know. That way, the pastor can’t be tempted to play favorites.
If I had won the lottery, I probably would’ve tried to give the money anonymously anyway.
Randy Ehle on Mon, August 18, 2008
For those of you who say you wouldn’t take “tainted” lottery money…have you asked the rest of the people in the church if they’re playing the lottery? I bet (no pun intended) that far more people than we might realize are “playing”, but just aren’t winning the big bucks…so from a reasonable perspective you’ve got to say that anyone who wins even a couple dollars in the lottery and gives to the church is giving “tainted” money.
By the way, when Zaccheus encountered Jesus, he promised to give back not only what he cheated people out of, but four times as much. And that was on top of (i.e., after) promising to give half his possessions to the poor. That suggests that his wealth was primarily gained through cheating. I don’t read anything about Jesus telling him not to share those tainted possessions with the poor.
Personally, I can’t think of a single reason not to accept lottery money.
Randy Ehle on Mon, August 18, 2008
Another thought - the only “church” people I’m aware of in the Bible who refused money were those who paid off Judas to betray Jesus, then wouldn’t accept the money back because it was “blood money.” Apparently, to them, it was okay to use synagogue funds to hire an assassin (or close to it), but it wasn’t okay to take money from the assassin!!
Brian L. on Mon, August 18, 2008
Randy,
I’m with you.
The biggest reason I hear about not accepting money from lottery winnings is that most folks who play the lottery are from poorer families who use their paychecks to play (this also includes things like video lottery - the most addictive form of gambling, according to some studies) rather than to buy groceries and pay bills.
Accepting lottery money for these churches makes them feel they are condoning an industry that makes it’s countless billions in profits off the backs of those who really can’t afford to be playing. They’re not using disposable income, they’re using money that is earmarked for essentials.
I agree with that perspective (to a point - I don’t have trouble with the church accepting winnings), and would have absolutely no problem with gambling being eradicated.
Because it’s sin? No - because those most affected are those who are least able to afford the addiction.
This is the gist of the John Piper response I mentioned in an earlier post.
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