4. Financial temptations call for ‘safety in numbers’
4. Financial temptations call for ‘safety in numbers’
Wherever there is money, there is temptation. This is just as true for Christians as anybody else, so it is wise to protect ourselves from temptation by having more than one person involved in handling the money. This way of working was true of Paul’s ministry in general. He was a great individual minister, preacher, gospel letter writer, and everything else. But generally he did not operate alone. He was the leader, but he worked with teams that included people such as Silas, Barnabas, Timothy, and Titus. Indeed, when Paul did find himself completely alone, he was distressed about it. In 2 Timothy 4:16 there are heartrending words when everyone has deserted him; this was terrible for him. He wanted to be in a team; he wanted to belong with others.
Great emphasis is laid on the plurality of people involved in handling money. Knowing exactly who was involved becomes quite complicated, but evidently there were several people. In 1 Corinthians 16:3–4 Paul says, ‘I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve’—in other words, those whom the Christians in Corinth trusted. Then offering to do the task himself, he writes, ‘If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.’ So he would not take charge of the money by himself, but would involve others.
It is also difficult to know how many are involved in 2 Corinthians 8:16–24, but we can identify some.
I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel [this was a trusted Christian leader]. What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us.
So he was someone elected or chosen and appointed to exercise this financial responsibility. In addition to this, ‘We are sending with them our brother [Paul does not name him] who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you’ (v 22).
So the point is, certainly more than one person was involved, and they were all trusted people. They were accepted and known by everybody. There was no anonymity. Christian accountability is a matter of trust between fellow believers, but Paul shows us the wisdom of building in safeguards of plurality, because even believers are still sinners and few things are more tempting than money. Paul is well aware that even trusted brothers can go astray. Sadly, we read about a few of them at the end of his letters when he writes that some who preferred the world and the world’s ways have gone off and left him (e.g., 2 Timothy 4:10). Paul knew that even the best people need the protection of relational accountability to one another.
So then, Paul insists on plurality in the handling of money. It is a very wise principle to adopt in any church or Christian endeavour. In many UK churches, certainly in my own church at All Souls, gift money is never counted by only one person. When the offering is brought to the vestry, there are always at least two and sometimes three or four people in the room. The door is then closed, and they count the offering together. They are a check on one another. Now of course, we all trust one another; nobody expects that anybody is going to be doing anything wrong, but there is need for openness and verifiability in handling money. We need to be above suspicion.
Many organizations, including my own, will not allow bank cheques to be signed by only one person; there must always be two signatories to manage the bank account and the finances. That is another wise practice.
How do we make that work in a cultural setting where it is unthinkable to question the honour and authority of the senior leader—least of all by calling him to account over money? That would be to break the relationship and cause loss of face. So how should we ensure proper accountability? Perhaps here the leaders themselves should take the initiative. They could choose to say, ‘Please, will you join me as we do this? I request that other people should be involved with me as we arrange our financial affairs, or as we handle these funds, or as we set up this Trust. I want other people alongside myself to see how the money is handled and how the decisions are made. I want them to be completely satisfied that all is being done transparently and honourably’. In that way the person at the top is able to lead from the top and to set the example, just as the Apostle Paul did. Paul could easily have said, ‘I’m an apostle. Trust me. I’ll do this myself’. But he did not. He insisted from the top that there should be others alongside him to ensure it was all done honestly. If a leader does this voluntarily, he is not saying to those under him, ‘I think you don’t trust me’. Rather he is saying, ‘I know you trust me. And because you trust me, I want to make sure that your trust is never betrayed. I want to be completely transparent, and therefore I choose to share my accountability with other trusted Christian friends and brothers’.
Summary Principle 4: To introduce higher standards of accountability, we must lead by example. Accountability is something we as leaders should choose to have, for our own good and for the protection of the Lord’s name, not something that is forced upon us.