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THE TEN-CENTS-A-WEEK PLAN

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Michigan · Apr 16, 1901

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 78, No. 16.

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THE TEN-CENTS-A-WEEK PLAN

By John Norton Loughborough

The apostle Paul, when communicating with the Gentiles concerning their obligation to administer of their “carnal things” to those who had imparted to them of “their spiritual things,”—the gospel,—said: “For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. For I mean not that other men be eased and ye burdened: but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality.” Rom. 15: 27; 2 Cor. 8: 12-14.
Concerning the question of liberality we read in “Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. I, page 190: “I was pointed back to the days of the apostles, and saw that God laid the plan by the descent of His Holy Spirit, and that by the gift of prophecy He counseled His people in regard to a system of benevolence. All were to share in this work of imparting of their carnal things to those who ministered unto them in spiritual things.”
The Scriptures clearly set forth the importance of recognizing the claims the Lord has upon us, and the danger of yielding to the natural, selfish tendency of the human heart. Paul said of Timotheus, “I have no man like-minded, who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” Phil. 2: 20, 21.
Knowing the liability to love earthly above heavenly things, Moses gave a warning to Israel just before his death, in these words: Beware “lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein; and when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied, . . . thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth. But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is He that giveth thee power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He sware unto thy fathers as it is this day.” Deut. 8: 12-18.
Mind, Moses did not say that the Lord gave the children of Israel power to get wealth that they might consume it upon their pleasures, but, while they should remember that all the power they possessed was from God, and that therefore this power which had been used in collecting this substance was God’s power loaned to them, the substance thus gathered was given them that they might use it to His glory, in the establishment of His covenant—in advancing His truth in the earth.
In the days of Haggai the prophet, we see that Israel had gone in just the way Moses cautioned them not to go; for the word of the Lord to them was: “Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. . . . Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the Lord of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.” Haggai 1: 6, 9.
As an aid to keep continually in the mind the Lord’s claims upon them, the Israelites were told that “the first of the first-fruits of thy land thou shalt bring into the house of the Lord.” Ex. 23: 19. The blessed results of thus keeping the Lord’s cause in mind are emphasized in the Proverbs of Solomon, where it is said: “Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first-fruits of all thine increase: so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.” Prov. 3: 9, 10.
Our Saviour, in His wonderful discourse upon the mount, emphasized the same idea, when He said: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things [food, drink, clothing,—things the world seek after] shall be added unto you.” Matt. 6: 33.
So in the words of Malachi, in the Lord’s address to His people just before His second coming, He says: “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. . . . Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.” Mal. 3: 8-11.
Speaking of gifts for the support of the Lord’s cause, the apostle Paul said: “He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” 2 Cor. 9: 6-8.
“If all the tithes of our people flowed into the treasury of the Lord as they should, such blessings would be received that gifts and offerings for sacred purposes would be multiplied tenfold, and thus the channel between God and man would be kept open.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. IV, page 474.
“Whenever God’s people, in any period of the world, have cheerfully and willingly carried out His plan in systematic benevolence and in gifts and offerings, they have realized the standing promise that prosperity should attend all their labors just in proportion as they obeyed His requirements. When they acknowledged the claims of God, and complied with His requirements, honoring Him with their substance, their barns were filled with plenty.”—Id., Vol. III, page 395.
“If those who profess to love the truth are holding on to their riches, and, failing to obey the word of God, do not seek opportunities to do good with that which He has intrusted to them, He will come closer, and will scatter their means. He will come near to them with judgments. He will in various ways scatter their idols. Many losses will be sustained. The souls of the selfish shall be unblest, but ‘the liberal soul shall be made fat.’ Those who honor God, He will honor.”—Id., Vol. II, page 661.
“Those who have thought to increase their gains by withholding from God, or by bringing Him an inferior offering,—the lame, the blind, or the diseased,—have been sure to suffer loss.”—Id., Vol. III, page 546.
“While such unhesitatingly gratify their supposed wants, and withhold from God the offering they ought to make, He will no more accept the little pittance they hand into the treasury than He accepted the offerings of Ananias and his wife Sapphira, who purposed to rob Him in their offerings.”—Id., Vol. II, page 128.
Concerning the Lord’s plan of working, we read: “God, in His wise plans, has made the advancement of His cause dependent upon the personal efforts of His people, and upon their free-will offerings. By accepting the co-operation of man in the great plan of redemption, He has placed a signal honor upon him.”—Id., Vol. IV, page 464.
As to the way in which this work may be done, we read: “They are not to bring a yearly gift merely, but should also freely present a weekly and monthly offering before the Lord. This work is left to the people, for it is to be to them a weekly, monthly, living test.”—Id., Vol. I, page 279.
We see from 1 Cor. 16: 2 that the apostle Paul recommended a system for gathering weekly offerings for sustaining the cause: “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”
After the plan of tithing all our income had been thoroughly presented to our people, there was considered a system of first-day offerings for the support of our missionaries in the “regions beyond” the bounds of our local Conferences. This plan was presented to the General Conference by Elder Geo. I.Butler, in November, 1887. It was shown what would be the result in raising money for this purpose if even a small sum each week was paid by each individual. Some adopted and carried out this plan from the first. Different schemes have been presented from time to time to stimulate this mode of raising missionary funds. Boxes with appropriate mottoes and various devices have been constructed to serve as reminders for contributions for this purpose. It is true that some money has been obtained in this way, but the amount given has not exceeded two cents a week for each member of the denomination.
About three years ago the plan was recommended of contributing ten cents a week for each member. This has brought a good increase in contributions from the churches where the plan has been adopted. Any one can figure readily that ten cents a week for sixty thousand Seventh-day Adventists means a grand result for the support of missions. The sum of three hundred and twelve thousand dollars a year is not small by any means, and this is what it would be if all the members would enter into it.
There are comparatively few of our members who could not give ten cents a week. But there are hundreds who should never be satisfied with doing less than five or ten times that amount each week for the support of foreign missions. I am personally acquainted with those who, on the old plan proposed by Elder Butler, have given one dollar each week for “first-day offerings,” paying it at the end of each quarter as regularly as they have paid their rent, store bill, or any other debt. It has seemed to me, as the Lord has said, we “should make weekly offerings;” that each church should say, “That is right, and as a church we will pay what will amount to ten cents a week for each member.” Then let sums be pledged by individuals, till sufficient, at least, is made up for what would be the quota for the whole church. And if the sum is more, it will help swell the bill in behalf of the poorer ones in other churches. Why not make one grand effort in this direction, so that it can for once be said, “The treasury of the mission fund is not crippled for money;” and when once said, keep the ball rolling. May the good Lord so infuse all our hearts that this may be the case, and that soon. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.