Tithing – Money – Giving – Finances – Collections
The 2x2s do not believe in tithing 10% or any amount–that was part of the Old Law.
Preaching the Gospel freely, without taking a collection is one of the Workers identifying marks. They are supported by members free-will offerings, and some estates are willed to them. The 2×2 preachers do not ask for money, are not paid a salary and take no collections or pledges.
Appeals for money are believed to be in direct violation of Jesus’ instructions to the disciples: Freely you have received, freely give (Matt. 10:8-9). They sometimes refer to other Christian ministers and pastors as Hirelings because they draw salaries or take up collections.
The Workers live and preach on Faith Lines and do not take up collections or ask for money/gifts to be given to them.
They do not encourage collective good works or giving to outsiders, and rarely for members. Giving and good works/deeds are to be done in secret, according to Jesus’ instructions:
Matthew 6:3-4 – But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
Finances of the church: The Overseers supervise the financial matters of the church. The members are not privy to their decisions and no accounting of finances is made to the members. There is The Overseer is responsible for distribution of donated money in his area. The preachers do not pay Social Security in America. Some draw SSI. In most cases, the church is not a registered tax exempt charity.
Worker Quotes: Those who go to foreign fields are taken care of and go forth in exactly the same way as the Workers go forth from this convention. They ask for no pledge and are given none, they have no stated salary, there is no central fund, there is no secretary or treasurer to whom they can make appeal, we have no earthly headquarters, our headquarters are in heaven. Can you then understand or appreciate the faith, the courage that young men and young women have to put thousands of miles between them and their fellow servants and the saints of God whom they have learned to love whom God gave them in the Gospel?…I say again, that this Kingdom of God is founded and can only be extended by the mutual sacrifice of the servants and saints of God (Jack Carroll, Hayden Lake, 1932).
Worker Quote: Jesus labored as a carpenter and lived by the work of his hands as a preacher of the gospel, and just as honorable as He did when He was a carpenter. Jesus did not live on charity. Those who live on charity give nothing in return. Jesus always gave more than He received. If He accepted hospitality from Matthew, the publican, He always gave more than He received, and in this He left for us an example that we should follow in His steps. We do not live on charity. If any of God’s professing people came to us and offered to us food and clothing and shelter, as an act of charity, we would refuse it. But if they came to us in His name and as an expression of their love and interest in the furtherance of the gospel, recognizing we have fulfilled the conditions that justify us in living by the gospel, it is our duty to accept, knowing that a cup of cold water given to one of the least of God’s servants will in no wise lose its reward in that day. Only those who have fulfilled the conditions laid down by Jesus for the N.T. ministry are justified in living by the gospel. This is the fundamental difference between the ministers that God sent to bring you into the family and kingdom of God and all other kinds of ministers that we know of in the world (Jack Carroll, Bakersfield, 1934).
Worker Quote: No man or woman can enter this ministry that isn’t prepared to give as freely as He did. If we ever heard of any man or woman in the ministry raising a collection or making an appeal for money, we would immediately exclude them from this fellowship. God sent his servants into the world to be givers and not getters (Jack Carroll, Arizona Conv. Oct 25-28, 1951).
Worker Quote: In the religious world, money is their chief worry. But God assured His servants that they didn’t need to worry about their needs. They are going forth today without collections, tithes, or salaries and that is a proof in itself that God is still working miracles. No servant of God, from that time until now, who have put their faith in God, has ever been let down. (Howard Mooney, Osaka, Japan, 1972).