I went to church this morning and heard the sermon which was based out of Exodus 35:30 - 36:7 which was about Serving that was a very intriguing sermon unto the ‘catch’ point where certain ministries and outreaches within the church needed help and of course after hearing the sermon, you are supposed to feel guilty for not doing enough and automatically volunteer for something by responding to the golden opportunity to put the sermon into action. That type of ‘gospel by gullible guilt’ always irk me and force me to turn off the switch within my head because of the condemnation the Pentecostals of the Past used to thickly pour on people to the point where people did things to get the Pentecostals off their backs and not because they wanted to.

However, there was some verses in that sermon that really caught my attention in Exodus 36 which state:

4Then all the craftsmen who were doing all the work of the sanctuary came, each from the work he was doing, 5and they spoke to Moses, saying, “The people bring much more than enough for the service of the work which the LORD commanded us to do.” 6So Moses gave a commandment, and they caused it to be proclaimed throughout the camp, saying, “Let neither man nor woman do any more work for the offering of the sanctuary.” And the people were restrained from bringing, 7for the material they had was sufficient for all the work to be done–indeed too much.

I immediately after hearing this verse thought about all these mega televangelists who have these exotic fundraising techniques to ‘rebuild Nehemiah’s walls’, ‘rebuild Ezra’s Temple’, ‘ rebuild Joel’s Army’, ‘buy Jesse’s Jesus Jet’, etc. and remembered that at the end of the show there is always a disclaimer what appears fast and in very small print that states something to the point of:

…monies earmarked for a specific ministry project will go specifically towards that project. However, monies received above and beyond the actual cost of the project will be used at the discretion of the board of directors…

This disclaimer actually came into action in the name of IRS 501c3 reforms after a 1991 expose on the ABC television show Prime Time Live where televangelist Larry Lea persuaded viewers that when his house burned to the ground he was left homeless, losing everything he and his family had but the clothes on their backs. However, Prime Time showed proof that Lea’s burnt down house was fully insured and also showed Lea’s other, unmentioned home, a mansion filled with furniture and other valuables. ABC later discovered that funds above and beyond another fundraising tactic for an orphange in Poland were used to rebuild the burnt home and implied that Lea privately pocketed the insurance money for the burnt home because no laws existed on the books for usage of monies above and beyond a project.

I have never heard a televangelist ask people to specifically stop giving for one specific cause when they had over achieved the goal like Moses did in the Exodus scriptures. However, the little but potent disclaimer at the end of their television shows are legal to where the funds above and beyond the cost of a specific project can be legally used for other expenses determined by the board of directors (their buddies). In fact, we do not know what happened to the leftover stuff in the Exodus account nor do we know what happens to the leftover monies in the televangelist bank account.

The point is not to demand a refund of leftover monies. The point is to show that if a group is walking in God’s anointing and needs provision, the need will be met with excess to where the excess can be used to provide ministry to others in need. In fact, I want to point out two interesting verses that led to this excess:

Exodus 35:5 - “…Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as an offering to the LORD: gold, silver,….

Exodus 35: 21-22 - “…Then everyone came whose heart was stirred, and everyone whose spirit was willing, and they brought the LORD’s offering for the work of the tabernacle of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. They came, both men and women, as many as had a willing heart, and brought…”

The think I want to emphasize on is the concept of ‘willing heart’. This was a totally voluntary thing to do in reference to giving to the cause. If the task at hand has God’s anointing on it, he will send the willing hearts to help undertake the work at hand whether it’s funding, lending talent, administrating, etc. not because they heard the ‘gospel of gullible guilt’ and did the tasks fearing curses or loss of blessings, but because they heard the call to action and went to fulfill a Holy mandate.

All the ‘gospel of gullible guilt’ really is is another manifestation of Pentecostal Pragmatism in action where the ways and means called guilt is used and abused on the misdefined consciences of the gullible to achieve the end result of a new building, volunteers for a program, etc. and called ‘Of God’ because ’success’ was achieved. Maybe if these televangelists or ministers use the willing heart concept with no guilt attached and no implications of secret blessings if one gives (or curses for not giving) , they might see a bigger and better response to the needs of their ministries.

Let’s try the ‘willing heart’ concept next time and see the results be greater in finances, service, and in anointing.