The article was given the title: "Women's Group Boost Mission", but the sub-title is: "But Some Ministers Take a Hard Line Against Cake Sales, Turkey feeds, bingo." That piece appeared in the July 12, 1975 issue of "The Evansville Press." It was written by Scripps-Howard staff reporter George R. Plagenz.

    A case is related in which a preacher (called a pastor in the article) asked that the folks contribute the price of a cake instead of having a cake sale. Mr Plegenz wrote, "The women's group went along with the pastor's idea. The cakeless sale raised as much money as previous cake sales had. But even so, it wasn't a success." He quotes one of the women as saying, "There was no satisfaction in it for us." What do you think happened? That's right, "the next year the church went back to having an honest-to-goodness mouth watering cake sale."

    Where do you think that church found biblical authorization for raising money by means of a cake sale? Don't bother searching the word of God to find authorization for such a sale. They are not authorized in the Bible. When a church has ignored the teaching of God's word on other subjects, we can hardly expect that biblical instructions will be sought, when it becomes desirable to raise money.

    God has authorized the way a church is to raise money in 1 Corinthians 16:1 & 2: "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him." Someone might consider it uncharitable of me to ask, "Does that sound like raising money by means of a cake sale? Therefore I will resist the temptation to ask that. In the New Testament when people sold their possessions and gave the proceeds to the church they acted independently, received the proceeds into their own possession and then gave to the church. There was no organized cake sale, turkey feed, rummage sales or such like. New Testament Christians made direct donations to the church without receiving any material substance in return.

    It is a pity that people fail to feel some satisfaction in giving without receiving, when their giving is intended to help advance what they believe to be the cause of Christ. The woman said, "There was no satisfaction in it for us," meant that her pride had not been gratified. The proof of this is found in the report that she was the woman "whose banana cream cake had been the hit of the cake sale for years." Children of God must uproot such human pride and plant humility in its place. "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble" (1 Pet. 5:5).

    Every child of God needs enough humility to feel satisfaction when doing the will of God, regardless of how unnoticed by others the act he is performing might be. There have been many who quit serving God because they found serving continually in lowliness of mind and humility in the simple routines of worship and work required by God of His children too lacking in the gratification of their human pride to be endured. Like Naaman they would have been willing to do some great thing, but were unwilling to do a little thing like dipping in a muddy river. Unlike Naaman those who have quit serving God were not fortunate enough to have a servant with enough understanding to know that the requirements of servitude include the performance of menial tasks, as well as great acts, and bold enough to remind them of this fact of servitude.

    In the article, bingo was said to be the big money raiser. We might note that the reason for this lies in the fact that bingo appeals to man's covetousness. Offering bingo parties will cultivate covetousness and God has called covetousness idolatry (Col. 3:5) and warned, "Little children, keep yourselves from idols" (1 Jn. 5:21).

    Maybe it shouldn't bother me that whenever a person has enough devotion to God to want to serve Him according to the instructions which He has left His servants, that person's attitude will be labeled "A Hard Line." However, I would be somewhat less than honest if I were to say that it does not bother me. I do not feel that a man who is simply submitting to the will of God can properly be said to be taking "a hard line." The hard hearted are those whose hearts the word of God cannot penetrate (Mt. 13:4,19).

---Fred Shewmaker