In a women's study group in the midwest, the "question came up as to whether it is proper to have auctions of handmade articles and baked goods in church basements or fellowship halls for the pur­pose of fund raising for the church. Would it not be better to just give without getting something in return?"

You do not indicate in your question what the pro­ceeds of these auctions are used for, or just exactly why this method is being used to raise funds. Though that may seem insignificant, to me it makes a consid­erable difference in determining how I answer your question.

If these fund raising events are made necessary because the people refuse to "give" out of their abundance to the support of the cause(s) of Christ's Kingdom, then that is an indication of a much deeper spiritual problem than the "method" which is the issue before us now. I would be saddened to learn of a church in that condition. I am assuming, therefore, that the "projects" for which these fund raising events are held, are "special projects," perhaps to increase missionary support, or to buy a new piano or organ, or to help underwrite tuition costs, or the like. Then my answer to your question is that I do not believe such fund raising events are improper.

Think of it this way. A Christian farmer plants his crops in the spring of the year with the hope of har­vesting them in the Fall, and undoubtedly with the thought in mind that he will give a portion of his profits to the church and/or to some Kingdom-related cause. He performs a labor of love in caring for those crops between seedtime and harvest, but knows that he isn't going to give away the crop itself, but some of the profits from that crop (especially from a cash crop such as soybeans or wheat). Now he may, come harvest, sell that crop to anyone he wishes, to his next door Christian neighbor, or to the grain eleva­tor association in town. And he may give the profits, in whole or part, to the church. Suppose the Chris­tian neighbor buys the soybeans, because he has considerable storage space, and he thinks that the price of soybeans may go up in the next few months. Even if this purchasing neighbor knows that the money he paid for these soybeans is going to be given to the church, is it wrong for him to accept the soybeans? Should he have just given that money di­rectly to the church?

The parallel is not perfect, I realize, but there is enough of a similarity here to make a point of comparison. Suppose the ladies of the church agree that they would like to increase the funds for a certain cause (the men may be involved too, of course). Each woman could agree just to donate five dollars. But then the suggestion is made by someone in the group that if they were to put that five dollars into materi­als (be it baking supplies or dry goods), and add to it some of their own time which is donated, they could increase the value of that initial five dollars' worth of goods, perhaps double it or even triple it.

Does it really make any difference, then, if those products are sold privately by each person who made them, and the profits given to the church proj­ect, or whether the whole group gets together and sells them to one another, with the profits given to the church project? Or should the persons who buy these products feel "guilty" because they paid a price for the product of someone else's efforts, with the proceeds going to a certain church cause? (Even though they may have purchased that product some­where else anyway?) I do not know of a biblical prin­ciple that dictates against such a practice.

Oh, even this kind of "giving" must be character­ized by love. We may not allow our fund raising events to turn into "gambling" affairs, nor even lose the joy of just simply "giving" out of hearts over­flowing with gratitude for all God's goodness to us. But I do not find a principle in Scripture indicating that fund raising events as such are wrong.