Augustine of Hippo: No reserve fund

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All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. Acts 2:32-34a

“It’s not right for us to keep a reserve fund; it’s not the bishop’s business to save up gold, and repulse the beggar’s outstretched hand. There are so many asking every day, so many groaning, so many needy people pleading, that we have to leave several of them unhappy.”

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) in Sermon 355.5 in Essential Sermons, translated by Edmund Hill, edited by Daniel Doyle (New York: New City Press, 2007) 410.

I read one of Augustine’s sermons this week while traveling with Patrick Johnson this week. When he was bishop of Hippo, he believed strongly that when a bishop had a reserve fund, needs would go unmet, so he had no part of it. As God supplied in the community, like the early church in Acts, they shared and somehow had enough.

Under Augustine’s leadership, the church did not give handouts which create dependencies. They would give people a hand up to build and restore them to become productive disciples. Regardless of what other bishops were doing, and no matter what others are doing today, don’t keep a reserve fund.

God’s design in a world where half the people have more than enough and the other half have less than enough is generous sharing. The community is sustained by obedience. If you are a pastor or ministry administrator, stop keeping a reserve fund. Put to work what God supplies if you want more (cf. Luke 16:10-12).