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. Acts 4:32
“It is not allowed to clerics, after the death of their bishop, to appropriate to themselves the (private) property belonging to him, a thing which is forbidden by the ancient canons. Those who so act shall be in danger of losing their posts.”
Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) “Canon 22” in History of the Councils of the Church, Volume 3 by Charles Joseph, 330.
Again, since we arrived at the fourth council, which is the most documented of them all, we will spend some time with this one. Remember, over 500 bishops convened and they sorted rules the church for more than 100 years.
1. Council of Nicea (A.D. 325)
2. Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381)
3. Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431)
4. Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451)
5. Second Council of Constantinople (A.D. 553)
6. Third Council of Constantinople (A.D. 680)
7. Second Council of Nicea (A.D. 787)
Again, the mural in the header photo I shot in the cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv depicts this council. Emperor the sister of the previous emperor, Theodosius II.
Today’s post from Canon 22 tells the clerics that it is not appropriate to appropriate private property to ourselves, in this case, it related to the death of a bishop.
You might ask what this has to do with generosity today. It actually may mark one of the biggest areas of corruption in the church today: people serving act like they can take church resources for themselves.
It is not appropriate to appropriate such resources to ourselves which belong to the body. In this case, the body must decide what to do with such items through the governance structures.
This brings out the problem I see globally with GTP. There is little or governance in most churches so the pastor (often with his wife) does whatever he wants with church resources with little accountability.
If we want to encourage generosity in our local churches, we should submit to peer accountability. In USA, that means to have your church join ECFA. Then you will know the clergy are not inappropriately appropriating church property.
When churches follow standards, and have faithful governance and administration in place, it avoids the corruption of the misappropriation of resources which brings dishonor to Christ and it encourages rich and greater generosity.