North End Church of Christ

By: Sellers Crain, Jr.

Via The Rivergate Messenger, Feb. 2, 2003

David L. Rush, a 71 year old retired financial advisor, recently won a multi-state lottery. He was one of four winners and took a cash payout of 14.3 million dollars. He gave $100,000 to Habitat for Humanity, an organization which builds homes for low income people. Former President Jimmy Carter has been involved with this organization for many years. He gave $50,000 to the local Rotary Club, and he also gave $100,000 to the Salvation Army. They gave it back saying that they had a moral issue with accepting money resulting from gambling. I have several thoughts about this.

First, many people do not understand what the Salvation Army is. They think it is simply a benevolent organization that does a lot of good. They are benevolent and they do a lot of good. However, they are more than that. They are a denominational organization founded by William Booth who was formerly a Methodist preacher. At first Booth organized his movement after the pattern of Methodist policy, but later when the name of the organization was changed, it was modeled after a military pattern. Though membership numbers are sketchy, the Salvation Army has thousands of paid officers and employees. In some states, they have some of the largest church buildings in the area. Many of these are built with the contributions of other people. Frank S. Mead wrote, “While the Army has a dual function of church and social agency, its first purpose is the salvation of men ‘by the power of the Holy Spirit combined with the influence of human ingenuity and love.’” (Handbook of Denominations in the United States, p. 198) For this reason, I personally have a real problem with donating to the Salvation Army. I could no more donate to it than I could to any other denominational organization.

Second, I respect the decision of the officer in the Salvation Army who refused to accept the money from Mr. Rush, and here’s why. He pointed out much of the human misery he sees in that organization is caused by gambling. Poor people especially are attracted to it, and many are addicted to it because it offers a hope, though ever so slim, that they might strike it rich. Some are so addicted that they lose everything in search of this ever elusive goal. We must admire a man, though not his religious beliefs, who stands by his convictions. The Salvation Army recently reported that because of low donations during the Christmas season they were in the hole. If that is true, it is even more interesting that this Salvation Army official turned down Mr. Rush’s generous contribution.

Third, should the church accept money from immoral sources? While turning down Mr. Rush’s offer, the Salvation Army did accept an anonymous donation of $50,000 that was placed in one of their kettles. Where did it come from? Could it have been the fruits of gambling? Since they did not know the source, they accepted it. On one hand I would have a problem accepting a contribution, let’s say from some criminal organization, and they control many gambling establishments. It would be inconsistent to preach against such things, and then to accept money from them. On another hand, if we do not know the source, I feel as my brother Ira North once said, “The Devil has had it long enough. Let the Lord have it now so some good might be done with it.”