In a discussion of a passage from 1 Timothy 5, I came to loggerheads with another lister to a message board over how an outreach ministry of the church should be conducted.
Essentially, my correspondent asserted that Matthew 25 is the sole guiding principle of such ministry. Since Jesus gave no restrictions on which hungry people to feed, which naked people to clothe, which sick to minister to, or which prisoners to visit, the church should minister to anyone and everyone, without qualification.
His comments made me wonder about my church's food pantry (an auxiliary I volunteer my time to help). In the rare instances where it has come to our attention that recipients resold what they received from the pantry rather than consumed it themselves, we have warned the recipients that such behavior could remove their names from the list. The food pantry--partially for the sake of our philanthropy partners--is heavily regulated. Participants must meet an income-based means test, they must register yearly with accurate address information, they have rules to which they must comply (like the one that forbids reselling what they receive).
What do you think? Is it inconsistent to place restrictions on the access to a food pantry (or to otherwise regulate our giving)?
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