The Doctrine of Nonaccumulation

The doctrine of nonaccumulation has for so long been divorced from American Christianity that the renewed teaching of it sounds to many of us like pure heresy. But this was not always the case. This doctrine (whether it was called a “doctrine” or not) has been an important part of the teaching of many godly Christians in history. It has typically come to the forefront during times of revival, only to be lost during periods of apostasy. The following groups of Christians, to some degree, taught and practiced this doctrine. The Early Christians The following quotes taken from A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs show how the early Christians viewed earthly wealth: These are the ones who have faith indeed, but they also have the riches of this world. As a result, when tribulation comes, they deny the Lord on account of their riches and business. . . . So also those who are rich in this world cannot be useful to the Lord unless their riches are cut down. [Hermas, p. 541] The good man, being temperate and just, treasures up his wealth in heaven. He who has sold his worldly goods and given them to the poor, finds the imperishable treasure “where there is neither moth nor robber.”. . . It is not jewels, gold, clothing, or beauty of person that are of high value, but virtue. [Clement of Alexandria, p. 541] How can they follow Christ, who are held back by the chain of their wealth? . . . They think that they possess, but they are possessed instead. They are the bondslaves of their money, not the lords of their money. They are slaves of their profit. [Cyprian, p. 543] He who desires to obtain justice, God, perpetual life, everlasting light, and all those things that God promises to man—he will scorn those riches, honors, commands, and kingdoms themselves. [Lactantius, p. 543] A blind love of one’s own property has deceived many. How could they be prepared for fleeing (in persecution) . . . when their wealth fettered them like a chain? . . . For that reason, the Lord, . . . forewarning for the future time, said, “If you will be perfect, go sell all that you have and give to the poor.” If rich men did this, they would not perish because of their riches. . . . Heart, mind, and feeling would be in heaven, if the treasure were in heaven. [Cyprian, p. 441] The Waldensians The following is taken from The Kingdom That Turned The World Upside Down. The Waldensians held to no complicated theological beliefs. Their belief system was basically the gospel of the kingdom. Knowing thoroughly the teachings of Jesus, they taught that we humans are capable of making choices. And we are responsible for the choices we make. We each must make the decision to live by the teachings Christ—and then be faithful to that decision. “No one can be a true Christian,” they said, “if he has not truly surrendered his life to the Lordship of Christ.” They accurately saw that Jesus’ teachings were revolutionary and that they were intended to be lived literally. So they taught against the accumulation of wealth. They also taught against using the sword for either self-defense or war. [Bercot, pp. 227, 228] The Anabaptists The following is an early Swiss Brethren “Congregational Order,” which was attached to the Schleitheim Brotherly Union of 1527: Of all the brothers and sisters of this congregation none shall have anything of his own, but rather, as the Christians in the time of the apostles held all in common, and especially stored up a common fund, from which aid can be given to the poor, according as each will have need, and as in the apostles’ time permit no brother to have need. [Yoder, pp. 44, 45] Here is a quote from Leonhard Schiemer’s “Letter to the Church of God at Rattenburg” written in the year 1527: How the heathen or nominal Christian pray. . . .They pray, “Give us today our daily bread.” But as soon as God gives it to them it is no longer ours, but mine. And today is not enough but they worry about the next day against God's command when he commanded not to be concerned about the next day. They, however, are worried not only about the next day but about the whole year, and not only about one year but about ten, twenty, or thirty years. They are anxious not only for themselves, but for their children, not only as youth, but as adults.… [Snyder, pp. 77, 78] Menno Simons, in his “Humble and Christian Defense” wrote this: It is not customary that an intelligent person clothes and cares for one part of his body and leaves the rest destitute and naked. Oh, no. The intelligent person is solicitous for all his members. Thus it should be with those who are the Lord’s church and body. All those who are born of God, who are gifted with the Spirit of the Lord, and who, according to the Scriptures, are called into one body of love in Christ Jesus, are prepared by such love to serve their neighbors, not only with money and goods, but also after the example of their Lord and Head, Jesus Christ, in an evangelical manner, with life and blood. They show mercy and love, as much as they can; suffer no beggars amongst them; take to heart the need of the saints; receive the miserable; take the stranger into their houses; console the afflicted; assist the needy; clothe the naked; feed the hungry; do not turn their face from the poor, and do not despise their own flesh. [Simons, II:309] Anna of Rotterdam, who was put to death for her faith in the year 1539, wrote a letter to her son Isaiah before she died. In this letter she gave him this counsel: Honor the Lord in the works of your hands, and let the light of the Gospel shine through you. Love your neighbor. Deal with an open, warm heart thy bread to the hungry, clothe the naked, and suffer not to have anything twofold; for there are always some who lack. Whatever the Lord grants you from the sweat of your face above what you need, communicate to those of whom you know that they love the Lord; and suffer nothing to remain in your possession until the morrow, and the Lord shall bless the work of your hands, and give you his blessing for an inheritance. O my son, let your life be conformed to the Gospel. [Martyrs Mirror, pp. 453, 454] John Wesley From The Language of the Deathbed: John Wesley detested the heartlessness of hoarding. One of the sharpest rebukes he ever administered, was in a sermon he preached in Dublin, in 1779, when he was an old man almost ready to leave this world. How the fire must have flashed from the lustrous eye as he proceeded to arraign his hearers after this fashion. “O, that God would enable me once more, before I go hence and am not seen, to lift my voice like a trumpet to those who gain and save all they can, but do not give all they can! Ye are the men, some of the chief men, who continually grieve the Holy Spirit of God, and in a great measure stop the gracious influence from descending on our assemblies. “Many of your brethren, beloved of God, have no food to eat; they have no raiment to put on; and not a place where to lay their head. And why are they thus distressed? Because you impiously, unjustly, and cruelly detain from them what your Master and theirs lodges in your hands on purpose to supply their wants! See that poor member of Christ, pinched with hunger, shivering with cold, half naked! Meantime you have plenty of this world’s goods—food, drink, and apparel. In the name of God, what are you doing? Do you neither fear God, nor regard man? Why do you not deal your bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with a garment? Have you laid out in your own costly apparel what would have answered both these intentions, or covered you both? Did God command you to do so? Did he entrust you with these goods for this end? And does He now say, “Servant of God, well done?” You well know He does not. This idle expense has no approbation, either from God, or from your own conscience. But you say you can’t afford it! O be ashamed to take such miserable nonsense into your mouth! Never more utter such a stupid cant; palpable absurdity! Can any steward afford to be an arrant knave to waste his Lord’s goods? Can any servant afford to lay out his Master’s money any otherwise than his Master appoints him? So far from it, that whoever does this ought to be excluded from a Christian society.” [Stutzman, pp. 85, 86] As Jonathan Huddleston observed: Wesley used his own life as an example: “I gain all I can” in profitable labor; “I save all I can” by frugal living; and “by giving all I can, I am effectually secured from ‘laying up treasures on earth.’” These were no idle boasts: As Wesley’s royalty earnings grew, his self-imposed annual personal budget stayed at 30 pounds, until 98% of his income was given away. He lived up to his promise that “If I leave behind me ten pounds . . . you and all mankind bear witness against me that ‘I lived and died a thief and a robber.’” [Harvey, pp. 78, 79] George Mueller Because of Mueller’s belief that money was a divine stewardship, and therefore should be used under the direction of God Himself, Mueller adopted these four great rules to govern his finances. • Not to receive any fixed salary. • Never to ask any human being for help. • To take this command (Luke 12:33) literally, “Sell that thou hast and give alms,” and never to save up money, but to spend all God entrusted to him on God’s poor, on the work of His kingdom. • Also to take Romans 13:8, “Owe no man anything,” literally, and never to buy on credit, or be in debt for anything, but to trust God to provide. During an interview with Charles Parsons in which Mueller related many of the miraculous answers to prayer he had experienced, he was asked whether he had ever contemplated establishing a reserve fund. He responded: To do so would be an act of greatest folly. How could I pray if I had reserves? God would say, “Bring out those reserves, George Mueller.” Oh no, I never thought of such a thing. Our reserve fund is in Heaven. The living God is our sufficiency. I have trusted Him for one dollar; I have trusted Him for thousands, and never trusted in vain. “Blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” (Psalm 34:8) [Sims, p. 3; emphasis in the original] Next he was asked whether he had ever thought of saving for himself. In reply, he handed a small purse to Pastor Parsons and said: All I am possessed of is in the purse—every penny! Save for myself? Never! When money is sent to me for my own use, I pass it on to God. As much as five thousand dollars has thus been sent at one time, but I do not regard such gifts as belonging to me; they belong to Him, whose I am, and whom I serve. Save for myself? I dare not save; it would dishonor my loving, gracious, all-bountiful Father. [Sims, p. 4] Anthony Norris Groves Anthony Groves, a contemporary of George Mueller, was a wealthy dentist who, after becoming convicted about what the Bible says about wealth, sold his possessions, gave away most of the proceeds, and took his family to India as missionaries. The following quotes are from Groves’ book Christian Devotedness: I still believe that He means simply what He says in “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth” etc. There is an eye-salve in this doctrine, when received by faith, that wonderfully clears the field of our spiritual perceptions. [p. 5] As to capital and estates, after knowing that our loving Father will supply us in every need, the sooner we are disencumbered by distribution of these for His honor and His service, the better. Then we shall have the happiness of seeing it spent for the glory of him whose it is, and for whom we are only stewards. Otherwise, if we were to die tomorrow, we do not know whether the capital and estates would fall into the hands of a wise man or a fool. [p. 7, emphasis in the original] Can we with any truth be said to love that neighbor as ourselves when we allow him to starve while we have enough and to spare? [p. 26] All our misconceptions on this subject seem to arise from one deeply rooted opinion, learnt of Satan and the world over which he presides, that riches and comforts are better for our children than poverty and dependence. The whole tenor of the New Testament, however, pronounces the opinion to be false. [p. 28] If any object to selling “houses or lands,” it remains for them to distinguish between the motives which induce them to retain their property and those which induced the “young man” to retain his. [p. 49] I shall, therefore, briefly recapitulate the reasons why it appears to me that our Savior spoke literal truth and intended that He should be understood as so speaking when He used such expressions as these, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,” and “Sell all that thou hast”: 1. Because He commanded the young man to do so. 2. Because He commended the poor widow for doing so. 3. Because the apostles and all who believed at Jerusalem did so, by selling their goods, houses, and lands. 4. Because without this dedication, it is impossible to receive the command, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” 5. Because, while obviously it tends to the general extension of Christ’s Kingdom upon earth, it does also, in an equal measure, contribute to the happiness and usefulness of the individual, by extirpating carefulness and sloth, and causing to grow in abundance the peaceable fruits of righteousness and love. [pp. 47, 48] William MacDonald The following quotes are taken from MacDonald’s book True Discipleship: Yet the truth remains that it is sin to lay up treasures on earth. It is directly contrary to the Word of God. What we call prudence and foresight is actually rebellion and iniquity. [p. 109, emphasis in the original] But it is also wrong (to accumulate wealth) because it overlooks the vast spiritual need of the world today. . . . Millions of men and women, boys and girls have never heard the gospel of the grace of God. Millions do not have a Bible, or good gospel literature. Millions are dying without God, without Christ, without hope. It is a form of spiritual fratricide to have the means of spreading the gospel and not to use them (Ezek. 33:6). And it testifies loudly to a singular lack of God’s love in the heart of the hoarder. For “whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?” (1 Jn. 3:17). [p. 111] It’s wrong to stockpile money because it is callous to the enormous physical needs of the world. . . . The rich man in Luke 16 was quite unconcerned about the beggar at his gate. If he had just gone to his window and pulled aside the drape, he would have seen a genuine case of need, a worthy object on which to spend some of his money. But he didn’t care. The world is full of Lazaruses. They are lying at our gates. And Jesus is saying to us, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt. 22:39). If we refuse to hear Him now, perhaps one day we will hear Him say to us, “I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink. . . . Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me (Mt. 25:42, 45). [p. 112]