QUESTION:
 Is the collection strictly for the saints or can
the Church treasury be used to help a needy
non-member who appears to be seeking the truth? 

ANSWER:
 Let me first of all address the implication that helping a needy non-Christian 
might lead to their conversion. Food, clothing or money were never offered by the 
early church as a means of getting people to accept the truth. When Paul went to 
Europe for the first time he did not take any contribution of that type with him for 
the purpose of enticing people to obey the gospel. The gospel alone is God’s power 
to save and if people will not accept it without some type of benevolent enticement, 
they are condemned anyway. When our Lord was on the earth we read of some who 
followed him for the loaves and fishes, but later turned back and followed him no 
more when he taught what they did not like John 6:66. Those who are attracted by 
such enticements usually turn away when the gifts are no longer there, which only 
underscores the futility of such schemes. In 1Corinthians 16:1-2 Paul very plainly 
teaches that the collection being taken is “for the saints.” The only contribution, 
of a benevolent nature, that any congregation made out of its treasury, in New 
Testament times, was to the “poor saints.” Romans 15:25-26 “But now I am going to 
Jerusalem to minister to the saints. For it pleased those from Macedonia and Achaia 
to make a certain contribution for the poor among the saints who are in Jerusalem.” 
2Corinthians 8:4 “imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and 
the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.” 2Corinthians 9:1 “Now concerning 
the ministering to the saints, it is superfluous for me to write to you;” 9:12 “For 
the administration of this service not only supplies the needs of the saints, but 
also is abounding through many thanksgivings to God.,” In Acts 11:27-30 “the 
disciples determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judea.” All of 
these passages confirm that contributions were made to “saints” with no record of 
any church ever giving to unbelievers from its treasury. There is no way that the 
church could support all the needy in the world. As individual Christians we may, as 
opportunity presents itself, contribute to the just needs of any person. The church, 
however, is limited by Divine mandate as to the way it dispenses the funds 
contributed on the Lord’s Day.