It is probably good to be in the same position as the people we are bringing the gospel to.
Having 'funding' might, just might, make it easy for the people around us to think, "It's easy for you, you have time to be a Christian and do Christian stuff because you don't have to hold down a job - or, at least, look for a job". I am aware that Christian funding rarely allows those who receive it to live in luxury, but it can still create a certain impression.
It can also give the impression that the important thing as a Christian is what you do with your spare time ("I just don't have time to be a Christian": Discuss). It can make us forget that we can live for Christ at work and that we should be encouraging those around us to do the same.
Perhaps our default model should be earning our own living, our equivalent of Paul's tent making, and seeing how we can build church from there, modelling that.
The opposite danger is that we make earning money our God and pour all our energies into that - but that I imagine that is not the case among most people in Urban Expression.
Financial Support
It is probably good to be in the same position as the people we are bringing the gospel to.
Having 'funding' might, just might, make it easy for the people around us to think, "It's easy for you, you have time to be a Christian and do Christian stuff because you don't have to hold down a job - or, at least, look for a job". I am aware that Christian funding rarely allows those who receive it to live in luxury, but it can still create a certain impression.
It can also give the impression that the important thing as a Christian is what you do with your spare time ("I just don't have time to be a Christian": Discuss). It can make us forget that we can live for Christ at work and that we should be encouraging those around us to do the same.
Perhaps our default model should be earning our own living, our equivalent of Paul's tent making, and seeing how we can build church from there, modelling that.
The opposite danger is that we make earning money our God and pour all our energies into that - but that I imagine that is not the case among most people in Urban Expression.