Should George Mueller’s ‘Ask God and Not Men’ Be a Model for Churches?

George Mueller was a man of great faith. He was used by God to open five large orphan houses and to see over 10,000 orphans come through those homes. He did many other phenomenal things, but what he is most known for is his policy of only asking the Lord for money. Reading through his biography one is struck by the amazing way in which God would provide as Mueller would bend a knee and entreat the Lord for his daily provisions.

I’ve long been humbled and encouraged by Mueller’s story. I’ve had situations of my own where God has answered prayers which were only spoken to Him in ways which could only be explained by His hand. If you haven’t read of Mueller you should do so. (Here is a good summary).

Many have adopted Mueller’s strategy of never asking people to fill their needs but only going straight to the Lord. Yet, as I’m reading through Acts, I’m wondering if its really the model to follow. I’m not saying Mueller was wrong or that God might not at times call believers to do something similar—but as a general rule I’m seeing something else in the Scriptures.

Take for instance Acts 2:45. “And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Or consider Paul’s collecting funds for the poor in Jerusalem. Their needs were made known to all of the churches. It seems that the general pattern within the New Testament church was not for local churches or believers to only ask God for money, but they made their requests known not only to God but also to one another.

I must confess, though, that I’m a bit hesitant to say that we should do the same thing. There are two many reasons for this.

A Reason to Pause

First, the George Mueller way makes for a much cooler story. It’s harder to deny God’s hand when you are praying for bread and a delivery truck just happens to show up with three cases of bread at your door. Calling the bread company, making your need known, and asking for some help can be chalked up to philanthropy and not to God’s sovereign care.

Secondly, our culture of victimhood and getting handouts wouldn’t be as conducive to the one another’s we see in the book of Acts. We are a bit more like those folks in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians who decided they’d stop working, wait for the kingdom, and in the meantime just mooch off their generous brothers and sisters in Christ. And so I’m a bit hesitant to recommend we open up the door for consistently making our needs known to one another. Doing so is opening up the door to chaos. Our whole system of taxes and giving (at least in America) is, frankly, not conducive to an Acts 2 church model.

Reasons to Proceed

Yet, I will still cautiously say I believe the George Mueller model shouldn’t be the typical one. Believers ought to make their needs known to one another and we ought to be passionate about caring for one another. Here are at least five reasons why I believe this:

1. We get to knowingly be the hands and feet of Jesus. There is an old joke about an atheist who provides groceries for a believing widow. He does it to mock her belief that God provided, but the punch line is that the woman prays and says,”Thank you God for providing for me and using the devil to pay for it”. Even in the George Mueller model we will at times be the hands and feet of Jesus, as the Lord moves in our heart to give. But isn’t it closer to the NT model to knowingly give a cold glass of water to a thirsty believer?
2. It humbles us. Have you ever seen a foot washing? The one must humbled isn’t often the one washing the feet but the one getting their feet washed. We are all beggars. A church which is more open about our needs and brokenness will be a church marked by humble people. One man might be able to provide for the financial needs of another, but he’ll later be humbled by his intense need for emotional support given by the poor widow.
3. We get to see God work not only in mystery but through living and breathing people. Maybe one of the reasons people think believers are hypocrites is because churches often rely upon government to provide for their people instead of meeting the needs ourselves. Do we believe that our nation is the source of healing or do we believe that the gospel and God-redeemed people is the answer to the ills of society? It’s a bit empty to proclaim a sufficient Savior and then rely upon the Egypt’s and Assyria for protection. (This isn’t saying that God cannot use means to provide for his people, simply saying our default rescuer shouldn’t be the stars and stripes).
4. It has potential to foster deep unity within the body, or at least show us where we don’t get the gospel. Have you ever seen a church rally around someone when they’ve lost everything in a fire or a tragedy has struck them? It’s a beautiful thing. It’s wonderful to see folks praying together and sacrificing to provide for a hurting member. Of course it gets a bit muddier when you’ve got a prodigal who squandered his money on prostitutes and he now comes back home. Does the church throw a party? Folks making their needs known will be a great way for a church to discover how accurately they reflect the heart of God.
5. It would proclaim the gospel on a daily basis. We are desperate beggars. We like to pretend that we aren’t and so often we only make our requests known to God only because we want to hide our brokenness. The gospel frees us up to acknowledge not only our finitude but also our fallenness. We don’t have to feign strength when we aren’t strong. We can be gut honest with our needs. And seeing the church provide is a great means of portraying the provision of Jesus on our behalf to meet our every need.

This is a muddy mess, I realize. But I’m convinced what we need in our climate is less “me-and-Jesus” religion and more of gospel-transformed relationships. There might have been a time when the world needs to see the God of George Mueller and the humble faith of this man. But I’m left wondering if we aren’t living in a different era where what the world needs to see is the God of the humble church which loves and provides as did her crucified Savior.

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