All of us who love the church have a deep commitment to financially support her mission. That is true of the local congregation where we worship each week and true of the great Church of God sharing His glory and grace to the ends of the earth.
We pray the apostle Paul’s words about the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 1:7, “You do not lack any spiritual gift,” also will be true of our church. That includes the grace of giving, which Paul reminded the Corinthians of in 2 Corinthians 8:7 when he wrote, “But just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us — see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”
In 2 Corinthians 8:1–8, the apostle outlines four reasons why Christian believers should excel in the “grace of giving.” Because Baptists believe what the Bible teaches, it behooves us to remind ourselves of what those reasons are.
First the passage assumes familiarity with the apostle’s first letter to the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 16:1, Paul had given specific instructions about “the collection.” The collection was for the poor in Jerusalem (Gal. 2:10). One reason for giving has always been to serve one’s fellow man.
Jesus teaches giving
Throughout His ministry, Jesus stressed giving to serve others. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stressed giving to the needy (Matt. 6:1–4). In the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:29–37) Jesus commended the Samaritan’s spontaneous giving to care for another. In Matthew 25:31–46, Jesus taught that giving to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked and the imprisoned was giving to the Lord Himself.
As the apostle Paul urged the Corinthians to “bring also to completion this act of grace” (v. 6) he was reflecting the teachings of Jesus and the emphasis of the early church to give to serve one’s fellow man.
Second giving reflects the interconnectedness of the Christian Church. The collection coming from the churches of Macedonia — churches like Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea — were primarily Gentile churches as was the church at Corinth. The collection was going primarily to Jewish Christians in and around Jerusalem.
Gentile Christians were indebted to Jewish Christians through whom came the message of God’s grace revealed in Jesus. The offering illustrated recognition of that debt. At the same time, the offering reminded the Jewish Christians of their indebtedness to the Gentile Christians for assistance in their time of desperate need.
Different cultures, different ethnicities, different races united in a common Christian faith; each helped the other as opportunity arose. The collection illustrated that various groups of Christians had much to offer one another and each group could benefit from the other. That is still true today as Christian believers from every tongue and tribe and nation come together as members of the same family of God.
“It is more blessed to give than to receive,” said our Lord. Sometimes one is able to give. At other times one may need to receive. That is how a family works. We depend on one another.
Third, Acts 16–17 describes some of the persecution inflicted upon Macedonian believers. Property was seized and goods plundered. Still these impoverished believers gave to help others. Their giving reflected self-discipline based on priority decisions: “but first they gave themselves to the Lord” (v. 5).
‘Overflowing joy’
It was placing God first that provided the discipline that allowed them to give out of “their overflowing joy.” Helping others became more important than their own poverty. That attitude reflected the teaching of Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.” God is the owner of all. We are the stewards or managers. We give an account to God about how we use all entrusted to us. Self-indulgence will be punished. Self-discipline will be rewarded because it reflects giving one’s self first to God.
The Christian faith teaches believers to be tender-hearted toward the needs of others and open-handed in sharing resources. One noted Baptist leader explained it this way, “One’s ease in giving is an accurate barometer of his sense of values and of his degree of self-discipline.”
The apostle Paul brings this section to conclusion with the greatest motivation of all for giving — the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ — the fourth reason for giving.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul had described the richness of Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 8:6, he wrote, “There is but one Lord, Jesus Christ through whom all things came and through whom we live.” In that early Christian hymn recorded in Philippians 2:6, Paul expanded that idea by writing, “Though He was in the form of God … He took the form of a slave.”
The difference between divine life and human life is infinite. Just by becoming man, Jesus became “poor.” But Jesus did more than that. He became obedient “even to death on the cross” for us. He paid the sin debt for all who will believe in Him. Those who believe move from the poverty of death because of sin to the richness of life through the forgiveness of God.
None can understand this truth without a grateful heart. As Jesus became poor to make us as believers “rich,” so believers model that behavior through stewardship of time, talent and treasure.
Believers give because they have first given themselves to God. Believers give to serve the needs of others. Believers give because of the interdependence of the Church. Believers give as an act of self-discipline.
The Corinthian Church had been distracted from demonstrating this grace gift by controversy. The apostle had to pointedly remind them to “complete this gracious work” (v. 6). He even sent Titus to lead the effort. Christians are still distracted from developing the grace gift of giving. Christians still need a reminder to develop this gift along with all the other gifts of the spirit.
That means pastors have to preach about stewardship. Churches have to teach stewardship. Publications like this one have to write about stewardship. Hopefully church members will not skip the Sunday School stewardship lesson or complain about the pastor’s sermon on giving.
Because we believe the Bible, we want to teach what the Bible says about giving. More importantly we want to obey what the Bible says about the grace gift of giving.
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