This week, we are talking about the prevalent perception and objection that the church just wants your money. Yesterday, we looked at a section of a letter in our Bibles called 2 Corinthians, were a man named Paul was surprised, and even taken aback, the attitude of gratitude and the actions of generosity that he experienced from two churches that were immersed in a culture of poverty and persecution. Today, we will see Paul unpack how these churches demonstrated their gratitude and generosity, beginning in 2 Corinthians 8:3:
For I testify that according to their ability, and beyond their ability, they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urging for the favor of participation in the support of the saints, and this, not as we had expected, but they first gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God.
Here we see Paul sharing with the church at Corinth how he experienced the unexpected joyous gratitude and generosity of the churches. Now to fully understand how Paul experienced the gratitude and generosity of these churches, we first need to understand what Paul is referring to with the phrase “participation in the support of the saints”. When Paul talks about the support of the saints, he is referring to churches involvement in a special offering that was being taken for the church of Jerusalem, whose members were suffering as a result of a famine in the region.
In a previous letter to this church that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the book of 1 Corinthians, we discover that while other churches were following Paul’s instructions to invest their treasure to meet the needs of the church in Jerusalem, the church at Corinth was failing to follow through on their commitment. In verse three, Paul explains that, unlike the church at Corinth, these poor and persecuted churches were willingly investing their treasure to meet the needs of the church at Jerusalem.
You see, Paul did not have to make a sales pitch or a guilt trip to these churches. Instead, these churches heard of the need and were motivated to respond. As a matter a fact, they were so motivated to respond that they gave beyond their ability. In other words, they gave sacrificially. They responded to the need that they saw by pleading and appealing to Paul to be a part of God’s activity by meeting the pressing and practical needs of the church in Jerusalem. What makes this act by these poor churches so significant as compared to the inaction of the church at Corinth was the difference in the socio-economic condition of these churches.
The city of Corinth was a wealthy port city and commercial center and was a key player in the world economy. Unlike the churches of Philippi and Thessalonica, the members of the church at Corinth had the resources that they could easily invest to be a part of what God was doing to help the church at Jerusalem. So, while the wealthy church at Corinth was dragging their feet when it came to following through on their commitment, the persecuted and poor churches of northern Greece dove in head first in order to be a part of God’s activity in the world.
That is why, in verse 5, Paul makes the statement that he did not expect such gratitude and generosity. When Paul uses the phrase “gave themselves to the Lord and to us by the will of God”, he is revealing for us the reality that these churches were first and foremost dedicated to God’s desires for their life and their investment and involvement in what He was doing in the world. And as a result of his experience with these churches in Northern Greece, Paul was provoked to respond. We see his response revealed for us in verses 6-7:
So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well. But just as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all earnestness and in the love we inspired in you, see that you abound in this gracious work also.
After experiencing God’s activity in the lives of these northern churches, Paul responded by sending Titus, who was partner of Paul’s who also planted a church on the island of Crete to Corinth in order to encourage the church to finish and follow through on the commitment that they had previously made when it came to participating in the famine relief fund for the church at Jerusalem.
Paul explains to the church that just as they have excelled in their confident trust in God; just as they excelled in what they comprehended and grasped about the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel; just as they excelled in what they said when it came to doctrine and theology; they were to excel when it came to being a part of God’s activity through this famine relief fund. You see, while the church at Corinth seemed to have their head, their mouth, and their heart engaged when it came to following Jesus, their hands were disengaged. While they excelled in many areas of what it means to follow Jesus, they were not excelling when it came to their generosity.
Now a natural question that may arise is “why is generosity important when it comes to following Jesus? And does God really expect us to be generous? I mean, so I do not normally give; does that really matter? And why should I be generous and give when it comes to the church? I mean, this is why I feel like churches are just interested in my money.”
If these are questions or objections that you have or have heard others have when it comes to the subject of giving and generosity, I just want to let you know that these are fair questions to be asking.
Tomorrow, we will see Paul answer these questions and reveal for us a timeless truth when it comes to generosity and giving…
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