Giving Pt. 2: A Reflection of Integrity

2 Corinthians 8:7–24 NASB95

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. I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich. I give my opinion in this matter, for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago not only to do this, but also to desire to do it. But now finish doing it also, so that just as there was the readiness to desire it, so there may be also the completion of it by your ability. For if the readiness is present, it is acceptable according to what a person has, not according to what he does not have. For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality— at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality; as it is written, “He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little had no lack.” But thanks be to God who puts the same earnestness on your behalf in the heart of Titus. For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he has gone to you of his own accord. We have sent along with him the brother whose fame in the things of the gospel has spread through all the churches; and not only this, but he has also been appointed by the churches to travel with us in this gracious work, which is being administered by us for the glory of the Lord Himself, and to show our readiness, taking precaution so that no one will discredit us in our administration of this generous gift; for we have regard for what is honorable, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men. We have sent with them our brother, whom we have often tested and found diligent in many things, but now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you. As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brethren, they are messengers of the churches, a glory to Christ. Therefore openly before the churches, show them the proof of your love and of our reason for boasting about you.

INTRO: Has anyone ever looked at the outfit you are wearing or the vehicle you are driving and said, “That suits you” or “That doesn’t suit you”? (Buick Commercial) For me, cowboy boots and a cowboy hat just doesn’t seem to suit me… nor does a Fiat. Evidently people’s personalities are reflected in our taste.

But taste is not the only reflector of our identity. The way we spend money also points to our values.

Billy Graham said, “Give me five minutes with a person's checkbook, and I will tell you where their heart is.” That was probably before online banking, but you get the idea.

This was not original to Billy Graham. In fact, Jesus said something similar:

Matthew 6:21 NASB95

for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

If you’ve ever done a budget or an analysis of your spending, you probably know where you spend the greatest amount of money. We expect to have to pay for a home, food, vehicle, etc. But beyond the needs to survive, what does your spending say about your life?

We spend money on the things we value: clothing, tuition, hobbies, etc. And I imagine that most of you give to LRBC because you value this church.

Disclaimer: I have no idea what any of you give… and I don’t need to know or want to know. So I am just going to say that any conviction you may experience is between you and the Holy Spirit.

Maybe you give faithfully. Maybe you give sporadically or maybe you don’t give. Wherever you fall in this, your giving or lack of giving is a reflection on your values and integrity. Why? Because where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What we find as we continue our study in 2 Cor. 8, is the fleshing out of this very principle with the Corinthian Church. Last week, we looked at a model for generous living laid out by Paul in reference to the giving of the Macedonian church.

Having laid out a model, Paul then turns to the Corinthians and tells them (and us) that the way we give says a lot about the kind of people we are… the kind of Christians we are.

IOW, our giving indicates to what degree we value Christ, the church, and the gospel mission. In our time together this morning, we will examine how our giving reflects our integrity in these areas. My hope is that as we walk through the text before us, we will ask ourselves whether or not we could say that our finances indeed align with our confession.

So, if you picked up a bulletin, I invite you to make use of the sermon guide as we invite the Holy Spirit to speak to us through the message entitled, “Giving Pt. 2: A Reflection of Integrity”

We will begin by observing that

Our Giving Demonstrates the Sincerity of our Love (7-9)

Let me just read v. 7-8 again (READ)

Here is what Paul is saying-

The church had demonstrated their faith by giving up their sinful lifestyle and trusting in Christ alone.

The first letter Paul wrote affirms this - Many were fornicators, thieves, drunkards, revilers, swindlers, homosexuals… BUT they repented of these sins and put their faith in Jesus Christ for salvation! (1 Cor 6:9-11)

The church had demonstrated their witness by telling others of the Gospel.

They demonstrated their knowledge in the things of God’s Word.

Paul says, As sure as you trust in Christ, as sure as you speak confidently the saving power of the Gospel, as sure as you can quote the truth of God’s Word- so too your giving is a witness of your authentic or earnest love.

Love is a funny word… people use it wrong a lot though. We could rehash 1 Cor. 13 (commonly known as the ‘love chapter’), but what I want to remind you of is that love is not self-centered, but rather it is others-centered.

So our giving shows to what extent we are willing to focus on others.

ILL: Jesus illustrates this truth in

Matthew 25:34–46 NASB95

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ “Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Further, we see Paul point to the sacrifice of Jesus in v. 9 (READ)

This is not so much just a question of obedience, it’s a question of our sincerity. How real is our love?

Thus, we have to ask ourselves is: “Do we love Christ and others enough to demonstrate our love through giving?”

Discuss: What does your giving say about your love for Christ and neighbor?

Our giving demonstrates the sincerity of our love.

Next, we see that

Our Giving Demonstrates Our Commitment to the Church (10-15)

Let’s read v. 10-15 again. (READ)

Paul points back to the Corinthians’ attitude a year prior. They had talked about this ministry/ mission opportunity and everyone was on board. There was probably a business meeting and folks were super excited talking about how they would support the Gospel Work across the world. And here is what he says: “look, you had a desire to do this and you began putting money aside… now finish what you started.”

There’s 2 things that Paul points out here that we need to pay close attention to:

Because we are covenanted together as a body, we have made a commitment to the Gospel work through this local church. This church uses programs, ministries, and events to engage our community and the world in ways that help us share Jesus and make disciples.

You are a part of that work. Your giving is a reflection of your commitment not only to the work of the church, but also to the other members who are working to fulfill the mission God has called us to.

Let me just say that this is both financial and personal. We aren’t farming out the Gospel- We are the vessels God has placed here to labor in His harvest!!

So, we have to ask:

“Am I committed enough to the church to support the ministry with my time and finances?”

The next thing Paul pointed out is that this commitment to the church works both ways. We engage in giving to support others and it just might be that we find ourselves receiving support in our own time of need. We are building one another up.

Paul told the Galatians in

Galatians 6:7 NASB95

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

And as we think about our commitment to one another- folks, there will be discouraging times. There will be seasons where we are struggling to see our role or the usefulness of our giving. But let me encourage you with the Scripture I often go back to:

Galatians 6:9–10 NASB95

Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith.

Our giving demonstrates the sincerity of our love and our commitment to the church. Finally, we can observe that

Our Giving Demonstrates Our Confidence in the Ministry (16-24)

In these last verses of Ch. 8, Paul speaks of the ministry and specifically the trustworthiness of Titus, who was to be the messenger and the one who would handle the money given by the Corinthians.

Let me point you to v. 20-21 (READ)

ILL: I remember hearing a fellow tell me that the reason he didn’t give to the church is because he didn’t want his money being used for something he didn’t have control over. Another pastor told me of a lady who was so critical of the church’s spending, she demanded the pastor be fired for buying the “wrong bookshelves” whatever that means.

Paul tells the Corinthians that the apostles were just as ready to see God work as the Corinthians. They wanted to be good stewards and ensure that the funds given would be put to good use. In fact, Paul even points out that he wanted to be transparent so that not only would God be honored, but also those who gave.

Here is what I want you to see:

LRBC is absolutely committed to honoring God in every program, event, strategy, etc. We are constantly evaluating what we do and where money and resources are used in order to align with God’s plan and mission.

To the best of our ability, we want every penny that is spent from our budget to be God-honoring. We too want to be good stewards of your generosity.

And beyond that, we want you to have confidence that when you give, it is not wasted or used irresponsibly. In fact, we are structured in such a way that there is transparency and accountability so that anyone can see how the resources of the body are being used and dispersed.

We have a finance committee, we present regular reports, ask for your approval and input on budgets and other spending, and encourage you to be active in members meetings.

We invite and welcome you to participate on the teams and committees responsible for bringing recommendations to the congregation.

We communicate how your giving supports missionaries, disaster relief, church plants, care for orphans, crisis pregnancy centers, elderly care, youth outreach, and the like.

So the questions we must ask are:

Do you trust those who are charged with executing the use of the church’s funds?

Are you engaged in the decision-making processes so that you have input and are informed?

Do you trust that this church is the mechanism through which God intends to accomplish the Great Commission?

Your giving says a lot about where you are in these areas. It reflects your integrity and identity as a member of LRBC. When you give faithfully, you demonstrate that you have a sincere love for God and neighbor, that you are committed to the church and that you have confidence in our mission.

As we close, let me just read v. 24 again (READ). Folks, I want to remind you that I am not pleading for you to give. God is not poor. Rather, I am simply appealing to you to allow your giving to be an honest reflection of you.

Are you a part of God’s work here or not?

[PRAY]

Discuss: Do you believe that LRBC is stewarding our resources well? How? Are you involved?