Principles for Effective Giving-- The Jerusalem Project pt. 1

Do Not Mix God Up with Bad Money Decisions

I remember hearing of a remark of George Müller, of Bristol. At a prayer meeting he read a letter from a brother who thanked him for a gift of some twenty pounds, which had arrived very providentially, for he owed half a year’s rent. Mr. Müller remarked, “Yes, our brother should be very thankful. But I intend to write to him and tell him he ought not to owe half a year’s rent without being prepared to pay; and he is acting unwisely and unjustly by not laying by in store to meet the claim. When I took a house I said, ‘This is another person’s house; I am bound to pay his rent,’ and therefore week by week as I used the house I put away a portion to pay what was due. I did not spend the money and at the end of the quarter while expecting the heavenly Father to send me more.”

This was sound morality and common sense, and I ask you attend to it. Pray by all means, but “owe nothing to anyone” (Rom 13:8). Daily bread is to be prayed for, but speculations that may involve you in ruin, or make your fortune, are not to be mentioned. If you take to gambling, you may as well give up praying. Straightforward transactions you may pray about, but do not mix up the Lord with your financing.

Sermon in a Sentence

Giving is the collective and individual way that we advance and finance God's kingdom agenda, and show tangible evidence of God’s grace being active in our lives.

Context of Chapter 8

Paul abruptly shifts subjects in chapters 8-9 to raising funds for the churches in Judea. From previous subject matter, this section appears to be an independent letter or letters. The mentioning of Titus is the connection to Paul's instructions regarding the offering. He switches his style to a more commendatory and administrative letter to deal with the new subject of the collection is appropriate. Paul is facing affliction along with the Macedonians. One of the themes in this letter is his concern to explain how his afflictions could issue in "life" for others (1 Cor. 4:12). The Macedonians' afflictions and extreme poverty that result in overflowing joy and an extraordinary desire to help others fits like a glove.

Cranfield writes, "The Church's need of money is a matter which it is difficult to handle with graciousness, sensitiveness and dignity." The issues of church and finances seem to cause a spike in giving or offend those guilty of not contributing to kingdom work. Paul handles the issue deftly, and his lengthy discussion shows how important planning and administration are to the success of any ministry. Paul engages in evangelism as a front line missionary working in the trenches. He is a sensitive pastor and wise theologian. He is a visionary who has planned a worldwide project with enormous theological ramifications. He is also an administrator who does not shy away from handling the essential details, delivering theological pep talks to those who have grown indifferent to the task, delegating responsibilities, and soothing ruffled feathers.

The Jerusalem project offers the Corinthians the chance to participate in something greater than themselves. Generosity is not something innate to human beings. Seneca recognized that people needed to be taught how to give, receive, and return willingly. This is no less true of Christians, and in chapters 8 and 9 Paul shows why and how the Corinthians Christians should contribute to this fund.

Paul informs them the grace of God had been given to the churches he planted in Macedonia, presumably, Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. Grace appears ten times throughout these two chapters with differing nuances. Grace here refers to human generosity, which Paul understands to be something to be given by God. Grace is God’s unconditional benevolence towards us. Paul highlights the fact that the affliction afforded them an opportunity to show God’s grace through financial means. Dahl calls the gift of money to others “a visible sign of an invisible grace.” Paul may have been reflecting on how the Jerusalem project was unfolding without his personal intervention; everything is happening as if it were a gesture of grace performed by God for the sake of the Macedonians. Yet, Paul understands that God’s grace does not lighten the Macedonians’ afflictions nor remove their deep poverty. Instead, it opens their hearts and purse strings to others. The Macedonians suffered from extreme poverty that Paul vividly expresses as “down to the depths poverty.” Persecution and social ostracism probably caused this rock bottom poverty. Their poverty matches that of the saints in Jerusalem that was also caused by persecution and may have generated their empathy with them. “Affliction still afford you an opportunity to sow into ministry for the advancement of the kingdom.” One can give out of extreme poverty, and one can give out of measureless riches. Those who are disinclined to be generous when they are poor are not likely to become suddenly generous when they are rich. “Money does not make you something else; it makes you more of who you are.”

Giving begins with offering yourself to God

The amount does not matter; the spirit behind the giving does. If the Corinthians want to compete with the Macedonians, they should compete for the most joyful and willing attitude, not over the amount of money contributed. Attitudes of the heart, however, are far more difficult to measure and to compare, so humans tend to resort to flesh categories to evaluate giving and spirituality. By contrast, Paul commends the Macedonians for their overflowing joy and willingness to sacrifice for others in the midst of their own suffering. The quantity of what they gave does not matter to Paul, but the spirit in which they gave does. With God, a couple of “mites” can far outweigh a ton of gold bullion. In keeping with this divine outlook, Paul never mentions the word money when talking about this project. He cloaks the whole enterprise in language that has both a formal administrative character and a theological character. It is a “ministry.” The word “ministry” (diakonia) had a technical meaning in Judaism for supporting the needs of the poor. For Paul, however, this ministry is far more than simply delivering aid to poor people. It had major theological consequences and was something he was prepared to risk his life to carry out. In the process Paul creates a new meaning for the word koinonia (partnership, fellowship). This is the first use of the word for monetary collections. As the Philippians had formed a partnership with Paul in his mission work beyond Philippi, and all the Macedonian churches want to form a partnership with other Christians in Judea.

The literal rendering of the Greek that they gave “not as we hoped” suggests to English ears some disappointment on Paul’s part when, in truth, what they did was beyond his hopes. They gave beyond any reasonable hope. Paul describes the formula of a giver:

They give of themselves—The gospel is not about what we can get from God but what God has given to us so that we can give of ourselves to others.

They give to others—relationships between leaders and laity are vital to the success of any project

They are spirit-led—Giving is related to the grace of God experienced in Christ. The recipients are not required to have done anything to merit the gift except to be in need. The givers are made generous because of God’s grace working on them, in them, and through them.

Your “gifts” and your “giving” must match

“Christians do not have a problem with faith or being spiritual except when it comes to finances and giving.”

The Corinthians may have matured in faith, in the sense of trusting God, so that he could mention it as something in which they now abound (see 2 Cor 1:24). On the other hand, it seems more likely that “faith” corresponds to the list of spiritual gifts in 1 Cor 12:8–10 and refers to a wonder working faith (see 1 Cor 13:2) rather than the faith that saves. “Speech” may refer to their eloquence (NJB); but again, it is more likely to refer to the spiritual speech such as tongues and prophesy that so captivates them (see 1 Cor 12:10, 28; 13:1–2). “Knowledge” refers to their spiritual insight—the knowledge to understand all mysteries (1 Cor 13:2). Interpreting these riches in light of Paul’s discussion of them in 1 Corinthians helps us recognize that while Paul values such things, they do not top the list of what he thinks is most important for the upbuilding of the community (1 Cor 8:1–3). Paul interprets these gifts as tending to build up the individual rather than the community. Consequently he would prefer that they cultivate those gifts which cause them to focus more outwardly on others. The second triad does this.

He can confirm their “eagerness” or “zeal.” Paul may be referring to their earnestness in their response to Titus (7:11–12). He rejoices that they wanted to do what was right concerning the offending brother, and he hopes that they will show the same zeal in doing what is right regarding the collection.

Some argue for the reading “our love for you” because Paul previously reproached them for having squeezed him out of their hearts (6:12) and implored them to make room in their hearts for him (7:2). This internal evidence suggests that he could hardly presume that they overflowed in love for him. On the other hand, Paul does proclaim his deep love for them (6:11; 7:3). But Paul is speaking about the “graces of the Corinthians” and to mention his own love for them as something they excel in would disturb the sense. According to Paul’s explanation in 7:12, Paul wrote the severe letter so that they might make their zeal for him known. This statement assumes that this zeal was momentarily obscured, not completely lost. Their positive reaction to Paul’s letter and to Titus’s visit permits him now to say that they love him. In 8:8 Paul says that he is testing the genuineness of their love, so he must be speaking here about the love they possess for him, rather than the love he has for them.

“The church seems to major in performance while minoring in practice where giving is concerned.”

The phrase “see that you also excel in this grace of giving” is hyphenated by the NIV to suggest that a break occurs in the syntactical sequence of the listing of the gifts. It reads literally, “in order that you abound in this grace also.” The hina may express expected consequence: “I am pointing this out so that you may excel in this gracious work too”; a wish or exhortation: “I wish or exhort that you excel in this gracious work also”; or an alternative form of the imperative as the NIV translates it, “see that you also excel.” This last option is the best.41 Verbrugge argues that Paul uses this construction as “one of the least direct ways that Paul could use to express the imperatival idea.” It “expressed more of a wish than a command, and people who were not in a superior or authoritative position to the recipient of the letter tended to use it.” It forms a marked contrast with the simple imperative in 1 Cor 16:1–2:

Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside [literally, let each one set aside, third person imperative] a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.

Paul apparently no longer feels free to make such direct commands as he did earlier. But he always prefers to lay out principles rather than lay down rules (compare his lengthy discussion about idolatry in 1 Cor 8–10). In these two chapters on the collection, Paul spends most of his time explaining the principles that should motivate generosity rather than ordering the Corinthians to do what he wants.

Yet Paul is not shy about telling them that they need to abound in graciousness or charity. It is abundance in the second triad of gifts (earnestness, love, and grace) that determines whether the abundance in the first triad (faith, speech, and knowledge) has any spiritual validity. A deficiency in the second calls into question whether their faith, speech, and knowledge are in any way meaningful to God. Paul has talked about the participation of the Macedonian churches in the collection as a sure sign that God’s grace had been given to them (8:1). The Corinthians’ participation would reveal that God’s grace is just as active among them.

Giving is the tangible response to God’s grace

David in Psalm 116:12-13 says:

What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.

Paul increases the potency of his entreaty by appealing now to the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of the Macedonians for others is one thing; the sacrifice of Christ for others is quite another. As Cranfield puts it, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” “denotes the utterly undeserved, royally free, effective, unwearying, inexhaustible goodwill of God, active in and through Jesus Christ, God’s effective, overflowing mercy.” It sums up God’s merciful action toward humanity. When we have been the beneficiaries of such undeserved grace, how can true Christians shut their hearts or purses to brothers and sisters in need or begrudge every penny they may share with others (see 1 John 3:16–20)? God’s lavishness in the gift of grace and the depths of Christ’s sacrifice requires that Christians be liberal in their giving to others. A halfhearted response ill befits the total sacrifice that Christ made for us.

Paul employs a brief christological confession in the service of his ethical exhortation (see Phil 2:5–11). “Though he was rich” means that Christ did not exploit his status for his own advantage. Instead, he relinquished that status to serve others (Phil 2:6). His riches “describe that estate of the pre-existent Christ which elsewhere in the New Testament is presented as ‘the glory which I had with thee before the world was made’ ” (John 17:5), or as “being in the form of God” and having “equality with God” (Phil 2:6).

The affirmation that Christ became poor for our sakes has been taken in an economic sense to mean Christ’s literal poverty during his earthly life. We do not know that Jesus was literally impoverished, however, and he was probably no worse off economically than any other Palestinian subjugated under Roman rule and their puppets, client kings and the priestly aristocracy. To be consistent, an economic interpretation would imply that through Christ’s material poverty others were made materially rich. This hardly applies for the Macedonians. The riches therefore can only be spiritual riches which make one’s material possessions irrelevant. Christ’s “poverty” must refer to something other than having no place to lay his head (Matt 8:20).

It is far more likely that “he became poor” is an ingressive aorist that refers to the incarnation, the state Christ assumed in taking on this mortal life. Becoming poor refers to his “emptying himself” (Phil 2:6; see also Rom 15:3; Heb 12:2) and suggests that this is something he did voluntarily. Schelkle comments: “Christ renounced the divine fullness of power in which he dwelt with the Father, abandoned the heavenly glory which was his as the Son of God. He chose the poverty of human existence so that through his poverty he could impart the eternal riches of redemption to the poverty of all for whose sake he became poor.” But how does this make us rich? Paul must also be thinking of Christ’s death on the cross: “Christ became ‘poor’ by accepting the radical impoverishment of a degrading and humiliating death in which everything was taken from him.”49 Christ’s incarnation climaxed in his death, and the principle of interchange—he became poor; we became rich—is the same as in 5:21: “Jesus gave up his righteousness (becoming ‘sin’) in order that believers might become the ‘righteousness of God.’ ” Lapide cites the summary of benefits we received from Christ’s impoverishment so beautifully expressed by Gregory of Nazianus:

Christ was made poor that we through His poverty might be rich. He took the form of a servant that we might regain liberty. He descended that we might be exalted. He was tempted that we might overcome. He was despised that He might fill us with glory. He died that we might be saved. He ascended, to draw to Himself those lying prostrate on the ground through sin’s stumblingblock.

The riches of salvation are not something that only await us in glory but are spiritual blessings that we can experience right now (see 1 Cor 1:4–5; 3:22). The test for the Corinthians will be whether this spiritual enrichment will have any tangible effect on the way they share their economic riches with others. Paul drives home the point in the next chapter that God makes us rich so that we can be generous with others (9:11).

Christ’s sacrifice becomes the real motive for giving, not trying to copy or to outdo some sibling community. Paul asks them to respond to what Christ has done for them: “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (5:15). Furnish, however, argues that Paul does not present Christ as an example to follow. He claims that Paul does not mean “Do what Christ did,” or even “Do for others what Christ has done for you.” It is rather, “Do what is appropriate for your status as those who have been enriched by the grace of Christ.”

But it is hard to see how Christ’s self-giving cannot be a model for the self-giving of all Christians—including how they should give their money. The self-emptying of Christ for Christians should lead them to empty their pocketbooks for others, if only in proportion to what they have. Paul followed Christ’s example in his own way of life as one who emptied himself for others, becoming poor, and bearing great hardships to reach others with the gospel. Yet Paul is not asking the Corinthians to give as Christ has given to them, or even to give of their lives to others in the same way he has as their apostle, nor even to give out of their impoverishment as the Macedonians have. Paul asks them only to give a fair share, a proportion of what they have, and promises that they will receive blessings in return. But he reminds them that Christ did not give his fair share! His gift was way out of proportion, and there was no guarantee that there would be a flood of gratitude to God for this inexpressible gift. Such unmerited grace from their Lord should inspire the Corinthians to be gracious to others who are in need. Craddock comments: “The drama of redemption took place where we live, in history, in Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore let us express it where we live, says Paul, in the circumstances of each day’s life, for example, in the sharing of one’s purse with those in need.”

From the examples of the Macedonians and Christ the Corinthians can learn the following:

1. True giving requires giving of oneself, not just giving money. The gospel is not about what we can get from God but what God has given to us so that we can give of ourselves to others.

2. One can give out of extreme poverty, and one can give out of measureless riches. Those who are disinclined to be generous when they are poor are not likely to become suddenly generous when they are rich.

3. Giving is related to the grace of God experienced in Christ. The recipients are not required to have done anything to merit the gift except to be in need. The givers are made generous because of God’s grace working on them, in them, and through them.

Giving is a tangible evidence of God’s grace in your life

Stinginess has a way of expressing itself through suspicion of others and rationalizing its tightfisted ways. Paul is aware that some miserly members of the congregation might gripe, “Others will be profiting from our hard earned money.” “We have to bear the brunt of the burden while the poor get rich off us.” “We have enough financial troubles of our own, why should we have to help others we do not even know?” Paul is realistic; unless one has the spirit of Christ, one does not want to bear a greater burden so that others might be relieved. He therefore tries to deflect any possible complaint by assuring them that the Jerusalem church is not going to live the high life from these gifts.

Paul does not ask the Corinthians to give more than others because they are better off. He asks them only to give what they can. The example of the Macedonians shows that Paul is not placing an unequal burden upon them. He does not want them to become hard pressed in offering relief to others. The word translated “hard pressed” (thlipsis) in the NIV is the same word in 8:2 that refers to the Macedonian’s “test of affliction” (“out of the most severe trial,” NIV). The Corinthians’ giving to this fund, even sacrificially, will hardly compare with the severe affliction which the Macedonians endured. In spite of their dire circumstances, these Christians did not believe they were too hard pressed to give what they could and beyond what they could. But Paul is not asking the Corinthians to put themselves into debt by contributing. The principle undergirding the whole project is one of equity (isotēs, “equality,” NIV). It relates to “justice” and “fairness.”

Paul does not write “so that there might be equity,” as the NIV renders it, but instead he writes unexpectedly, “but out of equity” (all’ ex isotētos). Paul is not talking about the purpose for their giving—to create equality—but the ground of their giving—from equality. Sharing from their surplus to give to this fund accords with a divine principle about equity and material goods. Calvin comments

that riches which are heaped up at the expense of our brethren are accursed and will soon perish and their owner will be ruined with them, so that we are not to imagine that the way to grow rich is to make provision for our own distant future and defraud our poor brethren of the help that is their due. I acknowledge indeed that we are not bound to such equality as would make it wrong for the rich to live more elegantly than the poor; but there must be such an equality that nobody starves and nobody hordes his abundance at another’s expense.

Two principles emerge from Paul’s discussion: giving in proportion to what one has, and giving on the basis of equity so that each has enough. The Corinthians’ current abundance will supply their current lack.

Instead of finishing the sentence in 8:13, Paul leaves it incomplete and starts another in 8:14. Georgi paraphrases 8:14–15, “At this point in time your abundance is added to their shortage, so that their might be equity; as it is written: ‘Who had much, did not have more, and who had little, did not have less.” Most do not believe that the expression “at the present time” (en tōi nyn kairōi) carries any particular eschatological significance but only refers to the present time of need suffered by the saints in Jerusalem. But Paul’s use of the phrase in Rom 3:26; 8:18; 11:5 and 2 Cor 6:2 suggests that it might indeed have eschatological overtones. Barnett interprets it to mean:

As God imposed “equality” within Israel during the wilderness pilgrimage, so at “the present time” under the “new covenant” (3:2–6; cf. 6:16), when there is, by fulfillment, an “Israel of God” (Gal 6:16), there is also to be “equality.” In this time of God’s eschatological fulfillment (v. 14) that “equality” is to be voluntary (vv. 3, 8–9), joyous, and generous (v. 2).

In Rom 15:25–31 Paul makes it clear that the gospel is a gift that creates an obligation of gratitude that should be shown by the return of material gifts. Paul specifically refers to the Macedonians and Achaians as spiritual debtors to those in Jerusalem (Rom 15:26–27; cp. Phlm 17–19). He explains, “For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings” (Rom 15:27b; cp. John 4:22, “Salvation is of the Jews”). Peterman shows that in the ancient world, “When a person receives a benefit it is considered a social obligation to show gratitude. This gratitude is primarily displayed in a counter gift or favour.” The collection becomes a way of paying off a spiritual debt to those in Jerusalem.

Given the Corinthians’ sensitivities to the intricacies of such social relations, however, Paul does not come right out and say in so many words that they are debtors to the mother church in Jerusalem. He also shows sensitivity to the social rules of the time by emphasizing future reciprocity. The protocol of gift giving in this culture took for granted that whenever there was disparity in the exchange of gifts, the one who outgave the other gained status as the superior while the other moved down a rung in the status ladder. That explains why Paul stresses that the Corinthians’ plenty now will supply the needs of the saints “so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need.” No one will outgive the other and attain a higher status over the other. Hanson expresses it this way: “The Corinthians give now, not as the richer members condescending to give to their poorer brethren, but as brothers who know that, in Christ, their present supplying of the needs of the Christians in Jerusalem will be answered by the people of Jerusalem in some way and at some time supplying their need.”

Paul’s statement leaves open the possibility that they will repay in kind with material gifts if the Corinthians ever have need. But in chap. 9 Paul will give a Christian twist to the convention of gift giving. He stresses that God rewards those who are generous with the poor. This theological affirmation changes entirely the dynamics behind gift exchange with its expectation of reciprocity and brings it more in line with the gospel. The implication is that the bond between them is triangular because God repays those who are generous to the poor (9:6–11). He also spiritualizes their reciprocity. If the unlikely possibility ever comes to pass that their fortunes should be reversed, the Jerusalem Christians will share material gifts with the Corinthians. But immediately they will offer up prayers of thanksgiving and intercession for them (9:12–14).

Paul steers carefully through the intricate maze of cultural expectations regarding gift exchange and social reciprocity yet clearly implies that Christians cannot sit idly by and let the Christians starve who sent the gospel their way. God intends that there be fairness in the distribution of what people need to live. They will lose nothing in sharing with their needy brothers and sisters in Christ. But they will face God’s judgment if they keep for themselves a surplus that could have been used to help others on the edge of survival.

The quotation from Exod 16:18 from the miracle of the manna caps this stage of Paul’s argument:

And when they measured it by the omer, he who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little. Each one gathered as much as he needed. Then Moses said to them, “No one is to keep any of it until morning.” However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell. So Moses was angry with them (Exod 16:18–20).

The manna was distributed “each according to his need,” and Paul takes this as a divine pattern for the distribution of material possessions. Strachan, among many others, fails to see how the quotation is relevant since, he claims, it does not illustrate the principle of give and take, except that in God’s scheme of things it does not pay to be selfish. But the principle of give and take is not the point. God’s justice demands equality, and Paul interprets this to apply to the equality of sharing. Trying to amass more than one’s fair share, hoarding it, or clutching it desperately is a futile waste of energy. One ends up with a pile of rot. Paul interprets the account from Exodus as teaching that one can share with others and still have enough.

The “enough” has to do with what is necessary. Unfortunately, the continuation of the story of the manna in the wilderness illustrates how humans never seem to feel that enough is enough. Sinful humans are not satisfied with their omer apiece and invariably want to squirrel away more for themselves and have something saved for a rainy day. They also grow dissatisfied with plain old manna from heaven and crave luxuries (see Num 11:5–6). Anxiety over possessing and keeping such things throttles any generosity as we worry that we may not have enough for ourselves. But our selfishness and covetousness is in turn stifled by the divine principle of equality that turns our excess spoils into spoilage reeking to heaven.

This divine principle—no one has a surplus; no one has a shortage—was enforced by God in the time of the wilderness. Now it is voluntary, dependent on the working of God’s grace in the hearts of Christians. The principle governs Paul’s advice on handling money. He told the Corinthians earlier that they should not depend on their money but live independently of it (1 Cor 7:29–31). He warns others to beware of greed (Rom 1:29; 1 Cor 6:10; 2 Cor 3:5; Eph 4:19; 5:3, 5; and 1 Tim 6:10) and to provide for those in need (Rom 12:13; 2 Cor 9:8; Gal 6:6–10; Eph 4:28; and 2 Thess 3:13). The most remarkable statement appears in Eph 4:28, that one should work so that one may “have something to share with those in need” (cp. 1 Thess 4:12). On the other side, he warns others from trying to take advantage of others’ generosity (see 2 Thess 3:8–12).

Paul applies the divine principle of equity to sharing material gifts with the poor in Jerusalem. Hays concludes that Paul uses the story about the manna “to good effect in depicting the Corinthians’ material ‘abundance’ (2 Cor 8:14) as a superfluous store that could and should be made available to supply the ‘wants of the saints.’ ” But the sharing of material gifts is a sign of a spiritual equity. Paul sees this project as the outworking of an even greater divine principle that is creating a worldwide fellowship of people in Christ. They are interconnected to one another through Christ and have equal access to God’s grace. They trust in God’s daily provision, and no one needs to hoard their material blessings since God provides abundantly. If they lack anything, they need not fret. God has provided other Christians an abundance so they can help. God has also poured out grace to make Christians generous.