2 Corinthians 8

In this letter that is almost entirely about the true ministry of the New Testament church, from the beginning of chapter 8 through the close of chapter 9 the Apostle Paul gives some extended instruction on giving. How is giving related to gospel ministry? The cross can be viewed through the lens of divine charity. The death of Jesus is God’s greatest gift to us. Our response to the gospel shines forth in the generous gift of ourselves to Christ and His church. If we are stingy with our money, what does that say about how we appreciate the gift that God has given to us in His Son?

Generous giving is a sign and fruit of the grace of God at work in the lives of those who have received His gift. Before challenging the church in Corinth about their giving, Paul speaks of their brothers and sisters in faith in the northern churches of Macedonia. He sees the generous giving of these relatively poor churches as an example of the grace of God. Churches in poor regions that are continually sending out appeals for funds may be doing just what they need to do. Nonetheless, what they are doing is perfectly understandable without bringing in the matter of grace. What shows grace is when poor people freely and quietly give of themselves for the glory of God. This is what was happening in Macedonia. The same Christ who multiplied the loaves and fishes to feed a multitude is able to multiply the giving of the poor to accomplish amazing things. Jesus has never been all that impressed with the substantial gifts of the rich. He does call his disciples together to watch a poor widow put two small copper coins into the temple treasury. She gave out of her poverty. That was impressive.

This kind of giving comes out of an abundance of joy. The people in Macedonia were begging to do their part, and then some, for the collection of a great gift for Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. They wanted to help their new brothers and sisters in the Lord’s family. This starts with hearts that are willing to give to the Lord, not just money, but more importantly our lives. We give ourselves over to the worship of God. We give ourselves to learning the Word of God and applying it to our lives. We give ourselves to prayer and service. We do all this because we have been captivated by the love of the Christ who gave Himself for us.

This is the way of genuine Christian living, not as a matter of law or compulsion, but as the evidence of a renewed spirit that has been made alive by the Lord. The Corinthians excelled in so many wonderful ways, and they had made a start toward excellent giving, but now it was time to be spurred on to finish the good work they had begun. If Christians say that they desire to be generous because of the Lord’s love in their lives, then they should move on to do the thing that they desire.

This is not first and foremost about how much a church collects for an offering, or how much any one person gives. Some have much in the way of resources; others have very little. God knows both our desire and our follow-through on that desire. People that have much in any area of life have a responsibility to give much. It is God who somehow brings it all together and multiplies it so that the needs of His people are supplied. In the wilderness, when manna was falling from heaven, some gathered much, some gathered little, and everybody shared enough so that everybody could eat. This is the way it needs to be in any one church, and even between churches in a region and throughout the world. That does not mean that poor churches are to resent the rich churches. The poor churches are to consider giving a joy, just like the Macedonians did, and the wealthier churches should be spurred on by that great grace of the generosity of the poor to do give substantially and sacrificially.

This joyful extravagance of collecting and giving involves the Apostle Paul, his representative Timothy, other trusted people appointed by the churches, all the members of the churches who have chosen to freely give; but especially this gospel giving involves God. The Lord has given us Himself. We thank God for the gift of Christ. We thank God for the preaching of the message of grace. We thank God for the gathering and perfecting of His people. We thank God that we are one in Christ throughout the world. We thank God for our eternal destiny which was purchased at such a very high cost. That is why we are happy to give when we are in our right gospel minds, and that is why even poor people are begging to be able to give.

That does not mean we get ourselves way over our heads in unsecured debt in order to give to others. That is giving what we really don’t have in a way that people in ancient days could not do in exactly the same way as we unfortunately do today, usually just for ourselves and not for others. Instead of racking up more enslaving debt, we need to be willing to deny ourselves things to make sure that the whole family of God has something to eat and that the ministry of the Word goes forward to all the earth. This is the era of giving and receiving. Christ has given and we have received. That is why we are so happy to give, so that others might receive. There is something fundamentally right that is happening with true Christian ministry when the people of God, especially those who are poor, are begging to be able to give.