Let’s be honest: managing money is hard. Most of us were not taught by our parents how to manage money. Often we end up adults having to figure it out on our own.
When it comes to money our culture tells us you never have enough of it, when you get it to spend as much of it as you have, and if you want more stuff than you have money then borrow so you can get it (TVs, vacations, phones, fancy vehicles).
But Scripture tells us (as Christians) how to manage money. Jesus mentioned money regularly and the apostle Paul devoted two entire chapters of 2 Corinthians about money.
2 Corinthians was Paul’s fourth letter sent to the believers in the city of Corinth.[1] It also was Paul’s most personal and intimate letter. TheCorinthian believers had made a pledge of giving in 1 Corinthians 16:1-2 to help the poor Christians in Jerusalem. Paul begins chapters eight and nine of 2 Corinthians with the example of another church’s giving.
THE MACEDONIAN EXAMPLE OF GIVING
Their circumstances are described first, “Now, brethren, we wish to make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the churches of Macedonia, that in a great ordeal of affliction their abundance of joy and their deep poverty overflowed in the wealth of their liberality” (2 Corinthians 8:1–2).[2]
Their contribution is described next, “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” (2 Corinthians 8:3–5). There are few important giving principles we should note from these verses.
First, they gave more than necessary (v. 3a). These people were generous.
Second, they gave without anyone asking them (v. 3b). That word “accord” is the Greek Word is αὐθαίρετος and is used two times in the New Testament (here and in 8:14). This word “pertains to being self-chosen.”[3] It describes a voluntary free will decision to commit to an action. In other words, the Macedonians gave without prompting, without pressure, and without guilt trips.
Third, they gave and wanted to continue giving (v. 4). Apparently, they asked to participate and wanted to give. In fact, they saw it as an honor to give. In spite of their poorness they saw giving as a privilege. Have you ever heard someone beg for an opportunity to give? That’s what the Macedonian churches did!
Fourth, they gave more money than expected and more than just financial aid (vv. 4-5). According to verses four and five they gave both their possessions and their personal help.
Reading about the Macedonians’ example of giving teaches us that giving is something we do even when we don’t have much. Paul is using an argument style that was common in Jewish and Greco-Roman life that we now call “from the lesser to the greater.”[4] The message was this: if the poor destitute churches of Macedonia can give so much from their so little, how much more should you give from your position of wealth!
This encourages us to give no matter how much we have. And in light of the surprising generosity of the Macedonian churches, Paul now turns to the Corinthians.
THE APOSTLE’S EXHORTATION OF GIVING
Paul reveals the beginning of the giving, “So we urged Titus that as he had previously made a beginning, so he would also complete in you this gracious work as well” (2 Corinthians 8:6). The “so” tells us the results. It was the unexpected and enthusiastic involvement of the Macedonians that led Paul to ask Titus to visit Corinth and ask for their help too!
Paul reveals the resumption of the giving, “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” (2 Corinthians 8:7).
Notice five things they have abundantly: “faith” “utterance” “knowledge” “earnestness” and “love”. Based on these five things Paul launches into the reason for giving. The Corinthians had experienced God’s grace (just like the Macedonians) and they should dispense God’s grace in the form of giving (just like the Macedonians). The Corinthians had made a pledge for giving (1 Cor 16:1-2), so Paul held them to that pledge.
Paul reveals the motivation for giving,“I am not speaking this as a command, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity of your love also” (2 Corinthians 8:8). Paul did not bark orders at them. He didn’t command. He didn’t shame. He offers opportunity not obligation.
The Macedonians’ giving is a benchmark that the Corinthians can use as a way to show Paul, the believers in Jerusalem, and all believers everywhere how genuine their love is. This was not a contest among rivals; but an imitation among equals.
Reading about the apostle’s exhortation of giving teaches us that generosity is required of all believers everywhere. The Corinthians were giving to people they had never met. When we give to church we give to people and help people that we have never met and will never meet such as online listeners, missionary ministry, or benevolence help to strangers of the church.
THE MESSIAH’S EXAMPLE OF GIVING
Paul concludes the beginning section this way, “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” (2 Corinthians 8:9). The word “For” at the beginning of this verse describes why the Corinthians should excel in the grace of giving. Because of what Jesus did we respond and worship. Paul’s theology starts with the one who gave up everything to help someone else. He died in our place so that we might have life (2 Cor 5:21).
Notice that everything which comes after “grace of our Lord Jesus Christ” defines the nature of Christ’s grace. What is Christ’s grace? “that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” Here “rich” describes His glory in heavenly existence. “poor” describes His lowliness and destitution when He lived on earth. Jesus Christ decided to exchange His royal status as an eternal resident of heaven for a slave’s status as a temporary resident on earth.
There’s a focus of what He’s doing. It’s “for your sake.” That phrase is in the emphatic position in Greek and could be translated as “all for your sake . . . you, yes you.”[5] The “rich” that He promises here is a spiritual richness; not economic wealth. It describes the Corinthians richness of salvation secured by Christ both now and in the future. The giving here is not supposed to be so great that they become poor while the Jerusalem believers become rich.[6]
The Macedonians gave when they were extremely poor, the Messiah gave when He was incredibly rich. These Corinthians are somewhere in between and should give sacrificially.
Paul wants the Corinthians to do the right thing, but he wants them to do it because they were taking initiative to do it. He wants them to give in love, not obligation. He wants them to give because of their caring not coercion.
Reading about the Messiah’s example of giving teaches us that God’s gift of salvation requires we give Him everything.And that requirement that we give Him everything is something we should do on our own initiative, not because we are coerced or forced to do so. Just as Paul wanted the Corinthians because of their own desire, God wants us to give because it’s what we want to do. Not coercion. Not competition.
CONCLUSION
So what do we know about the response of the Corinthians? Did they give? Did they ignore Paul’s warnings? Did they give somewhere or to someone else besides Paul?
Five months after Paul wrote 2 Corinthians he wrote to the Christians in Rome while visiting the believers in Corinth. (Paul said his plan was to travel to Corinth in 2 Corinthians 12:14 and 13:1-2 which is verified in Acts 20:2-3 and Romans 16:23.) In Paul’s third and final visit to Corinth he wrote to the believers in Rome, “For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Yes, they were pleased to do so, and they are indebted to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in their spiritual things, they are indebted to minister to them also in material things” (Romans 15:26–27). The term “Achaia” describes the region in which Corinth was located! This means the Corinthian believers heeded Paul’s exhortation! They gave because of the grace they received.
I pray and hope that we can exhort our people to give and that they will be faithful to give just as the Corinthians were.
[1] The first letter we don’t have (1 Cor 5:9). The second letter was 1 Corinthians and was written from Ephesus (1 Cor 16:8). The third letter was a “sharp letter” Paul wrote and was carried by Titus (2 Cor 7:8-12). The fourth letter was 2 Corinthians and was written seven months after 1 Corinthians.
[2] Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission.
[3] William Arndt, Frederick W. Danker, Walter Bauer, and F. Wilbur Gingrich. A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature, (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 150.
[4] In Hebrew it’s known asqal wahomer and in Latin it’s known as a minore ad maius.
[5] Murray Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2013), 578.
[6] Verses 13-15 clarify that this is not a call to give everything away so that they can’t provide for themselves.