San Francisco has a restaurant exclusively for man’s best friend. At “Dogue” (meant to rhyme with “vogue”) you can take your dog for a seventy-five dollar multi-course dinner. This gourmet experience includes chicken-skin waffles, filet mignon steak, and quail eggs. On one Saturday Dogue hosted three birthday parties for dogs. One attendee, Gledy Espinoza, came with her miniature dachshund, Mason, and remarked, “We’re foodies. I guess he is too, now.”[1] The owner, Rahmi Massarweh, says everything at Dogue is human-made and some of the food specialties for dogs takes as many as two days to prepare.[2]
Dogue is an example of the extreme wealth we enjoy as Americans and how we not only pamper ourselves, but our pets too. But how does our extreme wealth as Americans effect our giving[3] to the local church? The apostle Paul’s teaching on giving in 2 Corinthians 8-9 is too often neglected when churches and Christian communities discuss giving. In 2 Corinthians 8 Paul begins his instructions on giving with the example of the Macedonian church giving (vv. 1-5), then gives an exhortation of giving for the Corinthians (vv. 6-8), and concludes with the example of the Messiah’s giving (v. 9). Paul writes. “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).[4] Let’s slow down and notice a few elements from this verse.
First, let’s notice the theology contained in this verse.Paul’s theology starts with Jesus who became sin and He died in our place so that we might have life. Paul wrote earlier in this letter that God “made Him [Jesus] who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Jesus gave up everything to help us.
Second, let’s notice the words contained in this verse. The word “grace” is used four times in nine verses as Paul teaches about giving (vv. 1, 6, 7, 9). Paul defines the nature of Christ’s grace. When we read, “though He was rich” it describes Christ’s glory in heavenly existence. When we read He “became poor” it describes His lowliness and destitution when He lived on earth. Jesus Christ exchanged His royal status as an eternal resident of heaven for a slave’s status as a temporary resident on earth. What Christ did had a purpose. The phrase, “for your sake” is in the emphatic position in Greek text and could be translated as “all for your sake . . . you, yes you.”[5] When we read that Christ was “rich” it describes His spiritual richness; not economic wealth. Then later when we read, “He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” it describes the Corinthians richness of salvation secured by Christ both now and in the future.[6]
Third, let’s notice the method contained in this verse. Paul wants the Corinthians to do the right thing, but he wants them to do it because they were taking initiative. He wants them to give because of love, not obligation. He wants them to give because of their caring, not coercion.
What we learn about giving from 2 Corinthians 8:9 is that God’s gift of salvation requires we give Him everything. We find no greater example of sacrificial giving than Jesus Christ. The 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. I agree with Pastor Charles Swindoll who says “all giving should come from a context of grace, not guilt; from love, not compulsion.”[7] Just as Paul wanted the Corinthians to give because of their own desire, God wants us to give because it’s what we want to do.
When we are prompted to give to God, I think it’s healthy to remember that Americans are extremely rich. We might not take our dog to a seventy-five dollar dinner, but we have other proofs of our wealth. Most of us have a car for each adult in our household, extra bedrooms in our house that no one sleeps in, electronics that we don’t use, animals we call “pets” because they don’t provide us milk to drink or food to eat, and garages full of stuff we don’t use or want. It is from this abundance that we gladly give to God just as Christ gave Himself for us.
[1] Associated Press, “At San Francisco restaurant, pups chow on filet mignon,” Columbia-Basin Herald, October 27, 2022, https://apnews.com/article/san-francisco-restaurants-dogs-a6c1ba368023209a1bb5afd027b76742.
[2] Ibid.
[3] According to Grey Matter Research and Infinity Concepts, 26 percent of American evangelicals do not give any money to church. The same study reveals that 42 percent of American evangelicals who do give to church give only 1 percent or 2 percent of their income (“The Tithing Tenth,” Christianity Today, January-February 2022, p. 22).
[4] 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.
[5] Murray Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2013), 578.
[6] The giving here is not supposed to be so great that they become poor while the Jerusalem believers become rich. Second Corinthians 8:13-15 clarify that this is not a call to give everything away so that they can’t provide for themselves.
[7] Charles R. Swindoll, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, vol. 7 (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2017), 410.