I’m not good at fixing things or making things. Brooke got her love for tools from her mom 🙂

Get Back to It 

2 Corinthians 8, part one 

Undoubtedly, Paul taught the Corinthians from the beginning to GIVE, be ready to GIVE and to GIVE with joy. But the indication here in verse 10 is that they stopped their giving about a year ago. 

“...for this is to your advantage, who were the first to begin a year ago to do this (to give), but also to desire to do it. But now finish doing it also…so there may be completion of it by your ability.”  

This is a little confusing but basically Paul is saying ‘you began giving a year ago but you have wavered. Get back to it.’ He urges them to finish what they started. Paul had always taught his churches to be keenly aware of the needs of poverty-stricken believers among them and also of those in Jerusalem. He set up a system whereby the gifts would be transported by honorable men from the outer regions (where Paul planted churches) to meet the acute needs of the church of Jerusalem. The church in Jerusalem was especially poor. The Corinthians, it seems, embraced this service of grace-giving initially, but in the last year had abandoned it. WHY? 

Diminished trust 

No doubt, the false teachers who moved in and criticized Paul had also accused him of mishandling the money. Consequently, the church held back on giving. But now things have changed since Titus had delivered them the severe letter and they had repented and turned back to God. Paul is calling them to “complete the task of giving according to their ability.”  

In verses 1 & 2, Paul gives them an example of the churches in Macedonia who were poor themselves.  Yet because of their deep Joy from their faith in Christ, even though they were in poverty, they gave liberally according to their ability. The Macedonian Christians were monetarily poor but they “overflowed in the wealth of their liberality.” Though they were poor, they were actually rich! Their inner lives, through the transforming work of the Spirit within them, were crazy rich in love and liberality. 

Required giving vs. Spirit-led giving 

Let’s discuss our challenges with Christian giving. We want to do the right thing but how do we KNOW what the right thing is? Who should we give to and how much? It’s not always easy to know. That’s why we acquiesce to the concept of the tithe, even though it does not apply to us a Christain, (see my last post for an explanation). It would be simple and clear if we have a required goal or set expectation of giving 10%. Many Ministers say, ‘you must give 10% to the church and not until then can you give elsewhere.’ I’m sorry but that’s just wrong. There is simply no scriptural foundation for this belief. 

We often buy-in to this 10% concept because Ministers we trust quote Old Testament verses (out of context) and quite frankly, it appeals to us because it’s simple and clear. We want to know we have given the right amount.  

There’s a part of us that wishes God would just give us a blanket statement of how much we should give and to whom. Once we hit that goal we can turn our brains off.  

Sorry, doesn’t work that way. This concept of Christian giving (when not distorted with Old Testament tithing standards) is all about waking up daily, seeking God’s guidance and direction in your life daily, being in tune with the needs around you daily and following the Spirit’s guidance upon you daily, praying and discussing the needs with your spouse (when applicable) or accountability partners and giving accordingly. 

Spirit-filled giving 

Lord, the Spirit-filled life is never so needed as it’s needed in this area of giving. Help us get away from formula’s, percentages and monthly, quarterly and annual quotas. Yes, we should plan and seek Your guidance annually. But help us also to live in the moment. Speak to us daily about areas and ways (physically and monetarily) we should give. May we give, give, give. Afterall, as our Savior said, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” Amen