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Introduction
What is the primary objective of the church?
According to a 2014 survey by Barna, some of the leading reasons people give regarding the “purpose” of the church are: community, fellowship, drawing people closer to God, and to tell people about God.
While these are certainly important things that the church does, none of them constitute the primary objective or purpose of the church.
The primary objective is not centered on man, but rather God.
The primary purpose of the church is to glorify God.
The church does that through a variety of ways, two of the primary ways is by building up believers in the Word and by evangelizing the lost.
Both of these things require two key actions: Giving and Going.
Sadly, these two things are either being forgotten in the local church or people are not doing them in the hopes that someone else will.
The Bible is clear: Christians are commanded to both give and go.
These are not optional requests or things left for “super-Christians” - they are imperative commands, they are essentials for Christians.
Tonight we will be continuing our doctrinal study by looking at what Scripture has to say about Giving and Going.
:1-7
Giving
Paul talks about giving in .
In these opening 7 verses we see several key principles regarding Christian giving.
I. Giving should not be determined by our outside circumstances (1-4)
In the opening 4 verses of , Paul shows that giving is not out of abundance but rather something that Christians naturally do - in abundance or poverty.
There is a growing idea in the American church that people give to God out of their excess.
If that is the approach that we have to giving then we will rarely if ever give because it seems as though we are always just making it by or living paycheck to paycheck.
We can’t imagine giving to the church because we barely make it by without giving.
While there are certainly extenuating circumstances, the apostle Paul notes in these opening verses that the people Christians in Macedonia were poor but they gave out of the abundance of their joy.
Not the abundance of their wealth, because they were poor, but they gave beyond their ability.
They did not give because they had to give because they had to give or because they were under compulsion to give, they gave because they genuinely wanted to!
These believers gave with this willing attitude because they had received grace from God. Paul’s approach and the theology for giving stems from the fact that God has given to us.
He has not just given us some things but He has given us all things!
Because of that, we must give not under compulsion or view giving as an obligation but rather a privilege.
The evidence that God had given grace to the Macedonian believers was that they gave freely and abundantly to others.
Where is the evidence that the grace of God has been given to us? Do we give because we feel obligated to or because we “get” to give?
Do we give out of our abundance or out of our poverty?
On the flip side of giving: Do we give in order to receive riches from God?
There are some preachers out there who say that if you give them money then God will bless you with even more money or earthly riches.
Does Paul advocate that view here?
These Macedonian Christians gave out of their poverty and they did not magically become millionaires the next day.
They were poor.
They gave out of their poverty and they gave well beyond their means.
They did not do so in order to receive wealth but because of the joy that overflowed from their hearts.
These people were persecuted, friends.
Back in this day, when Christians were considered cultural misfits, these people would have likely experienced rock-bottom poverty.
They would have been made fun of and persecuted both socially and economically.
People would have likely avoided purchasing their goods and avoided going to their tents in the marketplace.
Yet, even though they were rejected, persecuted, and poor, they gave with a wealth of generosity.
In the Greek the meaning is “the abundance of their joy abounded”.
In our world we often view our joy based upon our circumstances.
It makes sense, and we all do it.
If life is going good then we are more likely to show grace and joy to those around us.
However, when life is going rough then we are less likely to show these attributes.
This is natural for humans.
With that said, the New Testament shows a completely different story.
The New Testament shows how Christians can experience joy in the midst of suffering and persecution.
Poverty overflowing into wealth might not make sense to us in our modern mind, but that is the story of the Gospel - we are dead but we are called to life.
We are poor but we are called to give.
Murphy O’Connor notes that, “Despite all their own difficulties they did not turn inwards; their concern was for others, the one proof of “authentic love” ().
It was this that released the divine power into the world.
What a contrast to the church at Corinth, whose internal divisions risked putting a stumbling-block in the way of the conversion of both Jews and Greeks, and even endangered other Christians ()!”
Despite all their own difficulties they did not turn inwards; their concern was for others, the one proof of “authentic love” ().
It was this that released the divine power into the world.
What a contrast to the church at Corinth, whose internal divisions risked putting a stumbling-block in the way of the conversion of both Jews and Greeks, and even endangered other Christians ()!
We know the church of Laodicea was rich yet the Lord considered them as “poor, pitiful, blind and naked” in .
We must be faithful to give regardless of our outside circumstances, just as Paul commends of the Macedonian believers and as we see from the Church of Smyrna in .
Garland, D. E. (1999). 2 Corinthians (Vol.
29, p. 367).
Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers.
II.
Self-Giving comes before Financial-Giving (5)
Whenever you are saved you are a new creation.
Your life is no longer about yourself, instead it is 100% about the kingdom of God!
Because of that, you operate completely differently.
Isn’t it interesting that God ultimately doesn’t need us.
He could snap His fingers and time would come to a conclusion, if He chose to do so.
Yet, He doesn’t.
He is all-powerful, so He doesn’t require or need our power or help.
Yet, He allows us to participate in the expansion of the Kingdom.
He doesn’t need our money, He is all-powerful and He is the giver of everything we have!
But He commands us to give.
How does this make sense?
He desires full obedience from the heart.
Not donations or actions that are done out of obligation or from a sense of tradition!
He wants your all!
Therefore you must give yourself first.
You should serve with your Spiritual Gifts and give yourself first to the Lord before giving your resources or any other thing.
First, you give your entire self to the Lord.
If you give $1 million to the local church, that’s fantastic.
But Jesus Himself taught that giving is a matter of the heart in as He talked about the widow’s gift and how it was far greater a gift than the gift from the rich people.
Monetarily this makes zero sense because surely the rich people gave more than 2 copper coins.
But again, God doesn’t need our money!
His will will be accomplished regardless.
With that said, He demands our entire self.
Whenever you surrender to Christ, you surrender fully.
Because of this, what happens, eventually, is that you give financially but first you give your self.
III.
Believers not only give money, but also grace (6-7)
Verse 6 serves as a reminder to the Corinthian Church to not stop what has been started.
Paul and the Corinthian church had an interesting relationship.
This church was diverse and immature, yet they thought that they knew best.
Because of this, Paul encourages the people to continue working.
Rather than saying, “you’re slacking off”, Paul instead uses the Greek word “epitelein” which means “complete successfully something already begun.”
Paul praises them for their initial enthusiasm and gives Titus the responsibility for helping them advance beyond the beginning stage and continue to grow.
Can you remember whenever you first became a Christian and how you saw things and lived a radically different life?
You had this passion for Christ that consumed your life!
This passion is an incredible thing that I wish we had every second since this initial conversion, but sadly that passion can waver.
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