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My Junior English class has to rank up there as one of the more memorable experiences of my high school career. Not because I learned a lot, but because we had so much fun in the class. And not because the teacher made it fun, but because she seemed oblivious to our frequent parties – complete with drinks and food – in the back of the room.

And, that lighthearted attitude sometimes carried over into our class participation. There came a point that year where each of us had to give a speech. The only requirement of the speech was that we had to hold the class’ attention for 2 minutes. 

Emboldened by the lighthearted attitude, I chose the nonsensical philosopher approach. Which means I spent two minutes explaining to the class that everything they knew was wrong because what they really knew was blocked out by what they thought they knew, so that they didn’t really even know what they knew.

It did hold their attention, and I think I got an “A” on the speech. I know (really) that I made an “A” in the class. Later, I was told the parody was not far from what some people consider a legitimate philosophy. I was just trying to be funny and hold the class’ attention.

But what if I wasn’t far from at least a kernel of truth? What if things we believe – say, about giving – what if those things keep us from seeing the real truth?

In the last article, I mentioned a progression of shifts that had taken place in my understanding of God’s desire related to our money and giving:

• I came to recognize that many of the key passages used as texts for messages on giving to the church and missions are not really about funding ministry, but about caring for the needs of saints within the church, particularly the church in Jerusalem.
• The giving spoken of in these passages is not ritual motivated by compulsion, guilt, or greed. These gifts are motivated by a desire to share with those who are suffering for their faith in Jerusalem.
• These led to an even more fundamental shift. We tend to bring our categories to the Scriptures, and ask questions based on those categories. What does God want regarding my work? My marriage? My finances? Those kind of categories are primary for us, and we assume that they must be for God as well. But they are not. The underlying issue in these discussions is not giving, but the unity of Christ’s body – the church. That unity is manifested in sharing – sharing spiritual truth, sharing material possessions.

These shifts are critical. The questions we bring to the text influence what we find. If we come looking for what percentage we “should” give, we can find percentages. If we come looking for duty and obligation, we can find duty and obligation.

But with those questions, we bring our agenda.  And we miss God’s agenda… and His heart.

This is both tragic and futile.

Tragic because God’s agenda is so much better than ours. Futile because we are chasing what does not matter to God. He does not care about our percentage. He does not need our funds. He wants our heart. Wants it to reflect His heart. For that to happen we must let go of our agenda – of our questions.

With that in mind, let’s return to a passage I raised a couple of posts back – 2 Corinthians 8-9 – and see what we find. You’ll want to read through the passage for yourself, but I’ll summarize the main points:

• 8:1-6 – The churches of Macedonia (which would have included Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea) had shown a deep desire to participate in the support of the needy saints (in Jerusalem), in spite of their own poverty and suffering. Paul used their example to encourage the Corinthians to follow through with their stated intentions in this area.
• 8:7-11 – This is not a command. Paul’s exhortation is based on the Corinthians expressed desire to give to the needs of the saints. He wants the sincerity of their professed love to be manifested in the abundance of their gift.
• 8:12-15 – The sharing must begin with a readiness. With that in place, their gift is acceptable based on their ability. Paul does not want them to give more than they are able, but encourages them to share out of their abundance to meet the needs of these other believers. The goal is the same as the reality experienced by Israel when they were gathering the manna – everyone’s needs to be met.
• 8:16-24 – Titus and the two men with him were approved by both Paul and the churches to assure that the funds were used for their expressed purpose. The Corinthians could give with confidence that the money would be used properly.
• 9:1-5 – Paul and some of the Macedonians, to whom Paul had boasted about the Corinthians (Corinth was in Achaia), would arrive in Corinth after Titus’ group. Paul wanted to avoid any embarrassment that would result if the Corinthians let covetousness keep them from fulfilling their generous promise.
• 9:6-9 – If the Corinthians were overcome by covetousness so that they gave only sparingly, or did not give from a cheerful heart, they could expect to reap in kind. But, if they  followed through on their generous promise, they could expect God’s abundant provision, giving them a continued surplus sufficient for every good deed.
• 9:10-15 – The results of such generosity are multiple – 1) The Corinthians would be enabled to do many more righteous deeds; 2) The needs of the saints in Jerusalem would be fully supplied; 3) Thanks would be given to God; 4) God would be glorified; 5) the Jerusalem saints would pray for the givers in Corinth.

There are many things we could note in these chapters, but for me, two stand out.

First, the end game is never the accumulation of abundance. There is no hint of the notion that if you give what you have away, God will give you more for your personal enjoyment. The goal is always to use any abundance for good deeds. As God gives us more in response, we are enabled to do even more good deeds, and the cycle keeps repeating itself, so that we may have an abundance for every good deed (9:8). In this way, we harvest something much more valuable than wealth – we harvest righteousness. That is, in the good deeds, we manifest the righteousness God desires. As the good deeds multiply, so does the manifestation of that righteousness.

Second, this perspective is not new with the New Testament. The kind of righteousness I was just speaking of is described in Psalm 112:9. Go read the entire Psalm. It is the description of a righteous man – a man who fears the Lord. Paul’s comments on this verse in 2 Corinthians 9:10 are allusions to Isaiah 55:10 and Hosea 10:12. And the kind of equality that he desires among the saints in Corinth and Jerusalem (2 Corinthians 8:14-15) is simply an expression of the reality experienced by Israel through the manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:18) which we talked about when we looked at dependence through The Lesson of The Manna.

So, if the perspective of the Old and New Testaments is the same, what about tithing? Isn’t that an obligation? If the perspective of the Old and New Testaments is the same, aren’t we obligated to tithe today?

We’ll look at that next time.

What discoveries caught your attention as you read through 2 Corinthians 8-9?

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