SERIES: Christ Is the Answer When the Church Is in Crisis
Spreading the Flame by Giving and Going
SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 16:1‑9
Introduction: An interesting thing has happened to me over the past six months. I find the new vision of our church everywhere I look in my study of Scripture, which is encouraging, because it reminds me of how biblically based it is. I also see the vision being lived out in the lives of many of my fellow believers, which also greatly encourages me. The vision, as you well know, is that “we are becoming a community of contagious Christians who pray fervently, celebrate Jesus, and passionately spread the flame to Metro St. Louis and beyond.” By the way, have you enjoyed the banners around the sanctuary that portray the key ideas in our vision? I sure have.
But last Sunday it was pointed out to me that there is a word misspelled on one of our beautiful vision banners–the second one over there on my right. The word “contagious” is supposed to have an “i” instead of an “e”. Now I’ve looked at that banner dozens of times and I never noticed the misspelling. I don’t suppose you can imagine who discovered it, can you? It was our own National Spelling Bee champion, George Thampy. But whether we can spell the word correctly or not, we are committed to living the concept, plus all the others expressed in the vision.
As I studied the first nine verses of 1 Corinthians 16, the concept of spreading the flame just jumped out at me. It seemed so clear that Paul was urging his listeners to spread the flame by giving and by going. Let’s read the first paragraph from the NIV:
Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.
Friends, giving is a way every believer can spread the flame.
We spread the flame when we give generously to the Lord’s work. (1-4)
The connection between the 15th and 16th chapters of 1 Corinthians has not always been clear to me. In the last verse of chapter 15 the Apostle delivered this exhortation: “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” And the very next thing he says is, “Now about the collection for God’s people.”
The change in topics is even more startling in the original Greek because there were no chapter divisions–those were added in the sixteenth century. This troubled me so much that years ago in seminary I wrote a paper on 1 Corinthians 15 and included this lame comment: “Between chapters 15 & 16 Paul must have taken a coffee break. For he descends from the lofty heights of his most eloquent doctrinal dissertation on the Resurrection to the lowly subject of church finances.”
I no longer see it that way. Generous stewardship of our resources is one of the key ways in which believers are to be fully giving themselves to the work of the Lord. It’s like he’s saying, “Speaking of giving yourselves fully, let’s talk about financial giving….”
I see a series of principles on giving that come right out of this brief paragraph and are intensely practical.
Biblical giving is not optional but mandatory. (1) The passage opens with the words, “Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.” The word translated “told” here is really much stronger in the original Greek. It means “to command or direct.” This is Paul speaking with apostolic authority and calling for the church in Corinth to do what he had already directed the Galatian churches to do.
In Evangelical Free Churches the matter of financial stewardship is normally dealt with in a fairly low-key manner. We do not tell our members how or what to give, but we do not apologize for telling them what the Bible says about what or how they should give. God has directed us to be good stewards of the financial resources He has provided, and to fail in our giving is an act of disobedience.
Biblical giving starts with meeting the basic needs of believers. (1, 3) Usually when a pastor preaches a stewardship message, it’s in order to generate pledges for the annual budget or to buy land, build a new building, or burn a mortgage. And that’s fine–such matters concern every congregation at some point in their church life. But friends, that is not where biblical giving begins. It begins with a heart that cares about the basic needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ for food, shelter, and clothing. That’s what the collection here in 1 Cor. 16 is all about– sending a gift to Jerusalem so the believers there can survive. Their financial plight was due to famine, persecution, and economic sanctions against them, making it difficult for new converts to hold anything but the most menial jobs.
I think this example indicates that we who are wealthy have an obligation to help the poverty‑stricken believers in the inner city, as well as the persecuted church in foreign lands. The support we provide to Jubilee Community Church and to Sunshine Ministries, for example, should never be treated as a token afterthought–those should be thought of as priority items. But perhaps you are thinking that the needs are too great for us to even put a dent in them. And if we tried to meet them fully, there would be absolutely nothing left for buildings, new staff, or expansion of programs.
I think what we need here is balanced thinking. I am certainly not suggesting that there is no justification for us to spend a dime on facilities so long as there is one hungry person in the world. If that were the case, we’d still be renting a school cafeteria and be ministering to 200 people. I am saying that there should not be one hungry person in our church, and that we should be doing something to help those outside our church with their basic needs. [i]
Once that is accomplished, I believe we are justified in spending money on the home base, so long as the money is not spent wastefully or extravagantly. In fact, as a church expands the home base, its giving base also expands. Our church is able now to give over $500,000 a year to missions, and that is increasing significantly each year. That would be impossible if we had not invested in land and buildings and staff to allow for growth.
Biblical giving should be regular. (2) Verse 2 says, “On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money.” I would assume people got paid once a week in the first century, and that’s why they are encouraged to give once a week. If you get paid twice a month, I’m sure it’s OK with God for you to give twice a month. The important point is that our giving is to be regular. We shouldn’t skip it when we’re on vacation or when we’re sick or when snow keeps us from attending church. Give regularly.
Biblical giving is the believer’s #1 financial priority. (2) Notice that giving is to be done on the first day of the week, not the last, implying that giving should take place before other obligations are met. I occasionally hear someone say, “Well, I had to take a pass on giving for a couple of months because we had some unexpected medical expenses.” I don’t think Paul would buy that. If we would give the first part of our paycheck, then maybe we wouldn’t get into those tight spots in the first place. That’s actually the point of the OT prophet, Haggai, who told the poverty-stricken Israelites that God was putting holes in their pockets because their financial priorities were screwed up. Giving should come before bill paying, before pursuing hobbies, before eating out, even before repaying debt.
Biblical giving is every believer’s responsibility. (2) Still in the second verse, we read, “each one of you should set aside….” Notice that Paul doesn’t excuse the poor or the slaves or the pastors or the large family with three kids in college. Giving is every believer’s privilege and responsibility. Some years ago, I had a colleague at the Bible College where I was teaching who didn’t tithe or give any of his income to the Lord’s work. His reasoning was this: “By working for a Christian college I am accepting a salary considerably lower than I would get if I were teaching in a secular school. Therefore, I am in essence already tithing 25% of my income by working here.” Well, maybe his logic was good, but his theology was bad. The Bible doesn’t exclude any of us. And by exempting himself, my friend was cutting himself out of the great blessing of investing in the kingdom of God.
Now just in case you think that Paul’s exhortation to “each one of you” still doesn’t apply to you because, say, you’re having severe financial problems, I’d like for you to consider what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8:2, where he describes how the Macedonians exercised their stewardship: “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.” The key words here are “extreme poverty.” Most of us here this morning have no clue what that means. These people were scraping the bottom of the barrel just to find food and shelter, yet Paul could speak of the rich generosity of their giving. There’s no way that can refer to quantity of giving–it has to refer to level of sacrifice.
I think the Scriptures would bear out the fact that the most generous givers are rarely the ones who give the most. Do you really think Bill Gates sacrificed anything when he gave $18 billion to his personal foundation? He still has enough left over to spend $1 million an hour for the rest of his life and never run out. Now I’m not badmouthing Gates; I think it’s fine he gave that $18 billion, though I wouldn’t agree with the priorities of his foundation. But if you want to see generosity, look at the widow who gave two mites in Mark 12. Jesus said that she gave more than all the others put together, because they gave of their abundance, their excess, at no real cost to themselves, while she gave all she had.
Paul cements this concept in verse 12 of 2 Corinthians 8 by saying that “if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.” So never use the excuse that you can’t give because you don’t have an extra $10,000. God is satisfied with a generous gift from what you do have.
But I don’t want us to think of giving only in terms of responsibility; think of it even more as a privilege and a benefit. There is a direct relationship, I believe, between generosity and happiness. With hardly an exception that I can think of, the happiest, healthiest, best adjusted, most fulfilled people I know are also the most generous people I know. And they have the most friends. When I speak of their generosity, I’m not talking just about how much they give to the church, because I’m not privy to that. I’m talking about their generosity with their “stuff,” their hospitality, their compassion for others less fortunate.
The problem is that we tend to be so security conscious. We worry that if we are too generous, then we could lose our “stuff.” Yes, it’s possible, but life does not consist of “stuff.” The ultimate question is whether we are going to hold selfishly and tightly to our money and possessions for the sake of security or whether we are going to hold those things loosely and let God be our security.
Biblical giving should be proportionate. (2) In verse 2 we read that the believer’s giving should be “in keeping with his income.” In other words, the more we prosper, the more we should give. There are several ways one can approach this matter. If you’re giving a set percentage of your income, let’s say 10% for the sake of argument, as your income rises, your giving will automatically rise proportionately.
But a more generous approach to proportionate giving is to increase the percentage of your giving as your income increases. Suppose you are giving 10% of your income when you’re making $35,000. But you receive a major promotion at work and suddenly find yourself making $70,000. You might choose to increase the percentage of your giving to 12%, which still leaves you with considerably more than you had before the promotion.
Please note that the proper proportion is not spelled out here or anywhere else in the NT. That our giving should be proportionate is clear; what the proportion should be is not clear. But, you say, aren’t we commanded to tithe, or give 10%? No, not necessarily. I don’t know of any place in the NT where believers are told they must give 10% of their income.
Bible teacher John MacArthur argues convincingly that even the tithe in the OT was not so much an offering as a tax used for the operation of Israel’s government. Furthermore, the OT tithe was not 10% but actually amounted to an average of 23% of a family’s income. Offerings were additional to tithes, and the standard was heart‑directed generosity, as it is today. Consider the example of the Israelites when Moses asked them to give offerings for the building of the Tabernacle. In Exodus 36:5-7 the builders came to Moses saying,
“The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the LORD commanded to be done.” Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work.
So even in the OT, generous giving was encouraged and practiced. Our giving, too, should be generous and “in keeping with our income.”
Biblical giving should not be motivated by pressure. (2) Looking again at verse 2 we see that the Apostle is asking that the collection be made each week so that there doesn’t have to be a fund drive when he arrives. He is in Ephesus as he writes this letter, and he has plans to come to visit Corinth in the future. He knows that his credibility and charisma is such that he could generate a huge offering with his personal presence. But he doesn’t want them to give under that kind of pressure. He says in effect, “Do what you’re going to do before I arrive.” Pressure, of course, works. Countless churches and ministries have funded vast building projects through high‑pressure fund‑raising efforts. But everything that works isn’t necessarily right.
Let me suggest a relevant current application of this principle to our church that I think may come out of this principle of giving weekly to avoid pressure. I have mixed feelings about mentioning this, since I’d never want to discourage the generous giving that takes place here at First Free near the end of each year. But December giving is rising fast as a percentage of our annual income. It has risen from an historical average of 10-11% to 23% this past December. Some of this giving may be from year-end bonuses, which is fine, but I wonder if some of us aren’t getting into the habit of falling behind in our giving and then making it up late in the year. Not only does that strain the church’s cash flow but one of these days we may get too far behind to make it up.
In the Focus this morning you will notice that we are running, on average, about $23,000 below budget per week in our offerings. If that continues through Thanksgiving, we’ll be over $1 million behind and will need an even larger December response than last year to come out in the black. I would encourage us all to increase our weekly giving, so we don’t have to respond to pressure at the end of the year.
The next principle from our text has more to do with how offerings are handled than with how they are given.
Biblical givers have a right to expect integrity and accountability from those through whom they give. (3-4) Let me read verses 3 & 4 again: “Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.” It is the responsibility of every congregation to entrust its funds into the hands of trustworthy members. Paul doesn’t say, “Give your money to me and I will handle it out for you.” Instead, he urges the church to choose their own representatives to disburse the gifts. In my estimation much is lost when all of a church’s missions giving, for example, is done through a denominational cooperative program. The local church should not abdicate its privilege and responsibility to determine how the gifts of its people are allocated and handled.
Furthermore, I think it is important to note that the most important qualifications of the persons who are chosen to oversee a church’s giving are not financial but spiritual. Too often a church chooses its Treasurer or Financial Secretary solely on the basis that the person is an accountant or a banker. But in Acts 6 when the Apostles needed to be relieved of the job of disbursing funds for poor widows, they exhorted the church to “choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them.” (Acts 6:2-3). The qualifications were not financial or commercial, but moral and spiritual. God’s resources should only be put in the hands of a church’s most trustworthy people, who will prayerfully and in the energy of the Holy Spirit supervise the use of those funds.
Integrity matters, and I want you to know that we are committed to the highest level of financial accountability that is humanly possible here at First Free. If you are interested in the procedures that are in place, please ask our Administrative Pastor or Deacon Chairman–they would be happy to explain those to you.
I want all of us now to go back through these biblical principles and ask ourselves if we are violating any of them, either by ignorance or failure to act upon what we know. Then I would suggest that there’s no time like now to confess any failure to God and begin to obey. Perhaps some have been robbing God for some time and need to settle up from the past. But one thing is for sure–you can begin today to give according to these biblical principles. I urge you to do so, for the Gospel’s sake and for your own sake.
It’s for the Gospel’s sake because the end result of our investing in the Lord’s work is, or should be, spreading the flame. Whether the gifts are going directly toward evangelism and discipleship or indirectly through church planting, youth ministry, worship services, staff expenses, or electric bills, the ultimate reason we are here is to share the Gospel with those who are lost and who face a Christ-less eternity without it. But generous giving has a legitimate personal end as well. There are plenty of passages in the Bible which make it clear that the generous person is, on balance, going to be healthier, wealthier, happier, and more productive than the one who keeps all his financial resources to himself.
Now every one of us can participate in spreading the flame through our giving, but some can also spread it by going. Let’s read the next paragraph of 1 Corinthians 16:
After I go through Macedonia, I will come to you—for I will be going through Macedonia. Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go. I do not want to see you now and make only a passing visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.
We spread the flame when we go through open doors with the Gospel. (5-9)
I see three important principles about “going” in this little account of Paul’s travel plans.
Biblical going is grounded in a vision for the lost. The effective servant must have an eye on the needs around him. The Christian who is motivated and consumed by God’s love will see needs that are not yet filled and opportunities that are not yet met. For Paul the country of Macedonia was just such an opportunity. He was always haunted by distant regions. He never saw a ship at anchor but that he wished to board it to carry the good news to the people across the water, and he never saw a mountain range but that he wanted to cross it to build up the saints.
We need men and women of vision in the church today. And we have many of them in our church. First Free is blazing some new trails in missions to the point that other churches are looking to us for leadership. But the needs around us–in the inner city, in out-state Missouri, and around the world–are huge. Obviously, we can’t go everywhere, any more than Paul could go everywhere. We can and must seek God’s face regarding where He wants us to use our resources and our time. We can’t determine our responsibilities by listening to other people’s agendas. We need to discover God’s agenda for us, and one of the ways we can do that is to be vision-driven. Our new vision helps us say “no” to some good things so we can say “yes” to God’s things for us.
Biblical going demands flexibility with plans and agendas. While we ought to have vision and to plan ahead about what we will be doing and how, we also must be flexible. Paul says in v. 6: “Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go.” Then he adds in verse 7, “I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.” Our plans should always be subject to the Lord’s revision. The future does not always come together as we think it will. Our original understanding of God’s will for us may be inadequate or incomplete, and we should always qualify our intentions as James advises: “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:15). Flexibility is not a sign of weakness, but of strength.
All of his life, David Livingston wanted to be a missionary to China. Even in old age he longed to have the opportunity to go there and minister. But God sent him to Africa instead, where he worked and eventually died opening up that great continent to mission work. He never went to the place he longed to go, but he served willingly, unreservedly, and fruitfully where God put him. Because he wanted above all else to do the Lord’s will, he was flexible.
Perhaps someone here has a vision of how you would like to serve in the Church. Great! Pursue that vision, but if it doesn’t work out, don’t pout or quit. Be flexible. One of the ways we discover whether our vision is God’s vision is whether other mature believers respond to our initiatives. Someone has tweaked a familiar old hymn: “Flex and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus, but to flex and obey.” Finally…
Biblical going recognizes that open doors don’t necessarily mean smooth paths. In verses 8-9 Paul continues, “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, because a great door for effective work has opened to me.” This is not the only time the Apostle speaks of an open door for ministry. In his letter to the Colossian church (4:3) he asks the Christians there to “pray for us that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for whom I am in chains. Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.” Then in 2 Cor. 2:12 he says, “I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and found that the Lord had opened a door for me.”
What is an open door, anyway? Well, every time Paul uses the term, he refers to an opportunity for ministry, a chance to preach the Gospel, to spread the flame. But how did Paul know when a door was open? That’s easy, you say, the door is open when God gives you an opportunity and removes all the roadblocks and opposition from your path. Right?
Wrong! That’s definitely not what an open door is. Look at verse 9 of our passage: “a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” Contrary to the notion that an open door constitutes a clear path, here we are told that the opposite can be true, and perhaps usually is true. When we have great opportunities for service, there will often also be great obstacles in the way. I don’t care what it is you endeavor to do for the Lord–teach a Bible study, become a youth leader, accept a leadership position, or give sacrificially–whatever it is, you should expect opposition. One wise person said, “If you have no opposition in the place you serve, you’re probably serving in the wrong place.”
On the other hand, we shouldn’t consider opposition as foolproof evidence that we’re doing God’s will. The fact is, sometimes we may experience difficulties because we’re out of God’s will or incompetent or irrelevant or just plain acting like jerks.
How then can you tell if a door is open? Try asking these questions:
1. Is the task in accord with God’s will as revealed in the Bible?
2. Has God given you the gifts and passion to perform the task?
3. Has God given you the resources (health, wealth, time, etc.) to perform the task?
4. Does it allow you to keep first things first, i.e., can you maintain your priorities?
5. What counsel are you getting from spiritually mature believers?
One of my former seminary profs, Dr. Charles Ryrie, had a good suggestion for his students which I’d like to pass on. He said, “Men, when God calls you to do something and then the door seems to close, better ask whose hand is on the doorknob.” Is God closing the door or could it be that the Evil One is trying to close it.
Conclusion: As we close this morning, I want to turn your thoughts to the fact that Jesus is the premier example of giving and going in the New Testament. In 2 Corinthians 8:9 we read these words: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” The time when Jesus became poor for our sakes was when He left the splendor of heaven to be conceived in a virgin’s womb. He who was God, the Creator of all things, the sustainer of the universe, voluntarily condescended to become one of us.
None was richer than He. But none became poorer than He. And He became poor for our sakes, that through His poverty we might become rich. We become rich by putting our trust in Him, believing that He died on Calvary’s cross to pay the penalty for our sin, and trusting in Him alone for our salvation.
Paul offers this expression of gratitude to the Father for sending His Son for us: “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15). Human language is absolutely incapable of expressing or explaining God’s infinite gift. But, praise God, the human heart can experience it. And once you experience it, you can’t help but want to spread the flame. So, will you prayerfully ask our Lord: “What lessons on giving do I need to put into practice, and what open doors are you asking me to walk through for the sake of the Gospel?”
DATE: March 3, 2002
Tags:
Stewardship
Tithing
Accountability
Evangelism
[i] More than 20 years ago when I was pastoring in Wichita, a stranger came to my office and asked for some financial aid. As I always did, I asked the person what his home church was. He responded by giving me the name of a church which was in the process of moving from the downtown area of Wichita and was building a $7 million dollar plant just a mile from our church (that would be a price tag of $15 to $20 million in today’s dollars, and that didn’t even include the sanctuary, which was to be part of phase 2). Naturally I asked the man why he didn’t go to his own church for help, and he responded that he had, but that he was told that all discretionary giving had been halted in the interest of finishing the building. In the following ten years that church flirted seriously with bankruptcy, not, in my estimation, because they had financial problems but because they had priority problems. We helped him, but it should have been the responsibility of his own church.