TAKING OWNERSHIP OF THE GOSPEL

 Speaking of taking ownership, consider some of the leading (rich) sisters of Thessalonica. We remember standing in a prayer circle with a group of men. All of us were praying. When it came time for one brother to pray, he prayed, “God, forgive us men of arguing over who is in control. Thank you for our women, for all they say is, ‘What’s next.’”

Sometimes we need to follow the example of the women.   Lydia was in Philippi (At 16:11-15) and there were leading women in Thessalonica (At 17:4). Both the church in Philippi and Thessalonica were financially functional when it came to supporting evangelism. We wonder if the Christian sisters in both areas did not have some influence over what the disciples as a whole should be doing?

 A.  Ability to do and send:

When Paul, Timothy and Silas went to Thessalonica for the first time, they went straight to the religious center in town, which was the synagogue of the Jews (At 17:1). What was unique about this synagogue was that there was a great number of Gentile converts (proselytes) who met in the synagogue. From these “a great multitude of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women” were obedient to the gospel (At 17:4).   We would assume that these “leading women” were possibly quite wealthy. At least for some reason, many years later Demas was possibly attracted to their wealth when Paul wrote of him while he himself was in a Roman prison, “… for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed to Thessalonica …” (2 Tm 4:10).

If the leading women in Acts 17 were indeed wealthy women, then they did not give themselves into poverty. By the time 2 Thessalonians was written, the Holy Spirit had to write a letter through Paul that these women not be begged into poverty by some among the Thessalonian disciples who had quit their work. 2 Thessalonians was written less than a year after these leading (wealthy) women became disciples. Then also consider the fact that when Paul wrote of the behavior of Demas, we might assume that the leading women were still wealthy.   At the time, Demas forsook Paul and went to Thessalonica. 2 Timothy 4:10, where Paul spoke of Demas’ behavior, was written several years after the conversion of the leading women in Thessalonica in Acts 17. The point is that the New Testament teaches nowhere that the wealthy should contribute themselves into poverty.   Doing such is simply not good stewardship on the part of the wealthy. Neither is it beneficial for the evangelism of the church. Paul wrote the “disfellowship” context of 2 Thessalonians 3 to protect the wealthy. Those who are gifted in making money are encouraged to give, but they are not encouraged to give themselves into poverty. We have always asked churches that are in developing world environments if a wealthy person could be a part of their fellowship. If the wealthy could not be a part of a fellowship of disciples, then the disciples have a problem, not the wealthy who are giving. If the local disciples beg the wealthy members into poverty, then from where will the funds come to preach the gospel to the world? The poor must acknowledge the fact that there are some in the body who are gifted with the ability to make money. We must not envy this gift, but give glory to God. This is a grace in which some can truly praise God. “But as you abound in everything, in faith and utterance and knowledge and in all diligence, and in your love for us, see that you abound in this grace also” (2 Co 8:7). This is the grace of giving. And we encourage one another to abound in the grace of giving.

 B.  Desire to be a doer and sender:

Now consider the Thessalonians. Since the majority of those who were converted in Thessalonica were Gentiles, and very devout, we would assume that their desire would be to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. The result of what the Thessalonians did in the months that followed is a testimony to their devout convictions, as well as their desire to take ownership of the mission of the body of Christ. As the Philippians, they were financially functional as active parts of the one body.

After Paul left Thessalonica, he traveled on to Achaia. What is interesting to note is what he found in the region of Achaia when he arrived. It was about six months after he had left Thessalonica that he wrote back to the new converts the following testimony of the fact that the Thessalonian Christians had taken ownership of the gospel they had obeyed:

And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you were examples to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. For the word of the Lord has sounded forth from you, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith toward God has spread abroad, so that we do not need to speak anything. For they themselves report about us, what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God …” (1 Th 1:6-9).

Notice carefully the Holy Spirit’s witness to the evangelistic function of the Thessalonian disciples. They became imitators of the evangelistic zeal of Paul, Timothy and Silas who came to them working with their own hands to support themselves, and receiving once and gain from the functioning disciples in Philippi (Ph 4:16). The example of the Philippians even influenced the Thessalonians. In fact, when contributions came from the Philippians, the Thessalonians may have felt somewhat embarrassed. If they were to take ownership of the preaching of the gospel in their own region, then they had to financially come to the party.   And such they did in an overwhelming manner.

As the Philippians, the Thessalonian disciples became “examples to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia” (1 Th 1:7). It was a phenomenal contagion of evangelistic enthusiasm. Philippi inspired Thessalonica and Thessalonica inspired the whole provinces of Macedonia and Achaia. The enthusiasm for evangelism spread like holy wild fire from one obedient heart to another.

 C.  The result of doers and senders:

The testimony of the Thessalonians’ zeal was in the fact that “the word of the Lord has sounded forth from” them (1 Th 1:8). Such is the identity of a functioning organic body. The Philippians sounded forth the word from Philippi by sending support once and again to the evangelists Paul, Timothy and Silas in Thessalonica. The Thessalonian disciples sounded forth the word in Achaia, specifically Corinth. But the Corinthians? They were financially and evangelistically dysfunctional. They became a dead-end in the function of the body to sound forth the word of the Lord. And now we know why most of the Holy Spirit’s teaching concerning the support of evangelists is found in the letters of 1 & 2 Corinthians. As members of the universal organic body, they were dysfunctional in supporting evangelism.

 “We do not need to speak anything” (1 Th 1:8). This is the testimony of a functional body of disciples. This is the Spirit’s testimony of the organic body at work, both in the local area where body members reside, as well as in areas beyond where they live. When local Christians take ownership of the gospel where they live, there need be no more evangelists coming by to do the job of preaching the gospel. If an evangelist cannot make this statement to those where he has preached, it is possible that he planted the wrong seed, or he failed in his work to disciple those he first taught. He may have failed Jesus when Jesus instructed, “… teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:20).   Or he may have failed the Spirit when the Spirit said through Paul, “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Tm 2:2).

However, the problem is usually with the soil in which the evangelist plants the seed of the word of God. Remember the dysfunction of the Corinthians on this matter?   Paul chastised the Corinthians.   It was the Corinthian soil, not the Seed, that was the problem.

For no other foundation can man lay than what is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will be manifested, for the day will declare it because it will be revealed by fire. And the fire will test each man’s work to determine what quality it is. If anyone’s work endures that he has built, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire (1 Co 3:11-15).

Paul’s efforts with the “Corinthian soil” was about to be burned if they did not repent of their immature ways. If they did not turn from their dysfunctional ways, he would suffer loss because he was their father in the faith (1 Co 4:15).   But he would carry on and receive his reward for his labors as an evangelist. The Corinthians, if they did not repent, would become smouldering ashes.

The Corinthian situation was certainly a different story from the Thessalonians and Philippians, as well as those in Antioch, Ephesus and Jerusalem.

When Paul wrote the 1 Thessalonian letter, he stated, “They themselves report about us” (1 Th 1:9). Who is the “they”? It was not the Christians in Achaia. There were no Christians there when Paul arrived.   By the time Paul reached Achaia, word-of-mouth, the “bush telegraph,” had already communicated the phenomenal conversion and dedication of the Thessalonians. The whole region was talking about the conversion of the Gentiles and leading women in Thessalonica. The point is that we should ask ourselves the question, “Was our conversion so radical that the whole province is talking about it”?   Admittedly, the Thessalonians had the fire and conviction of new converts. We must not let that fire of conviction be extinguished from our lives.   The only way to keep it burning in our hearts is to continually be in the presence of the newly converted.   But if we stop preaching the gospel to the lost in our local areas, we will have no newly converted in our presence to keep our fire going. When we stop preaching and converting the lost, we have set a course for our fire to be extinguished. Is this what Jesus meant when He spoke to the church in Ephesus many years after they were new converts, a time when they had lost their first love (Rv 2:4).

THE JOY OF FINANCIAL FUNCTIONALITY

 Most all of the members of the early body of Christ functioned organically from the time when they were still dripping wet from the waters of baptism. Even on the birthday of the ekklesia (church), “all who believed were together and had all things in common” (At 2:44). The members of the body were not only connected to the Lord in a covenant relationship through obedience to the gospel, they were also connected to one another in service to the physical needs that prevailed at the time, especially to the support of those who went forth to preach the gospel they had obeyed.

The beginning of the ekklesia in Acts 2 sets the model for everyone who would later obey the gospel. As a result, the organic function of the early obedient went forth out of Jerusalem to all the world, even to us today. Growth of the church happened because others followed the example of those first disciples. Growth happened in Antioch (At 13:1-3). Growth happened in Ephesus (At 19:8-10). It happened in Thessalonica (1 Th 1:6-10). And it happened in Philippi (Ph 4:15,16). It was simply understood that when one freely received the gospel, he was to make sure that it was freely preached somewhere else. One of the greatest examples of this was the sacrificial giving of a few Christians in the city of Philippi.

A few years after their conversion, Paul wrote to the Philippians, “Now you Philippians know also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia, no church shared with me concerning giving and receiving but you only” (Ph 4:15). The Philippians’ partnership with Paul in preaching the gospel to other places through Paul began when they were new Christians. In fact, they were only a “few days” old as Christians when they began their support of the evangelists who went on to Thessalonica, for Paul, Silas and Timothy stayed only a few days in Philippi (See At 16:12). These were not “taker Christians,” “for even in Thessalonica,” Paul wrote, “you sent once and again for my needs” (Ph 4:16). When Paul went on from Thessalonica in Macedonia, the Philippians, who were in Macedonia, even continued their financial partnership with him in preaching the gospel in Achaia. He later wrote to shame the Corinthians, “And when I was present with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone, for what I lacked the brethren who came from Macedonia supplied” (2 Co 11:9).

The fascinating function of the Philippians, as well as the Thessalonians, who both resided in the province of Macedonia, is that they contributed to reach out with the gospel to other areas from the very beginning of their walk in Christ.

As the Philippians, the Thessalonians went to work, both locally and regionally, by sending support to Paul while he was in Achaia (More later). But what is strikingly awesome about the behavior of the Philippians was that from their very beginning as new Christians, they “sent once and again” unto Paul’s needs while he was in Thessalonica, and then in Achaia. We wonder why they did this? Was it something that Paul taught them? Or, was Paul one who preached for money? From what Paul did in both Thessalonica and Achaia, the answer to these questions was that he worked with his own hands in order not to beg off the brethren (See 2 Co 11:9; 2 Th 3:8). Both the Philippians and Thessalonians witnessed his sacrificial behavior, and thus, they were moved to help support him in order that the gospel go beyond the borders of their province.

Now as we study through these examples of supporting evangelists, we must not forget one very important point. The evangelists were going forth. They were not “stay-at-home” preachers who misappropriated the work of an evangelist. They were on the move preaching to the lost in other areas, not preaching to the saved at home. This does not mean that the local brethren should not support their teachers. This is not the discussion of this chapter. The point here is that those who obey the gospel must make sure that the gospel is preached to the lost in every nation of the world.

So the next question would be, Was what the Philippians believed and accepted inherent in the gospel that Paul preached? This would be our conclusion. God is a giver. He gave His only begotten Son (Jn 3:16). Therefore, anyone who would truly accept the message of God’s love, seeks how he or she can get this message out to others. Godly people want to give as God gave good news to them (1 Jn 4:19). This is the beauty of the gospel. When one obeys this message of love, he must give, even when one is in poverty circumstances as the Philippians. Listen to the Holy Spirit’s testimony of the disciples in Macedonia where Philippi was located:

Moreover, brethren, we make known to you the grace of God that has been given to the churches of Macedonia, that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty, abounded in the riches of their liberality. For I testify that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability they gave of their own accord, begging us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints” (2 Co 8:1-4).

The only begging that should ever come from a disciple of Christ is his begging that someone take his contribution. Why have we reversed this to an outstretched hand that is always looking for a gift? If one becomes a disciple of Jesus, then his begging from others must stop. If it does not, then the person never really believed the message of the free gift of grace that moves believers to be givers. Godly people do not beg for themselves. They only beg that the needy receive their contributions of love. Now we can understand why Paul wrote that the Thessalonians must withdraw their fellowship from any person who would seek to beg off the church. He wrote to the disciples who had some beggars among them, “Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother who walks disorderly and not after the tradition that he received from us” (2 Th 3:6).

Paul did not behave disorderly among the Thessalonians (2 Th 3:7). He, Timothy and Silas did not eat “any man’s bread without paying for it” (2 Th 3:8). Their “orderly walk” and example was that they “worked with labor and hardship night and day so that we might not be a burden to any of you” (2 Th 3:8). So if there are any among the brethren who are “not willing to work neither let him eat [beg]” (2 Th 3:10). Christians are not beggars off one another. They are partners together in Christ. If there are beggars among us, then Paul states that these beggars are walking disorderly. And because they are walking disorderly, two things must happen: First they must not be allowed to continue to beg off those who work, and second, if they persist in their begging, then they must be disfellowshipped from the family of God. The church is not a fellowship of beggars, neither is it a welfare society for those who can work when there is work to be done.

Christians who beg off other Christians are walking disorderly in reference to their function as members of the organic body of Christ. If one would be a member of the same church to which the Thessalonians were added, then he cannot be a beggar off his fellow brothers in Christ. If they continue such begging behavior, then they cannot be in fellowship with the organically functioning body of Christ.

The Philippians, as well as the Thessalonians, saw a different culture in the message of Jesus, and thus, they established a culture of giving. They could not compare themselves with other disciples in their region, for there were no other disciples in their region to which they could look for an example. The only example they had was reflected in the behavior of the sacrificial living of Paul, Timothy, Luke and Silas, which example was an emulation of the sacrificial behavior of Christ. “Let this mind be in you that was also in Christ, who being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. But He made Himself of no reputation …” (See Ph 2:5-8). As an example to the Thessalonians and Philippians, Paul, Timothy, Luke and Silas made themselves worked with their own hands (2 Th 3:9). And so, Paul could write to the financially dysfunctional Corinthians, “Be imitators of me even as I also am of Christ” (1 Co 11:1). The Philippians and Thessalonians had imitated the behavior of Paul. Now it was time for the Corinthians to enjoy the sacrificial life of Paul.

In the area of physical things, one does not come to Christ to see what he can get. If one does, he will not experience the pure joy of being a godly giver for Jesus. Simon came to Christ to see that he could get, but when Peter said he could not buy it for himself, he became bitter. (Read carefully At 8:18-23, specifically verse 23. Simon became bitter because he could not make a profit out of laying hands on people to receive the Holy Spirit.)

The Philippians saw what they could give, not what they could get. As a result, their standard of living came down because of their giving out of their deep poverty. And they did this with “the abundance of their joy and their keep poverty” (2 Co 8:2). We used to say, “Give until it hurts!” We were wrong. The truth is that we must experience the abundance of the joy of Jesus until we give. There should never be any “hurting” in giving. It should simply be as natural for the Christian as eating to preserve our natural body. This is why the Philippians could joyfully give out of their deep poverty. Therefore, the conclusion from our study of the example of the Philippians is that one does not really understand the message of the gospel of joy unless he comes away from the waters of baptism looking for something on which he can pour out his joy. Doing such is inherent in the message of the “good news” (gospel) that we have obeyed. Giving, therefore, should be an occasion of just pure joy, not “hurting.”

TAKING OWNERSHIP OF ONE’S LOAD

 The letter to the Galatians may have been the first letter of inspiration written to the early Christians. It was written to the disciples in the region of Galatia where Paul and Barnabas went on their first mission journey (At 13,14). If the letter was written early, then we assume that the teaching of the letter was directed to new Christians. They may have been less than five years old in the faith. This fact is important because it gives us an idea of what God expects of His children even from their early years in the faith. In the letter, Paul not only addresses the threat of legal religiosity, but also exhorts the disciples concerning responsibilities they must assume as God’s children.

In the first chapters of the letter, Paul addressed the doctrinal challenges that faced these new Christians. In chapter 5 he gave a final exhortation to stand free in Christ as opposed to being brought into the bondage of legal religiosity (Gl 5:1,2).

It is in chapter 6 that the Holy Spirit, through the hand of Paul, reveals some very practical responsibilities of our function as members of the universal body of Christ. In 6:4 he admonished that each disciple must take ownership of his or her own work by not boasting in the work of others. The disciples should not behave as some in Corinth who took glory in the work of others (See 2 Co 10:13,16). On the contrary, “… each one will bear his own load” (6:5). Paul laid the foundation for what was coming. When it comes to taking ownership, “each one” must assume the responsibility of being a disciple. Every disciple must take ownership of that which one should assume as a productive member of the organic body of Christ. Christians cannot pass off on others their responsibilities. If one would be a Christian, and thus a disciple of Jesus, then he cannot assume that someone else will bear his load. Christians seek to give physical things freely as they were freely supplied with spiritual things (See 2 Co 8:14). A disciple of Jesus simply cannot ask someone else to bear the load that God expects him to bear.

In the context of Galatians 6, Paul led his readers to the responsibility of verse 6. “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with the one who teaches.”

The word “share” is from the Greek word koinonia. The meaning is “joint partnership.” We hear of many unfortunate definitions throughout the world of the word “partnership.” To many, partnership means, “Give me the money and we will do the work of spending it.” This is one’s “cuffed-hand” culture speaking. But this is certainly not what Paul was saying in the context of Galatians 6:6. The ownership that is expressed in 6:5 must be continued into verse 6. “Each one” must join in partnership to support the teacher. The student must take ownership of his teaching by supporting his teacher. Whether his teaching comes through the person of the teacher, or through the book a teacher might write, the student has the responsibility of personally paying the teacher or buying the teacher’s book. Disciples who do neither are simply walking contrary to the instructions of the Holy Spirit in Galatians 6. They walk as dysfuncational members of the body, and thus in violation of fellowshipping those who are teachers of the word. One cannot expect to grow spiritually in study of the word of God if he seeks to acquire his knowledge of the word without taking ownership of his source of teaching.

In the use of the word koinonia in 6:6, money is involved. Obligation and responsibility are incurred. Each student has the responsibility to pay the teacher.   The student cannot sluff off on another his or her responsibility to pay his or her Bible teacher. Any disciple, therefore, who does not pay his teacher is behaving in a manner that is contrary to Paul’s instructions in Galatians 6:6. He is trying to come to his teacher empty handed. He sins while trying to grow spiritually by being taught the word of God without paying the teacher. It is a spiritual contradiction. And thus, we now understand why those of some societies who have freely received to many contributions find it difficult to grow to the spiritual levels of true discipleship in stewardship. The culture of their outstretched hand always hinders them from taking ownership of their responsibilities to be Christians who give.

Any student who would walk out of a Bible class, without feeling his responsibility to make sure that the teacher was supported for his labors in teaching, has certainly left the class to walk disorderly. Anyone who would seek a free spiritual book written by a teacher is working against the spiritual nourishment that he would receive from the book. We are dysfunctional disciples when we expect a free ride in reference to the sources of our being taught.

It would be good to offer some suggestions on this point since this fundamental teaching of the word of God leads us into many of the texts that we will discuss later. We remember in the early 1980s when we went as evangelists to the West Indies (Caribbean). We lived on the island of Antigua. In the first few months of going from shack to shack in teaching, we were pleasantly surprised by the giving of the people. These were truly “Third World” (developing world) residents. According to Western standards they were very poor, living in shacks across the island and eating from their own gardens. But in every house we entered and taught the word of God, after the class the people of the house, the students, would collect up some fruit in the house to give to us, for they had no money. We graciously accepted their “pay” for the class, and went on our way thinking, “These folks got the point. Someone in the past taught them well.” There were no cuff-handed people on the entire island.

Their history had taught them a great lesson of ownership. In the early 1950s, the general population, which was held in economic bondage by the land owners, went on strike. In doing so, the people had to struggle for themselves to survive. During those years of trying to feed their families, the people ate anything to stay alive. In all their struggles to survive, they learned a great lesson of life. They learned to take ownership of their own lives and their own destiny. And when some foreign teachers later came by, they would not take something (teaching) for nothing. The West Indies people could teach the post-colonial, post foreign-aid cultures a few things about financially taking ownership of oneself by paying their teachers. People look at the West Indian culture with respect because of who they are. But people will always look down on a cuffed-hand culture. The word “partnership” has a difficult time being understood correctly in such cultures.

A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY

 Jesus’ mission during His ministry to the Jews was to lead them into a new paradigm (covenant) in their relationship with God. This meant two things: (1) He had to lead Israel to Himself as the Messiah (the Christ), and thus, the cross. (2) He had to prepare the Jews for the end of national Israel and their new covenant relationship with God (See Jr 31:31-33; Rm 7:1-4). The cross would end the old covenant. The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 would end the Jewish state. Jesus’ ministry, therefore, was transitional in reference to God’s work among men on earth. God was transitioning His relationship that He had with all men from creation to the cross to a new era from the cross to the final coming of His Son. During this new era He would work with all mankind through Jesus Christ.

It is crucial to understand that Jesus’ ministry was a time of transition. During His ministry, Jesus made many statements concerning offerings that were meant to transition the thinking of the people to the time when they would accept Him as the Savior of the world. The Jews would be transitioned out of the legal structure of the Old Testament law in reference to offerings into a new covenant wherein there would be grace-motivated giving in response to the cross offering of Calvary. We thus understand Jesus’ teachings on giving during His ministry as teachings to bring the Jews to a time when they would not be governed by law under the Old Testament, but by the law of faith and grace that would, in the context of giving, move them to give far beyond the restrictions of a ten percent tithe. In fact, giving out of the motivation of grace would move them to give beyond their ability (See 2 Co 8:1-4; compare 1 Co 15:10).

 A.  Golden-rule giving:

On one occasion during His ministry, Jesus said to the Jews the following statement:

Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, it will be poured into your lap. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured to you again (Lk 6:38).

Some misunderstand this passage. It is not that giving is an investment plan with God. In other words, some believe that the more they give, the more God will give to them as “interest” on deposited money. They give as if investing in the stock market. This is selfish giving. Our brethren who live in poverty stricken areas of the world would argue that this motive for giving has certainly not helped them financially.

Look at the passage again. Embedded in the statement is the “golden rule” in action. “All things whatever you want men to do to you, even so do also to them …” (Mt 7:12). Now look again at Luke 6:38 above. Jesus first speaks about our giving to others. When we measure out grain to another person, we must “press it down” and “shake it together” in order that a full measure is given. And then, Jesus said, go the extra mile by letting it run over the top of the container. If one does this in his business dealings with others, then others will do the same in return. However, if one tries to cheat a person on the amount of grain that is given for a specified price, then others will cheat you.

Christians must take the initiative to do that which is right and fair to others. Jesus said that they must initiate the lavish giving. They must do so in a manner that will be reflected in how people will return the gift. If this is done, then others will treat the Christian with respect. This is giving according to the golden rule; it is giving according to how one would like to receive. One should give as he would like others to give to him.

 B.  Grace-driven giving:

Jesus was once in Jerusalem, standing where people came to give the temple tax, which was required of everyone. “Now He looked up and saw the rich men putting their gifts into the treasury” (Lk 21:1). These who could afford to do so, were also contributing their tax. But there was no sacrifice in their giving.

 “Then He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two small copper coins” (Lk 21:2). The poor also came to pay what they were obligated to give. We might think that the poor should be exempt from the temple tax. After all, they were poor and had little of this world’s goods. But they were not exempt. So Jesus just stood there and allowed the poor widow to take ownership of the maintenance of the temple by doing that for which everyone was responsible and no one was exempt.

Jesus spoke concerning the widow’s contribution, “Of a truth I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all” (Lk 21:3). It was “more than all,” because it was all that she had. Jesus said, “She out of her poverty has put in all the livelihood that she had” (Lk 21:4). Mark’s account explains more of what the poor widow did. “… for they [the rich] all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, even all her living” (Mk 12:44). The poor widow was as the Philippians, who would later after the cross, and out of their deep poverty, contributed beyond what was expected of them (2 Co 8:1-4). What makes poor people do this?

Jesus just stood there as the poor widow cast in all her livelihood. He did not tell the collectors to return her contribution. He did not because she was obligated to give, even out of her poverty. When one becomes a Christian, and considers what Jesus sanctioned in reference to the contribution of the poor widow, poverty can never be an excuse not to contribute to the financial function of the body of which one has become a member.

One does not become a member of the body of Christ in order to be financially supplied, but to supply the needs of others (see Ep 4:16). Those who cry out poverty in an attempt to exempt themselves from that which is their duty to do, need to talk to this poor widow. We would never consider robbing God by failing to return to Him what is rightfully His. The poor widow new that in order to take ownership of her relationship (partnership) with God, she had to sacrifice all that she had. No one else can pay for our partnership with God and fellowship with the universal body of Christ. If we do not give our gift for our partnership with God and the body of Christ, then we are not manifesting our thanksgiving for what He has done for us. This is why the poor Macedonian disciples begged Paul to take their contribution for the famine victims of Judea (See 2 Co 8:1-4; more later).

Christianity is about being godly. And godliness is about giving. If we are not giving as the poor widow, then certainly we are not seeking to live godly after the God who gave His only begotten Son in order to give us something that was free, but so costly on the part of Jesus. Our sacrifice for the work of God, therefore, is our signal to God that we want to partner with Him in His universal ministry to take the message of the cross to all the world.

It is interesting that the poor widow gave all her livelihood without any knowledge of the grace of God that would later be poured out on the cross by the One who stood by her as she cast in her thanksgiving gift. If she so gave simply to assume her responsibility as a faithful Jew, then how much more should we be willing to give as faithful Christians who have a full knowledge of the cross? Does her faithfulness in giving according to law bring judgment on our unwillingness to give in response to grace?

As Jesus took Israel to the gift of the grace that was revealed on the cross, He not only taught on the subject of giving, but He also, through the example of poor widows, sought to reveal that which was coming. Those who could be His disciples in the future would not live under the limitations of the legal tithing of the Old Testament law. The motive for the giving of His disciples would be increased greatly because of the grace that would be revealed. They would experience in the cross of Christ something that was far beyond their imagination. God would work something wonderful through His Son that would draw out of people giving beyond their imagination. Those who would seek to take ownership of the new covenant they have with God would no longer make their offerings according to law, but according to grace. And once one realizes his salvation by grace, there is no limit to what he will give, and thus, no limit to the joy of offering to God in response to what God has done for us through the cross. This is the secret to cheerful giving.

When we study through all the instructions in the New Testament concerning giving, the secret to understanding the Holy Spirit’s instructions is discovered in the reason why the poor widow was willing to give all her livelihood in order to take ownership of God’s business. The Christian does not now give according to law. He gives in order to take ownership of the new blood-bought covenant of grace that he now has with God. It is not that we are trying to buy legally into this covenant relationship with God. The opposite is the truth. Because we have come into this covenant through our obedience to the gospel, we now “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Ph 2:12). Since we have been saved by grace (Ep 2:8), we are now God’s “workmanship”(Ep 2:10). It is as someone said, “Man, you are now on the ship, so get to work with your contributions.”

In order to take ownership of the ship we are now on (the church), as the poor widow took ownership of her covenant relationship with God through the old covenant, we must understand that we are only stewards of all that we possess. Her sacrificial giving was a manifestation of her appreciation, not for the purpose of paying for an entry fee into the covenant, but in thanksgiving for the covenant. She gave in thanksgiving of the covenant that she and all Israel had with God. As the poor widow, the Christian manifests his appreciation through sacrifices in order to take ownership of the house of God, of which he is a part (See 1 Tm 3:15).

No matter how poor one might think he is, if he desires to be a part of Jesus’ ministry, and to show thanksgiving for the covenant of grace, he must respond to grace with a free-will offering according to how the grace was freely and lavishly poured out on him. However, if we seek to respond to the free and indescribable grace of God through law giving, then we have not yet discovered the spirit of cheerful giving. When preachers cry to the people to give their tithe (tenth) according to law, they are actually cheating the people of cheerful giving according to grace.

______________________________

NOBLE STUDENT RESEARCH: To all the students who want further information on the passing of the Old Testament Covenant that God had with the nation of Israel, please read Law and Covenants, Book 6, Biblical Research Library, www.africainternational.org

THE HAPPY STEWARD

Giving to help others is a fun thing to do. In fact, after Jesus washed twenty-four dirty feet, and 240 stinky toes, He said to His disciples, “If you know these things, happy are you if you do them” (John 13:17). What He said to His disciples was if they wanted to be happy, then they must find ways to give themselves away to the needs of others. If they find themselves at any time unhappy, then they must just look around for some dirty feet.

The struggle of the Christian is not so much in learning how to become a good steward, but in learning that as a disciple one is a steward by life-style. Once the disciple of Jesus fully realizes that he has been bought with the price of the precious blood of God’s Son, then he begins to understand that he is not his own. All he has and all his life belongs to the One who bought him. All that the disciple owns, therefore, is returned to its rightful owner. Once one comes to this understanding of discipleship, all struggles to return what is rightfully God’s is over. It simply becomes a joyous thing to return to the Rightful Owner that which one has for so long selfishly consumed upon his own lusts. This was the secret to Christian maturity that the early disciples discovered. It is the reason why they were so sacrificial and happy in their giving immediately after they gave themselves wholly to the Lord Jesus Christ.

All our studies that we would do in reference to offerings and contributions are of no avail unless we learn what stewardship is as a Christian resident of this world. It is absolutely imperative that the concept of stewardship be understood from every angle of obedience since this is the answer concerning why the early Christians were so sacrificially giving in reference to one another and the world in which they lived. Theirs was simply a benevolent culture that we in our world of consumerism and possessions have a very difficult time understanding.

The recorded examples of stewardship in the Old Testament were written for our learning (Romans 15:4). Abel, David, Abraham, and the other Old Testament heroes of faith, realized that personal ownership of the things of this world was never a concept to be applied to man in his relationship with God and the things of this world. We are not the true owners of that which we possess. We are stewards. The patriarchs realized that it was not possible to have a wrong attitude toward the things of this world, and at the same time, have a right faith toward God. In order to have the right attitude and faith toward God, they first realized and confessed that “the earth is the Lord’s and its fullness …” (Psalm 24:1). They realized, as Moses instructed Israel, that “the heaven and the heaven of heavens is the Lord’s your God, the earth also, with all that is in it” (Deuteronomy 10:14). And notice carefully what David said to the people after they had made their free-will offering for the construction of the temple: “For all things come from You and from Your hand we have given to You” (1 Chronicles 29:14). Every Christian must ask himself what Paul asked the Corinthians. “And what do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). When one answers this question correctly, then he has confessed that he is only a steward of all that he has. He is on his way to being a happy disciple. But realizing that one is a steward of God’s things, and behaving as a steward, are two different things.

 A.  Stewardship beyond the collection plate:

One of the unfortunate “religious practices” that has crippled the teaching that we are only stewards of that over which God has given us dominion, is the culture centered around the “church collection plate.” With this practice has come selfishness and a justification for material excess. We need to see the theology of the collection plate for what it really is, and the culture that it develops in the minds of God’s people. It has developed the following:

1. Legal giving: The collection plate has developed a legal approach to giving. When the collection plate is coming our way, we think, “How much should I give?” Such thinking is an appeal to a sense of what we feel is our duty to give. If we place anything in the plate, regardless of the amount, we feel that we have performed our duty before God. We have settled a legal account for “worship.”

2.  Guilt giving: By thinking that we must legally give, and then pass such off as some “act of worship,” we have concluded how little we can give in order to relieve our conscience about our giving. We have led ourselves to believe that the legal “act” of giving has somehow constituted our worship before our God. We have led ourselves to the conclusion that God is satisfied with a trivial gesture to contribute some small amount. We have thus satisfied conscience that we have performed an “act of worship,” and are then released from worship with a “closing prayer.”

It is unfortunate that we have propagated such thinking and behavior throughout the world. Teaching has conveniently worked in those cultures of the world in which there are those who are always looking for something to be given to them. But in their culture of asking and expecting from others, they have failed to understand their stewardship of those things that surround them every day. So with the flip of a coin in the collection plate, such people sign off God and any feelings of guilt that they are responsible to God for all that they posses. But we cannot sign off our discipleship by the deposit of a coin in a collection plate. Disciples give to the collection because of who they are, not in order to become a disciple.

3. Selfish giving: Once we have relieved our conscience by a trivial gift, we then deceive ourselves into believing that what we did not give now belongs to us to consume upon our own lusts. But we have forgotten that we have no claim to that which is left, for it too belongs to God. The faithful steward realizes that that which remains in his pocket after the passing of the collection plate, is as much the property of God as that which was given. The only difference between that which one places in the collection plate and that which remains in his pocket, is that which has been placed in the collection plate has been turned over to be distributed by the decision of the group, whereas that which remains in our pockets remains in the power of our own decision as to how we will use it for God’s glory. Whether in one’s pocket or in the collection plate, it all still belongs to God. Peter reminded Ananias that when his contribution was yet in his pocket, it was his to use (At 5:4). He had no right to lie about the amount given, since all that he was actually belonged to the God before whom he lied. Haggai reminded the people that the silver and gold belong to God, whether given or kept in one’s own possession (Hg 2:8). The faithful steward understands this. He is the one who will give to the collection plate, but after the “closing prayer,” he will also give to the poor man begging on the steps of the temple.

B.  Stewardship beyond the tithe:

Efforts to bring over the legal “tithe” (tenth) of the Old Testament law into our new covenant relationship with God is sometimes a selfish effort on the part of some. Such destroys the New Testament teaching that Peter explained. “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold … but with the precious blood of Christ …” (1 Peter 1:18,19). Paul told the financially dysfunctional Corinthians, “… you were bought with a price …” (1 Corinthians 6:20). And that price was the precious blood of the incarnate Son of God. Whoever would want to stop at ten percent in his giving to God has totally missed the point of the high price that was paid for his salvation.

When one comes to Christ, he should be careful. He must not bring his selfish behavior of the world into the organic function of the body of Christ. In reviewing the behavior of the Old Testament faithfuls, and the mandates concerning the contributions and offerings of Israel, we learn that those who would live by faith are sacrificial stewards in reference to those things over which they have control. Now the question is, How does one behave as a good steward?

In leading Israel to the sacrificial new commandment that He would introduce to those who would follow Him (John 13:34,35), Jesus taught that there were the faithful and wise stewards, as well as the wicked and lazy stewards. He taught that there were stewards who had little, but did much (See Luke 16:10; 19:17). He taught that there were those stewards who did little with little (Matthew 25:26). And He taught that there were those stewards who did much with much (Matthew 25:20). But when stewards would come to Christ in order to be His disciples, they would learn how to do much with little (See 2 Corinthians 8:1-4). As disciples of Christ, the task is to learn that we own nothing, but owe everything. And because we know that we owe everything, we are as Paul confessed, “I am a debtor both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise” (Romans 1:14). Paul was a debtor because he realized that the entirety of his life had been bought. This realization moved him. He wrote,

I have been crucified with Christ. And it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

The crucified disciple is not concerned with percentages of time and money, but with the principle that the totality of his life has been given in payment for what Jesus paid for him at the cross.

It is often an unfortunate shame that those who legally bind the tithe on their adherents today often give more than those who claim they are disciples, but not under the tithing system of the Old Testament. We must first remember that the percentages that are given by legalistic givers, does not justify bringing Old Testament laws over into the law of Christ. The lack of commitment on the part of those who have supposedly given themselves as living sacrifices to God must be reconsidered (Romans 12:1). Our commitment to Jesus is not based on percentages, but on the principle of one who has crucified himself with Christ. If we would be as Paul, we no longer belong to ourselves, but to Christ. This would include everything we are and have.

If we fully understand the cost of our salvation, there is no limit to what we will give. We will never allow ourselves to be bound by percentages in our giving. The problem actually lies in the fact that those of a consumer society have created a “Christian giving” after the desires of entitlement. We have convinced ourselves that that for which we have worked so hard is certainly ours by ownership, and thus we have a right to consume what we have upon our own lusts. But we forget that we have been bought with an eternal blood offering. Our love for God for this offering must motivate our sacrificial offering for Him. Philip’s translation of 1 John 3:18 is appropriate: “Let us not love merely in theory or in words—let us love in sincerity and in practice.” Any discussions concerning giving, therefore, must certainly conclude that our giving exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees who gave only a tenth. Our problem is often that we give only a tenth of that which we should be giving.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians that death will be swallowed up in the victory of the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:54-58). “The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.” Now immediately after he spoke of things concerning death, he turned his discussion to, “Now concerning the collection for the saints …” (1 Corinthians 16:1). Maybe he was trying to remind us us something in the background that we must seriously consider when we discuss the subject of contributions. Two men once stood at the grave of a rich man. One turned to the other and asked, “How much did he leave?” The other responded, “All that he had.”

Stewardship begins with a penitent heart. Before we came to Christ, we lived after the selfishness of consuming upon our own lust, walking “according to the ways of this world” (Ephesians 2:2). We were dead in our sinful way of life. But in repentance, this life-style was reversed. All our personal goals in life and standards of living changed when we allowed ourselves to be bought with the precious blood of Jesus (1 Peter 1:18,19). Purchased people are debtors to the One who bought them.

God seeks for the broken and contrite heart of repentance (See Ps 51). In our repentance, God looks beyond a legal sacrifice in fulfillment of law. He looks to the heart of the one who gives the sacrifice (See 1 Samuel 16). Our stewardship, therefore, is a manifestation of our most inner repentance. If our stewardship is crooked, our heart has not yet been fixed with repentance. We will continue to give into the collection plate. But when it comes by, we realize that we are actually measuring our spiritual health as a steward of God by what we release back to God who give it.