BY GREG CRUM
“Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia; How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves; Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.” II Corinthians 8:1-5
The life of faith is most often counterintuitive. It’s the inverse of the world’s wisdom, so much so that it’s safe to say when the “experts” tell you that you shouldn’t, then you probably should. What’s more, a great many times, when your own mind and emotions say you shouldn’t, then, yeah, you probably should! Remember the admonishment of Isaiah 55:8? God thinks about things differently than we do. His ways are contrary to the operations of selfish man, so if we are going to walk with Him, we are going to have to rethink how we do life and choose His ways above our own.
Case in point, and one that is illustrated in our passage from II Corinthians 8: When the world and our “common sense” tells us that only the wealthy are required to be generous, we should know that generosity is a necessity for everyone, rich and poor alike!
What? Yes, you just read God’s perspective about the matter, didn’t you? There, in II Corinthians, the Scripture praises an impoverished group of Macedonians who, by “the will of God,” gave generously toward the Lord’s work and to others. Were they poor by the world’s standards? Yes. Did God still desire that they give a portion of what they had to others? Again, yes.
It’s a head-scratcher, right? Yeah, but only because we’ve been conditioned by the world to believe what is socially and financially “right and fair.”
There’s been a real push from the world for several decades now to engrain into the minds and hearts of the populace that only the “rich” are required to be generous. It’s the Robin Hood mentality—that wealth should only be distributed from the rich to the poor. Nowadays they’ve even tried to remove the freedom of choice for the rich in this transaction and championed force removal and reallocation of wealth.
On the surface, especially if you’re not one of the “rich” ones, this sounds great, but living where we do, we know that this doesn’t really work to better those who are poor, at least not in the long run. Money and things given to the poor don’t automatically make them less poor. Social programs in our area have just perpetuated poverty, not eradicated it. Why? Because relegating only the rich to provide for the poor is not God’s pattern for financial well-being.
Yes, we see in I Timothy 6:17 that those who are rich in this world are supposed to be generous to the poor, but believe it or not, the Scripture also requires that the poor be generous as well. Generosity is a common denominator for all of God’s children, no matter their current financial condition in life. Want some proof? Read I Kings 17:8-16. That widow was going to use the last handful of meal in her barrel to make one last dinner for her and her son, yet God, through the prophet Elijah, asked her to share some of that meal with him. How insensitive! No, how loving of God to help this widow help herself to miraculous provision.
Need some more proof? Read Mark 12:41-44. You remember the widow and her two mites, right? Jesus himself saw her offering, and instead of telling his disciples that she should have saved that for herself, he praised her for giving more than all the rest that day! Think about that. God asked one destitute lady to give some of the last food she had, and Jesus praised another for giving her last “dime.”
Why? Because according to Acts 20:35, there’s God’s blessing in generosity, not just for the rich, but for everyone.
It is the “more blessed” way of life, and the type of operation of faith that opens the door for God’s greater provision in our lives.
Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.