09 | Basics: Generosity

I want to share a story about a group of Jesus followers who did something so special that the apostle Paul used it as a great teaching example for other Jesus communities to follow. It’s a story about the radical generosity of the Macedonian Christians, and Paul is sharing it with the Corinthian Christians.

(This story is recorded in 2 Corinthians 8:1-9.)

In his second letter to the Corinthian Christians, Paul wants them to know about what he calls an ‘act of grace’ that God has stirred up among the Macedonian Christians.

These Macedonian Christians were actually experiencing a season of severe affliction and extreme poverty. And yet, Paul says that they had an abundance of joy anyway, and that this joy overflowed into an abundance of generosity on their part.

Paul says that the Macedonians gave according to their means, but then he sort of corrects himself and says, “I swear to you that they actually gave more than they could technically afford to give.” And he says that nobody asked them to give like this. They just decided to do it themselves.

And not only was Paul amazed at what they gave but he was also amazed at how they gave. He says that they were actually begging him to let them have the privilege of being able to take part in giving money to meet the needs of other Christians. This surprised Paul, and he was impressed with how they gave themselves so freely to the Lord and how they were so willing to help others.

Paul uses this story to encourage the Corinthian Christians to be like the Macedonian Christians. He encourages the Corinthians that they are excelling in faith and knowledge and passion and love, but he challenges them to also excel in this same act of grace that God stirred up among the Macedonians.

He wasn’t commanding them to do this, but he was providing them with a clear opportunity to prove their love for Jesus and their love for others by putting their money where their mouth was.

And then he reminds them of the act of grace done by Jesus himself. That even though he was rich as the Son of God, for our sake he became poor so that we by his poverty might become rich.

Now, to better understand what was taking place here in this story, we need to understand the collection project that the apostle Paul had started among all the churches that he had planted. The purpose of this collection project was to help provide for the needs of all the Jesus followers back in Jerusalem who were experiencing a very difficult time of famine, persecution and poverty.

Paul had already been collecting money from the other communities of Jesus followers in Galatia, Asia and Macedonia, but the Corinthian Christians were not taking part in this collection as much as they originally said they would. So that is why he shares this story about the generosity of the Macedonians.

Paul wants the Corinthian Christians to realize that this is way more than just an issue of money and stuff. He wants them to understand that they now belong to something bigger than themselves. They belong to the Jesus movement that is expanding throughout the entire known world. And one of the significant ways that they can take part in the fellowship of the Jesus movement is by generously sharing their lives and their resources.

The collection among these Christian communities communicated that even though they were many miles away and had never met the Jesus followers in Jerusalem, they saw themselves as small parts of the larger Jesus movement, and they wanted to participate in it by sharing with others who were in need.

For followers of Jesus, generously giving our lives and sharing our possessions proves the genuineness of our love for others, and it gives us the privilege of taking part in the fellowship of the Jesus movement that transcends borders and cultures.

This kind of generous giving and sharing manifests the grace of God in our lives, and it magnifies the glory of God to the watching world around us.

The generosity of the Macedonian Christians is an example that all Jesus followers ought to strive to follow. And so, let’s look at their story of how they gave to other Jesus followers in need and what we can learn from it.

The Generosity of the Macedonians

As we look at the generosity of the Macedonian Christians, we can ask ourselves three revealing questions about the radical nature of their giving.

First, what were their circumstances?

We’re told that they were experiencing a time of severe affliction and extreme poverty. Things were not going well at all for the Jesus followers in Macedonia.

However, in spite of this, what was their attitude?

We’re told that in the midst of this terrible time, they had an abundance of joy. They had come to know and experience the love of Jesus which had given them a kind of joy that was transcending their current circumstances.

And so, what was the result of this incredible joy?

A radical generosity towards others. The love of Jesus had transformed their hearts and minds. They felt a sense of belonging to a movement much bigger than themselves, and they desperately wanted to play a part and contribute to that movement by giving and sharing what they possessed.

It cannot be overstated that they were begging Paul passionately for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints. The word favor is the same word translated elsewhere as grace. They viewed the opportunity to give to other Jesus followers in need as a gift of grace for themselves. They viewed it as a privilege that they got to take part in.

The word relief is the same word translated elsewhere as fellowship. That word fellowship is often misunderstood. Fellowship is more than Jesus followers hanging out together. The original meaning of the word implies a deep commitment to share your life and your stuff with the larger Jesus movement.

And this was the mindset of the Macedonian Christians. They viewed this opportunity to give and to share as a way of getting to participate in the fellowship of the larger Jesus movement that transcended borders and cultures.

They were going through a rough time in life. They were poor and didn’t have any spare change or savings accounts. And nobody was pressuring them to give anything. But they gave anyway. And they wanted to give. They begged passionately for the opportunity to give, they considered it a privilege, and they gave more than was expected.

Whenever we are presented with an opportunity to share our possessions to support the needs of the Jesus movement, what is our attitude and response?

With the Macedonians still fresh in the back of his mind, Paul later tells the Corinthians something that we all need to hear. He says:

“Everyone must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

The Challenge to the Corinthians

The challenge Paul presents to the Corinthians is a challenge to us as well. Paul shared the story about the Macedonian Christians in order to provide an example of the kind of generosity that he expects from the Corinthians.

Unlike the circumstances of the Macedonian Christians, the Corinthians for the most part would have had money. It seems that they had money to give, but they were not nearly as eager to give as the Macedonians had been.

And so Paul’s challenge to them is pretty straightforward. He says:

“Just as you excel in everything else — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in passion, and in love — make sure that you are excelling in this act of grace too.”

What act of grace?

The commitment to share and give to help others within the Jesus movement.

Are we striving to excel in our faith and understanding of Scripture and in our love of others but at the same time, pushing the act of giving off to the side?

Paul tells the Corinthians that he is not commanding them to give like the Macedonians, but he is providing them with an opportunity to prove the genuineness of their love for others that they claim to possess.

Paul goes on later to say that the Corinthians’ generosity to the Jesus followers in Jerusalem will manifest the grace of God in their lives and magnify the glory of God to the watching world around them.

Giving our lives and sharing our possessions proves the genuineness of our love for others, and it gives us the privilege of taking part in the fellowship of the Jesus movement that transcends borders and cultures. It manifests the grace of God in our lives, and it magnifies the glory of God to the watching world.

Paul uses the Macedonian Christians as an example worth following, but then he takes it a step further by reminding us of the example set by Jesus himself. He says, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus. You know what he gave. You know the extent to which he shared with us. He gave up his status and privileges as the Son of God to become a man like us and not only that but to become a man that would give his own life as a sacrifice for us.”

And so, Paul isn’t commanding the Corinthians to give like the Macedonians, but on account of what Jesus has given them, he does expect them to.

The Command of Jesus

And even though Paul doesn’t command the Corinthians to give to the collection project, we must realize that generously giving and sharing was commanded by Jesus. In a teaching where he addresses the human tendency to worry about money and our own well-being, Jesus says:

“Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys.” (Luke 12:33)

You see, unlike the way the rest of the world views personal possessions, followers of Jesus are to be characterized by radical generosity, and especially giving to those in need.

At the very least, obedience to this command means to take what you have but don’t need and give it to help the needs of others. Even more so, obedience to this command means to give up things you might need and give more to help the needs of others.

And so as we’ve looked at the radical generosity of the Macedonian Christians, we might be tempted to view their example as an extreme case of generous giving that is too unique and impossible to follow. But we need to remember that it was the original Jesus followers in Jerusalem that had set the tone for this kind of generous giving and sharing with one another. In the earliest descriptions of the Jesus movement, selling your possessions to give to others in need was the normal.

We are told:

“And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.” (Acts 2:44-45)

And then again:

"Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common… There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.” (Acts 4:32-35)

Radical generosity is not supposed to be some advanced spiritual level that only a few super-Christians ever reach. Radical generosity is a command of Jesus that ought to characterize every follower of Jesus.

This does not mean that we must sell everything that we own or that we cannot have nice things. It simply means that what we might want must no longer be more important to us than what others might need. Jesus gave his life to meet our deepest need. And so, in response, our mindset should shift from getting more to giving more.

Our generous giving helps to supply the needs of the Jesus movement to which we belong, and it proves the genuineness of our love towards others and our gratitude to God.

Generously giving and freely sharing with others manifests the grace of God in our lives, and it magnifies the glory of God to the watching world around us.

Let’s learn to see giving as an opportunity. Let’s learn to see giving as a privilege and a way to participate in the Jesus movement. And let’s embrace a radical generosity towards others that reflects the radical love of Jesus.