2 Corinthians - Proportion, Not Portion

Have you ever made a promise and failed to keep it? Oh, I'm sure you have, because only the Lord is faithful in keeping all of his promises. Have you ever made a promise to give and then not followed through on that? That's what Paul writes about in 2 Corinthians 8:6-9. He is reminding the Corinthian church that a year before they had promised to give and they had not followed through and kept their promise.

Paul, you will recall, was taking up a special offering from the Gentile churches to help the poor Jewish saints in Palestine. The Jewish church in Jerusalem and the Holy Land was going through a lot of difficulty, a lot of persecution, suffering, economic problems.

And so the Apostle Paul was taking up a special offering from the churches in the Gentile area where he had preached to show the Jews that there was unity in God's people, that there was one church, and they all cared for each other.

This offering was much more than just helping them out physically. It was a proof of spiritual unity, it was an evidence of love, and Paul was greatly concerned about the fact that the Corinthians had not followed through.

For some reason, the subject of giving is a sensitive one in the lives of many people and in some churches. I've heard preachers say, "I never preach about giving because, you know, if I do, it just creates problems." Well, Paul didn't have that attitude. In 2 Corinthians 8 and 2 Corinthians 9, Paul devotes the entire section to the matter of giving, because giving and living go together. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

I think the reason people are sensitive about this matter of giving is because they don't really understand what Christian giving is all about. There are some people who are very discouraged saying, "Oh, I give so little," when really, when God measures their giving, it is great. And there are others who are quite complacent who say, "Well, I'm doing very well, I'm giving more than anybody else," and God may look at them and say, "Oh my, you're hardly giving at all." How do you measure Christian giving?

Now, I know many of us practice tithing, and we believe that if under law the Old Testament believer could tithe, certainly under grace we can start there. We don't stop there. The tithe is only the beginning. But nowhere in 2 Corinthians 8 and 2 Corinthians 9 does Paul mention tithing. He doesn't give to us any special law.

My wife and I have practiced tithing all of our married life. I practiced it before I was married and so did she. But you know, that's not the measure. That's a good beginning, but it's not the measure. It's possible for a person to tithe, to give ten percent of his income to the Lord and still not really be giving, because true Christian giving is not measured so much by the portion as the proportion and the heart.

In 2 Corinthians 8:10-15, the Apostle Paul shares with us three principles by which God measures our giving. In verses 10 through 12, the principle of willingness. Verses 13 and 14, the principle of ability. And then verse 15, the principle of faith, obedient faith. Now let's lay hold of these three principles and let's apply them to our own giving.

First, there's the principle of willingness. 2 Corinthians 8:10-12: "And in this I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be willing a year ago." I reminded you in our previous study that for a year the Corinthians had been delaying in their giving. They had promised Titus a year before that they really wanted to share in this offering.

Now you'll remember that this offering was a really a missionary offering. Paul was receiving gifts from the Gentile churches and he was going to take all of these gifts to the poor Christians in Jerusalem. They had gone through a difficult time. There was persecution, there was an economic problem, there had even been a famine, and there were multitudes of people who needed help in the Jerusalem church.

And Paul saw this much more than as a welfare scheme. He wasn't just simply providing food and clothing and so forth, which in itself is good. He saw this as an evidence of spiritual life, the unity of God's people. The Gentiles had received spiritually from the Jews, and now the Gentiles can give materially to the Jews. But the problem was the Corinthians had delayed.

Their problem was willingness. Verse 11: "Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have. For if there first be a willing mind, it is accepted according to that which a man hath, and not according to that which he hath not."

The point that Paul is making is this: that God looks at the heart. The principle of willingness. Am I giving out of a willing heart? God does not see the hand gift; God sees the heart gift.

I read somewhere, and can't recall where, about a man, a rather well-to-do man who'd gone to church and he thought he had dropped ten dollars into the offering plate, but it had been a hundred dollars. And his wife was somewhat stunned at this and driving home from church she said, "Honey, did you mean to put a hundred dollars in the offering plate?" He said, "No, I put in ten." She said, "No sir, you put in a hundred." "Well," he said, "then I'll get credit for a hundred." She said, "Oh no, you'll just get credit for ten." Now she hit the nail on the head, didn't she?

Let's suppose that instead of putting in a dollar bill, I put in a ten dollar bill. My willingness was to give a dollar. God saw my heart. Even though I gave ten dollars, I'm going to get credit for one dollar in the records of heaven because that's what my heart said.

Now willing and doing have to go together. The Lord makes it very clear that when he starts the willing, he also helps the doing. Philippians 2:12-13: "For it is God who worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Now willingness is not a substitute for action. People say, "Well, I'm willing to give but I just can't do it." Well now wait a minute. Wait just a minute.

Willingness is not a substitute for action. There are times when our heart impels us to do something and we cannot do it, and God sees the heart and he gives us credit for it. I know that. David had that experience. Oh, how David wanted to build the temple. God said, "No, you've been a man of war, you've shed a great deal of blood, I don't want you building the temple. But inasmuch as it was in your heart to do so, I'm going to accept it."

There are times when our hearts will one thing, but our circumstances prevent us from doing what we want to do. That's something else. In this matter of giving, Paul is saying the fact that you were willing and enthusiastic is no substitute for doing. Now get busy there in Corinth, take up the offering and be ready when I show up with the rest of the men who are on the committee, because we want to see your share in this offering.

The principle of willingness. I think it's a marvelous thing when God works in our hearts and makes us willing to give. One day the Apostle Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, we have forsaken everything to follow you, what are we going to get?" That's quite a selfish attitude, isn't it? "What are we going to get?" At that point, our Lord gave the parable of the laborers in the vineyard and pointed out you don't worry about what you're going to get, you just do what you're told.

But over in Acts, the Apostle Peter shows a different attitude altogether. He said to that beggar in Acts 3, he said, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee." He'd gone from "how much am I going to get" to "how much can I give." The principle of willingness. God sees the heart gift, not the hand gift.

Now the principle of ability. At this point someone says, "Well, Paul, I'm willing to give but I just don't have a great deal." Now notice what he says in verse 12: "For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that which a man hath, and not according to that which he hath not. For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened." He's not suggesting here that one person gets rich while another one gets poor. That's ridiculous.

Why should the Corinthians become poor just to make the Christians over in Jerusalem rich? No, he's not talking about that at all. "But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality."

You see, God wants us to give according to ability, not just willingness but ability. According to what you have, not according to what you don't have or not according to what you wish you had.

Now this is important. I want you to follow me closely. Where there is a true willingness to give, we will do our very best with what we have. The person who says, "Oh, if I had a hundred dollars I would give it," oh no he wouldn't. No he wouldn't. If he's not sharing sacrificially out of what he does have, he will not share generously out of what he doesn't have.

These people who say, "Well, you know, God sees my heart," yes he does. He really does. He knows the portion and he knows the proportion. And Paul is warning us here that we are not to expect other people to shoulder the burden and carry the load just so we can be eased. On the other hand, he's not asking us to make ourselves poor and not be able to pay our own bills just to meet somebody's need.

You see, the principle of ability says this: you give according to what you have with a willing heart, not according to what you don't have or you wish you had.

My experience has been those who have ten dollars who give generously out of their ten dollars, when they have a hundred dollars they'll give generously out of the hundred. Those who are selfish and miserly with little will be selfish and miserly with much. It's the proportion, not the portion that God sees. You see, our motive for giving is spiritual, but the measure of giving is material. We couldn't begin to give to God in return for all he's given to us.

The motive for giving is spiritual. You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, verse 9. He's done so much for us. But the measure for giving is material. Paul talked about this in 1 Corinthians 16:2: "Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him." That's proportionate giving.

And you know, God has a way of equalizing things. We give materially, he gives to us spiritually, and then we're able to share with other people spiritually. He's not talking here about some kind of Christian communism. He simply says God records the gift of the heart and God knows how willing we are and God knows our ability.

You see, the Macedonian churches were abounding, how that in the great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. Paul seems to be contrasting the two virtues. He says, "Now you Corinthians are blessed in everything. You're not going through poverty, you're not going through difficulty. You're blessed. You have the abundance of the gifts of God."

Now why is it that the Macedonian churches that are going through affliction are abounding in joy and abounding in liberality when you Corinthians who abound in everything are not giving at all? You made a promise, you didn't keep it. Now if God really led you to make that promise, God will enable you to keep it, because he's the one who has enriched us in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Let me say a word to those of you who are young Christians. Don't just grow in knowledge, don't just grow in service, don't just grow in the gifts of the Christian life. Along with that, grow in the grace of giving, because true giving leads to true living. Now my friend, if you do not have a great deal to give, but you are generous with what you have, if you did have a great deal, you would give it, and God sees that and God knows it.

This leads to verse 15, the third principle. First, the principle of willingness, then the principle of ability—what we have, not what we don't have—and then the principle of faith. "As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack."

He's talking here about the Old Testament experience of the manna, Exodus 16. Every morning for nearly forty years the manna appeared, this little bread, this little wafer appeared on the dew on the ground and the Jews were to go out and gather a certain amount every day. And they were not to gather and save extra.

And the amazing thing was that no matter how much you gathered, you always had enough. Now the principle he's saying is this: trust God. Trust God a day at a time. Don't hoard and don't squander. Both are wrong.

You remember he said now on Friday you better take up extra because on the Sabbath day you aren't allowed to go out and pick up this manna. And lo and behold, they gathered extra and it didn't rot. But the rest of the week if they gathered extra and tried to hoard it, it rotted. Some of you are hoarding wealth that God has given to you, and it's going to rot. James 5 tells us this: that the money that is wasted and the money that is hoarded will rise up in witness against us at the last day.

And so Paul says there's also the principle of faith. Trust God. Trust God that he will give you what you need. Trust God that he will supply your need day by day. Now this doesn't mean we shouldn't save. It doesn't mean we shouldn't be cautious. Paul says that the children are not supposed to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. Nothing wrong with this.

But there is a limit. There is a point of diminishing returns. And some people, some of God's people are squandering their resources—that's terrible—and some people are hoarding resources—and that's terrible. And God says, "Now I want to have you exercise faith. Trust me. Just as those Old Testament Jews had to trust me day after day, a day at a time to meet their need, so I want you to trust me to guide you in the use of your resources."

Well, let's measure our giving now. I don't know how much you give and it's none of my business. Only God should know. But there's the principle of willingness. Are you giving out of a willing heart? And then there's the principle of ability. Are you giving according to what you have or out of what you have? There's a big difference now.

I'll say it again, God is interested in the proportion, not the portion. Every man as the Lord has prospered him. For some people, a ten percent tithe is not enough. God has prospered them much more and they can use what they have for his glory. The principle of ability: giving according to what you have, not according to what you wish you had.

And finally, the principle of faith: trusting God to supply your need day after day, trusting him to show you how to use what he gives to you. It's a marvelous thing just to trust the Lord, isn't it? To have a life of investment, a life where we're investing in the future. Jesus says where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. And so God is saying to me and to you, don't just talk about it or think about it, do it, and I will bless you in your doing.