2 Corinthians 8 – Churches Giving to Churches

2 Corinthians 8

Dear Corinthians, remember when you were excited about giving to the church in Jerusalem?  Well it seems like you aren’t now.  Did you know the church in Macedonia is struggling financially.  They are in a recession, and they gave so much more than you did.  And don’t think I made them, because it was their idea.  And their collection was taken up after they had given to God and provided for my needs.  Then they took up a collection for the poor.  Just thought you should know.  In fact, why don’t you step up and finish the giving that you began a year ago.  I know you can give more than the Macedonians, since they are much poorer than you…if you’re willing and faithful.  If you aren’t, then don’t give.  If you are, then do.

Yeah…Paul can be pretty persuasive.

At the end of the passage there is a discussion about Christians in one area providing for Christians in a poorer area.  The church today has almost completely abandoned this concept.  Paul believed that wealthier churches should give a portion of their contribution (budget) to poorer churches.  We do a little bit of this today under the description “missions” but most of that goes to foreign churches and missionaries.  Rarely does the rich church in a town help support the poor church across town.  It’s too bad, because if we did I think it would set an example in unity and kingdom living that would impact many other areas of Christianity.

Kent’s Soap Box Moment of the Day: I will also point out that the financial interdependence of the early churchdoesn’t completely fit our view of how the congregations of the church are to be “non-denominational.”  It’s true that each congregation is to be led by a group of spiritual shepherds who are led by Christ.  Other than the Apostles, there doesn’t seem to be a church power structure outside of the local congregation.  However, the early churches do appear to communicate, financially support, and influence one another.  In other words, they had social, functional, and financial relationships.  We do very little of any of these today.  You couldn’t say they were non-denominational because they were pre-denominational.  The basic ideals of the Restoration Movement (that led to the modern establishment of the Churches of Christ/Disciples of Christ/Christian Churches) were that we could become post-denominational and become united again as the first churches were.  This desire is why I am a member of the Church of Christ today, although I do wish we still had more of the Restoration Movement desire for unity that we used to have.