All of us would certainly agree that it was a good thing that Columbus was
given the money he needed to sail to the discovery of America. What we do not
realize, however, is the evil method by which the money was gotten. In 1492
Tomas de Torquemada, the chief architect of the Spanish Inquisition, expelled
half a million Jews from Spain and Portugal. He then plundered their
property. It was this confiscated Jewish wealth that Ferdinand and Isabella
used to finance Columbus. The Jews actually financed the discovery of
America, but it was by force and against their will. They were also robbed by
the Christians to pay for the Crusades. It is no wonder that the Jews do not
respond to the Gospel, for history reveals that those who preach the Gospel
were their greatest enemies.
The folly of the church in raising money by robbing the Jews was
multiplied when greed led them to rob other Christians as well. The ignoring
of Paul's principle of each man giving as he purposes in his heart led to great
evil and violence within the church. Compulsory tithing led to some good being
done, but that good can never justify the depriving of men of their freedom to
respond to God as they chose. We saw in our previous message that all of the
reformers opposed the tithing law of the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, the
system of compulsory tithing continued in the Church of England. The
Baptists and Quakers fought it, and they had to pay the price for opposing the
establishment. Many were imprisoned, and some were even martyred for
preaching that compulsory tithing was contrary to the will of God. One
extreme case on record was of Ann and Robert Henderson who were
imprisoned for 11 months for failure to pay one penny.
It is hard for us to imagine the violence, which the church introduced into
society by its method of collecting money. Laymen resented the dictatorial
power of the church, and they expressed it through violence. Dairymaids took
their tithe of milk to the church and poured it on the floor in front of the alter.
The tithe sheaves of farmers were badly bound so they would fall to pieces and
rot in the rain. Collectors were beaten and crops were trampled down to
prevent their being taken. One Hampshire farmer notified the pastor that he
was about to pull turnips so he should come and get his tithe. When the men,
carts and horses arrived he pulled up ten turnips, gave one to the men, and said
he would let the parson know when he planned to draw some more. He was not
a practical joker, but was expressing contempt for the church law, which was
also the state law. The result of this contempt and opposition was the push for
stronger and stricter laws to punish the non-tither. The clergy always won for
they had the law on their side. Lay people came to despise the clergy and the
law, for they worked together to oppress the people.
Tithe wars were declared in England, and the people decided they would
rather die than obey the tithe law. Barricades were erected and trenches were
dug, and no collector was safe. They even developed battle songs to whip up
their fighting spirit against the church. One of them went like this:
We've cheated the parson; we'll cheat him again,
For why should a blockhead have one in ten
For prating so long like a book-learned sot,
Till putting an dumpling burn to pot?
Another sung to the famous hymn tune Old Hundred also voiced this bitter protest:
God save us from these raiding priests,
Who seize our crops and steal our beasts,
Who pray, "Give us our daily bread,"
And take it from our mouths instead.
Conscientious clergyman, of course, left the church rather than be a part of
forcing people by law to support the church. The police had to enforce the law,
and so they broke into homes to take away enough furniture to pay the tithe.
They hated it, but it was their duty to enforce the law, and they became the
objects of much hatred. Remember, it was the Baptist and the Quakers who
were leading the opposition of the establishment. They were minority groups,
and they suffered terribly, but their cause was just, and they eventually won
and the law was changed.
The battle had to be fought again by Baptist in America. That is another
story, but it had the same ending. They won again against all compulsory
methods of church support. One of the reasons you do not get a bill in the mail
for church support, which would be payable under penalty of law, is because
the Baptists fought for the liberty of every person to give heed to Paul's
principle of giving, which was, as he purposes in his heart. Voluntary giving is
the only acceptable program for those who honor the New Testament.
If everyone is left in complete freedom, however, they may choose to give
very little or nothing. This is true, and that is where motivation comes in. Paul
says each man must make up his own mind, but then he gives the mind some
food for thought. He seeks to motivate the Corinthians to give liberally. By
studying this passage by the point of view of motives that Paul appeals to we
come to understand what the reasons are for being glad to invest liberally. We
may choose in our freedom to give even more than what the law required.
These motives can compel us to do what we would resent doing if compelled by
law. Not all of Paul's motives for giving are on the level of the sublime. He
begins on the natural level and works up. Paul is realistic, and he recognizes
that Christians are motivated by many of the same things that motivate the
natural man. There is a number of different values that Paul appeals to. We
will deal with them in three categories.
I. THE MOTIVE OF REASONABLENESS.
If something is a reasonable obligation and recognize it to be an obvious
duty, then we are motivated to do it. Paul says that Christian giving is on the
level of obvious duty. He begins this chapter by writing, "There is no need for
me to write to you about this service to the saints." He is saying it is
unnecessary to remind you of what you already know is an obvious obligation.
But Paul does write about it, and he stresses this obvious duty. This is like
starting a sentence with "needless to say," but they you go on and say it
anyway. Why say what is needless to say, and why write about what it is really
unnecessary to write about? We have here a case of the paradox of the
necessity of non-essential. Nothing is more necessary than to remind people of
what is most reasonable and obvious.
No one, for example, is so dense that they need to be told it is dangerous to
go to sleep while driving. It is such a reasonable and obvious fact that no
capable of driving can be unaware of it. And yet, this superfluous advice is
constantly being printed on the turnpike. The signs everywhere say, "Stay
awake and stay alive." It is necessary to keep reminding people of what is so
obvious that it should be unnecessary. We tend to neglect and ignore that
which is most obvious.
Giving to the church is such an obvious obligation that it should be
completely unnecessary to have to remind anyone. Everyone knows that the
church has to have money to operate and meet its obligations to missionaries as
well as to its local ministry. It should be unnecessary to say anything about
what is such an obvious obligation, and yet it is necessary to keep reminding
people that they need to fulfill this obvious obligation. Next we look at-
II. THE MOTIVE OF REPUTATION.
We are motivated to do many things on the basis of what other people will
think of us. We care about our image in the eyes of others, and so we can easily
moved by appeals dealing with our reputation. Reputation is a matter of
competition. We want to be equal or superior to others because of the
competitive nature we possess. Paul boasted to the Macedonians about the
Corinthians, and now he boasts to the Corinthians about the Macedonians. He
is using the positive responses of both to challenge each other to compete. Paul
says in verse 2 that the Macedonians were stirred up by his boasting of the
Corinthians. We see Paul exploiting the competitive spirit of man for the glory
of God. Churches do this all the time. Churches compete in sports events
against each other on the physical level, but they also compete for spiritual
fruit and success. That is the purpose for contests between churches. This is
one of the reasons behind the publishing of annual reports on the growth and
giving of all churches. It may not be the highest motive for giving, but it
happens to be a fact of life that God made man with this competitive spirit, and
it is a valid motivation, which Paul appeals to.
Every Christian should be as proud of his local church as he is of the
school he loves, or the ball team he loves. People are interested in how their
team is doing. They follow them, keep up on information, and support them
financially. They want to be identified with a winner, and so they do their best
to encourage excellence. It should be the same with the church. We should be
deeply concerned about our reputation. We should be embarrassed to let our
giving get behind so that our missionaries do not get their needed support. We
should be challenged by smaller churches, which give sacrificially because they
are proud of their church and eager to get a reputation as a mission minded
church.
Paul is saying to the Corinthians that their reputation is at stake if they do
not live up to the commitment they made. He is saying, look at what others
have done, for you can do it too, and you can be a challenge to them in this gain
of giving, contest in contributing, and race in responding with riches in the
stadium of stewardship. It may not be the highest motivation for giving, but it
is valid. We give to everything else out of the motive of reputation, and so why
not to the church and the cause of Christ? The third motive that Paul stresses
is the strongest. Our reason demands that we give liberally, and our reputation
requires it as well, but Christians have been known to be unreasonable and
unconcerned about the reputation. The third motive, however, appeals to
everyone, for it is-
III. THE MOTIVE OF REWARD.
This appeal to man's desire to get rich and to receive great reward runs all
through the Bible. Paul is just spelling out a principle that Jesus clearly taught,
and that is that all we give now will be repaid with great interest. Everything
we give out of love for Christ is an investment in eternity. It is actually to our
advantage if we give to good causes that bring no return in this life. Jesus put
it as plain as possible in Luke 14:12-14. He said, "When you give a dinner or a
banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsman or rich
neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. But when you
give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be
blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection
of the just."
Jesus says generosity toward the poor will be rewarded in eternity. This
means that everything we give for the needs of others is like putting money in
the bank of heaven. Paul in verse 6 says giving follows the natural law of
sowing. What works for the farmer works for the giver. If you so sparingly,
you reap sparingly. If you sow bountifully, you reap bountifully. Every man at
the judgment will reap what he has sown. This is the law of God for both the
natural and the spiritual world. It is a powerful motivating factor, for it
appeals to self-interest, and it makes generosity fun and exciting. We read of
this law of life in Prov. 11:24, "One man gives freely, yet grows all the richer;
another with holds what he should give, and only suffers want." It pays to give
for both time and eternity. This is no theory, for it is a law of life.
Professor Douglas Steer of Harvard College tells of a potato grower in
Northern Michigan who planted only the peelings of the potato for seed, and he
fed the inside to his livestock. When moisture was abundant he got an average
crop, but when a dry season came after planting, only those who planted the
whole potato got a harvest. Christian giving is like sowing. Every Christian is
a farmer in the spiritual realm, and they are either sowing sparingly or
bountifully. The Christian who gives little because he cannot afford it does not
realize he is like a foolish farmer who does not sow his field because he cannot
spare the seed. Only as he sows the seed can he reap a harvest. If he hoards
the seed, he will go broke. This is a law of life in the natural and spiritual
realm. Calvin said, "Whenever fleshly reason calls us back from doing good
through fear of loss we should immediately oppose it with this shield; but the
Lord declares that we are sowing."
Many are the testimonies that sowing in abundance pays off in time as well
as in eternity. Paul goes on to tell the Corinthians that as they give God will
provide them with resources to go on giving to every good work. When God
sees that we will be free flowing channels through which riches are going to be
invested in great causes, he blesses us with greater riches. Dozens of rich
Christians claim that they began their climb to heights of wealth by tithing.
We dare not become superstitious about this as if tithing was a form of
economic magic. The fact is, there are more rich people who never tithe than
those who do, and there are masses of tithers who never become very wealthy.
The point is, the person who gives abundantly because he is motivated by the
love of Christ, and wants in on the eternal rewards Christ promises, is always
adequately provided for. Christians who tithe give more, but they almost
always have more as well. The discipline of tithing teaches them to be
systematic and wise in their use of money, and so they can do more with 90%
than others who keep it all.
One of the greatest present rewards is the reward of the joy of generosity.
It is a paradox, but the fact is, generous people are the most blest. Prov. 11:25
says a generous man will prosper; he who refreshes others will himself be
refreshed. Helen Steiner Rice wrote,
The more you give, the more you get
The more you laugh, the less you fret,
The more you do unselfishly,
The more you live abundantly.
The more of everything you share,
The more you'll always have to spare.
The more you love, the more you'll find
That life is good and friends are kind.
For only what we give away,
Enriches us from day to day.
Jesus said, "Give and it will be given to you." We are to give, not because
we have to, but because it is good for others and good for ourselves. We are to
give systematically because it is the best method. We are to give voluntarily
because it is the best manner, and we are to give gladly because it is the best
motivation for pleasing God, blessing others and enriching our own lives.
I use the tithe as a standard measure of generosity, but in reality it is too
much for some and far too little for others. Each must be persuaded in his own
mind what represents a generous part of his income to be invested in the
kingdom of God. No one can set this standard for you. We are to make up our
own mind motivated by reason, reputation and reward. If we take these
motives seriously, it will lead to the highest form of giving, which is
thanksgiving, or giving which grows out of an expression of gratitude to God
for all He has given to us in Christ.
