A Generous Wallet

I was reading this passage the other day and was blown away by its relevance for today:

“We want you to know, brothers, about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints—and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us.” (2 Cor. 8:1-5, ESV)

In this passage, Paul is commending the Macedonian church to the Corinthians because of their above and beyond money offerings to the work of the apostles. Not only did the Macedonian church give more than they could have, but they also gave out of their extreme poverty. Here were the poorest of the poor matching and beating the contributions of a wealthy and prosperous Roman town such as Corinth.

These days, money is probably a little tighter than it used to be. Perhaps your 401K dropped in value and your nest egg is gone. Maybe you’ve lost your job and have no income now. At any rate, all of us are a little poorer than we used to be 2 or 3 years ago. And yet how has our giving to the relief of the saints been? Have we used this economic crisis as an excuse to drop and lower our contributions to our churches and mission agencies? Or have we “overflowed in a wealth of generosity,” “begging earnestly to take part in the relief of the saints?” Do we still or have we ever disregarded our own means, livelihood, or well being for the cause of the gospel and its advancement into the darkness? Southern Baptists will see a parallel here with the current drop in funding for the IMB. I’m convinced we can never give overflowing with joy in the midst of our personal economic crises and losses if we can’t give overflowing with joy when we are rich, happy, and carefree. And in order to give in times of both poverty and wealth, what we really need is a deep and true passion inside of us that seeks to glorify the One who gave it all for us by making His name famous throughout the world. We would do well to remember that.