2 Corinthians 9:1-7

Butler's Commentary

SECTION 4

Compulsion (2 Corinthians 9:1-7)

9 Now it is superfluous for me to write to you about the offering for the saints, -for I know your readiness, of which I boast about you to the people of Macedonia, saying that Achaia has been ready since last year; and your zeal has stirred up most of them. 3But I am sending the brethren so that our boasting about you may not prove vain in this case, so that you may be ready, as I said you would be; 4lest if some Macedonians come with me and find that you are not ready we be humiliatedto say nothing of youfor being so confident. 5So I thought it necessary to urge the brethren to go on to you before me, and arrange in advance for this gift you have promised, so that it may be ready not as an exaction but as a willing gift.

6 The point is this: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. -Each one must do as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:1-4 Conscientiousness: Chapter nine is clearly a continuation of the subject of chapter eight. The Greek conjunction gar is translated Now (2 Corinthians 9:1) and connects chapter nine to the subject matter of chapter eight. The most persistent problem of stewardship facing a preacher is the problem of motivation. Stewardship is plainly commanded by God in the Old Testament and by Christ in the New Testament. But commanding free-willed creatures and getting them to obey commands are two different matters. Man's freedom to choose will not be violated by a just and righteous God. God will not coerce or exact or force offerings from people (neither should preachers!). Paul calls upon two facts of the human experience to motivate the Corinthians to give: Self-respect and Selectivity.

Paul was boasting (Gr. kauchomai, sometimes translated glorying) of the readiness (Gr. prothumian, passionate eagerness) of the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 9:2 ff) to take up an offering for the saints in Judea to the Macedonians. He boasted of the Macedonians to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 8:1-5)! This is true of Paul's communications to all the churches. He praised one church to another as a motivating factor. While you find Paul criticizing the conduct of one church after another in his epistles to each of them, you never find him criticizing one church to another!

Paul says, It is superfluous (Gr. perisson) for me to write to you about the offering for the saints. and then continues to write to them about it! He has already (2 Corinthians 8:8-15) written that he knows of their readiness and their beginning, but there remains the problem of their completing it. He tactfully softens his lengthy exhortation on giving by this superfluous statement of his boasting about them to the Macedonians. Self-respect or conscientiousness is a worthy virtue. Paul was jealous for his own reputation (2 Corinthians 8:20-24) so he appeals to the Corinthians to be careful to fulfill what he has boasted of them to the Macedonians. An appeal to conscientiousness in a Christian is really an appeal to the reputation of Christ! The Christian guards Christ's reputation when he guards his own self-respect. That should be a highly motivating factor in his every action as a Christianand especially in giving!

He told the Macedonians that Achaia (Roman named province of southern Greece which included the cities of Corinth, Athens, Sparta, Olympia, Delphi, Thebes and Cenchreae) had planned (Gr. pareskeuastai, perfect passive, had made preparations and was continuing to make preparations) to give to this special benevolence a year ago. Information about the zeal of the Corinthians stirred up (Gr. erethisen, provoked, excited) most of the Macedonians.

But he sends the brethren (the three mentioned in 2 Corinthians 8:16-24) to prod the Corinthians into completing what they had begun the year before. The very presence of these brethren (two of them specifically chosen by the churches themselves for this purpose) will urge them to finish their collection. Paul is urgent! He wants to spare the Corinthians, himself, and the reputation of Christ of any shame should some Macedonians decide to accompany him to Corinth for the reception of the offering and find no offering to receive! The Greek word kataischunthomen is a combination of kata and aischuno, shamed-down, an intensive form of the word for shame and is translated, humiliated. Paul is definitely appealing to self-respect as a motivation.

2 Corinthians 9:5-7 Choice: The second motivational factor Paul appealed to was the freedom every Christian has to choose how, when, and how much he will give in any offering he makes unto the Lord. There is no legislation whatsoever in the New Testament as to method, frequency, or amount in the matter of Christian giving. We repeat, the emphasis in the N.T. is upon stewardship (accountability, wise management, motive, attitude, faithfulness). Of course, since the New Testament is a dispensation of grace, infinite grace, it is simply assumed that a Christian's giving will be liberal and generous. Paul might be saying (2 Corinthians 9:5), I consider it necessary to send these brethren to you in Corinth to arrange the completion of the collection ahead of my arrival there because I do not want my presence to be the reason why you give. (see 1 Corinthians 16:2; 2 Corinthians 1:24). The RSV translates the Greek word pleonexian as exaction; the word literally is covetousness or greed. The RSV also translates eulogian as willing gift; the word literally is, well-thinking. What Paul means is what he wants the Corinthians to give happily, and not grudgingly coveting for themselves what they are giving.

It is imperative that preachers solve the problem of stewardship and giving without coercion of any sort. Christians must be left free to choose whether they will give, when they will give, and how much they will give. Even the Lord Jesus, when asked about giving, left the questioners free to decide, when he said, Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God'S. While Paul teaches (1 Corinthians 16:1-24) there should be a congregational consensus about collections and some specified time and order as to their being taken, he leaves every saint free to decide for himself about his contribution to the collections.

Nothing will intensify the problem of stewardship and giving more than coercive, manipulative, deceitful methods used to motivate it! Paul would not even appear in Corinth until after the offering was completed lest his apostolic presence (without any threats or duress) make the brethren there feel compulsion. Ray Stedman writes (pg. 163):

What a contrast to many Christian leaders, evangelists and others today who insist that you wait until they come before any offering is taken. They want to put the squeeze on, to tell emotional stories of deathbed experiences, to hold up pictures of crying children to twist your heart, to use competitiveness and rivalry as a means of extracting more funds. This is a terrible thing. It scorns the spirit of grace in a congregation. So this helpful guideline says, do not give to organizations or people who habitually rely on emotional appeals to get you to give.. Now we ought to hear needs, but habitual appeals on that basis are wrong, because it is the wrong basis on which to give.. In Poland, I was told of organizations that were actually stockpiling Bibles in warehouses because they could not get them into the Soviet Union. But they were still making appeals to people to give for more Bible purchasing when they actually had warehouses full that they could not move. That is the wrong kind of appeal. When we learn of something like that we should stop giving, because we are responsible for what we do.

Nothing will solve the problem of stewardship and giving more than the preaching and practice of the grace of God. Paul, in fact, begins (2 Corinthians 8:1), and ends (2 Corinthians 9:15) the entire dissertation on giving by appealing to the GRACE of God! The apostolic word (and practice) tells us, more preaching of the grace of God equals more willing, cheerful and generous giving! So when will the church restore the apostolic doctrine about stewardship and giving?

The apostle says, The point is this: he who sows sparingly (Gr. pheidomenos, thriftily, forbearingly) will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully (Gr. eulogiais, well-speaking, praising, blessing, benevolently, frankly, liberally) will also reap bountifully. Stedman explains (pg. 164):

The closest analogy to giving that we have in life is the farmer going out to sow his crop. Giving is more than distributing your funds or resources, it is a process that will return something to you as well, like a farmer who sows seeds in the spring. He scatters seed out upon the ground, and he cannot gather it up again. It looks as though it is lost to him, and it is. He actually has to give up control of it and the use of it. He throws it away into the ground where it deteriorates, rots and is seemingly lost.. But it is not lost; it is not gone. Let it fulfill its appointed process and the farmer will have it back again and much more besides. That is what God designed. The return is proportionate to the sowing. If a farmer sows a little amount of seed, that is what he will get back, a small and niggardly harvest. If he sows bountifully and scatters prodigally, he will receive a prodigal harvest in return. The analogy is clear. If you give just a little bit, then what you get will be a little bit, too. But if you give abundantly, what you will get will be abundant also.

But the rewards that the New Testament promises are never ultimately material rewards. The Bible promises not the wealth of things, but spiritual wealththe wealth of character. The man who is generous in giving to the Lord and to others will be loved, respected, sought after for advice, honored, helped when he himself is in need; free of the character-shriveling vices of envy, covetousness, anxiety, and loneliness. People who do not give liberally and cheerfully are self-centered. The boundaries of their experience are extremely limited. They are never satisfied. They have no purpose beyond themselves. Self is the highest goal to which they aspire or shall ever attain.

Paul uses the Greek word hekastos signifying specifically, each one. No man is to decide for another what he is to give! The Greek word proeretai is from pro and haireo. Haireo is the word from which we get the English words heresy and heretic, and means, a self-willed choice. Add the prepositional prefix pro and add the phrase, te kardia, then we have an emphatic statement that each one must do as he has made up (purposed) his mind.. Paul expects every Christian to make up his mind to give something; but only what he, himself, has decided to give. No other person is to make any decision for him in this matter. It is, in fact, unwarranted for one Christian to even suggest (unless requested to do so by the individual) to another how much he should be giving. The New Testament course to follow is to teach the unsearchable grace of God and suggest that giving must be decided in each person's heart according to his appreciation of that Infinite grace.

Any approach to motivate people to give that would cause reluctance (Gr. ek lupes, out of sorrow or regret) would be hypocritical. It would destroy the giver! This passage condemns forever the heathen pragmatism in the philosophy of so many preachers and religious leaders today who practice any kind of gimmick or emotional coercion because it works! Works for whom? Reluctant, coerced, giving does not work for the giver. And God does not need that kind of money! God doesn-'t need any money! God wants willing, cheerful, liberal givers who give because they have made up their own hearts to give. God does not need our money, but we need to give!

The Greek words ex anagkes are translated under compulsion in the RSV and NASV and necessity in the KJV. The words mean, out of distress, constraint, what must needs be. If Christian work, benevolent, educational, evangelistic, missionary or any other, must be supported by bringing people (Christian and non-Christian) under distress or compulsion, it is not Christian work! So, while Christians need to give, being coerced to give out of gimmickry or manipulation or circumventing the mind by appealing to the emotions does nothing but spiritual harm to the giver. It is altogether possible this is the reason Paul was so reluctant to take financial support (1 Corinthians 9:12 b, 1 Corinthians 9:15; 1 Corinthians 9:18; 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:7 ff) for his ministry. He would burden no one. He was careful that no man be pressured into giving out of compulsion or necessity. He made no pleadings for money. He coerced no one. He had every right to be supported financially (see our comments, First Corinthians, chapter nine) but forfeited his rights for the sake of others. This does not mean, of course, that preachers, missionaries and other full-time workers in para-church activities should not be salaried and supported by those who benefit from their ministries (see Galatians 6:6, etc.). But it does focus the searching light of apostolic doctrine and example upon modern religious excesses in coercing and cajoling money from people. It does strip the facade of false spirituality from all the manipulative schemes in today's religious-financial flim flam! Much modern religious fundraising methodology is justified under the umbrella of public relations. But public relations is often merely a euphemism for deceit, manipulation, self-serving pragmatism, and ethical relativism! If it works, it must be righteous is from the devil, not from God!

Finally, Paul says, hilaron gar doten agapa ho theosfor a cheerful giver God loves. The Greek word hilaron is translated cheerful and is the word from which we get the English word, hilarity, hilarious. In the Septuagint (Greek version of the Hebrew O.T.), the word hilaruno translates a Hebrew word lehatshiyl, to cause to shine. Cheerful giving makes the soul and the spirit of a man shine with the image of the Infinite Giver! Paul is evidently borrowing from Proverbs 22:8 as it appears in the Septuagint (LXX) when he says, God loves a cheerful giver. The Greek word hilaron is used by the LXX in Proverbs 22:8 where the phrase is, God loves a cheerful and liberal man. That phrase does not appear in the Hebrew text in Proverbs 22:8 or in any of our English versions. But since the phrase is here confirmed as inspired from the pen of an apostle, and since the principle is taught in other Biblical injunctions about giving, its absence in the Hebrew text in Proverbs 22:8 poses no problem. In the LXX the Greek word eulogei is literally, thinks well, whereas Paul uses the Greek word agapa literally, loves, in 2 Corinthians 9:7. The word hilaron is used only one other time in the N.T., Romans 12:8, enjoining the one showing mercy to do so with cheerfulness (hilarity). It is also interesting that the Greek word dotes, translated, giver appears in Proverbs 22:8 in the LXX and in the N.T. only here in 2 Corinthians 9:7. Deuteronomy 15:7-11 warns God's people not to harden their heart against giving to the poorbegrudging any help to the needy. Israelites were expected to give freely and open handedly because there would always be poor people in the land. William Barclay notes an ancient rabbinical saying which goes to receive a friend with a cheerful countenance and to give him nothing is better than to give him everything with a gloomy countenance. The people gave with hilarity to build the Tabernacle (Exodus 36:2-7) and to build the Temple (1 Chronicles 29:1-30). There were undoubtedly many other times when Israelites gave cheerfully (such as the widow observed by Jesus in the temple treasury, Mark 12:41-44). Zacchaeus, upon conversion and repentance, gave half of his goods to the poor and was ready to make restitution four-fold to anyone whom he might have defrauded (Luke 19:8-10). The Macedonians (2 Corinthians 8:4) clearly were cheerful givers, begging Paul for the favor of giving to help the Judeans. Paul quotes Jesus as saying, It is more blessed (Gr. makarion, happiness) to give than to receive (Acts 20:35).

How many people have you observed happy to givegiving hilariouslybegging for the favor of giving? Most give grudgingly! Most hang on to their money until they are pressured or manipulated through their emotions to give to some emergency need. When the offering is taken in your congregation are people stumbling over one another for the opportunity to put something in the plate? Are they laughing or smilingare they enjoying it? Do members of your congregation ever ask the elders, May we have the privilege of giving beyond our means? Do most people in your church conceive of their giving as done to support the preacher or pay the bills of the church?

There is a reason human beings are reluctant to give their money to the Lord. But it is very subtle. It is hinted at in 2 Corinthians 8:5. Money, itself, is merely a medium of exchange. But that for which it is exchanged is life! Each person who works, expends his time, energies and talentshimselfa large portion of his life. In exchange he receives money (coins and currency or other material properties). So when a person gives his money, he is actually giving just that much of himself! Those unwilling to give themselves to the Lord, are unwilling to give their money to the Lord. To pretend that one has given himself to the Lord and then to be unwilling to give his money to the Lord (or to give grudgingly) is rank hypocrisy. Only those who have first given themselves (first, in priority) will be those who give hilariously. At the same time, some will give their money (grudgingly) having never given themselves. Paul said, If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing (1 Corinthians 13:3). Why we give is so important, what we give becomes almost irrelevant! (see Matthew 6:1-4).