Principles of Christian Stewardship

GOLDEN TEXT: “Every man as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.” —II Corinthians 9:7

II CORINTHIANS 9

THERE has been altogether too much begging for money in the name of Christ. In fact, the Scriptures do not authorize the soliciting of money at all. This distorted method of exhorting to Christian faithfulness has brought much reproach upon the cause of Christ. Sacrifices of whatever nature that are made in the service of the Lord should be wholly voluntary, never “of necessity,” as Paul mentions in our Golden Text.

Perhaps those who so outspokenly beg for the Lord feel that they are following the example of Paul who, in our lesson, reminds the brethren at Corinth of their privilege, and tells them of his plan to collect the donations which they had voluntarily set aside. However, these donations were for the benefit of famine-stricken brethren in Jerusalem and its vicinity, and not for the promotion of the Gospel. Even so, Paul did nothing more than remind the Corinthian brethren of this opportunity.

Paul’s explanation that “the Lord loveth a cheerful giver” indicates that he was not urging the brethren at Corinth to contribute toward the needs of their famine-stricken brethren in Jerusalem, but merely bringing the situation to their attention. Since Paul knew the circumstances, it was his responsibility to do this. As Christians we all have a responsibility toward our brethren who may be in temporal need. We also have a responsibility with respect to the promulgation of the truth and the service of our brethren along spiritual lines.

A part of our responsibility is to exhort one another to “love” and to “good works.” (Heb. 10:24) Love expresses itself in giving. Paul reminds us of this in the last verse of our lesson by his reference to God’s “unspeakable gift,” the gift that was prompted by his love. When we consecrate ourselves to the Lord and to his service we place everything we have and are in the hands of the Lord, to be used according to his will.

The Lord then makes us stewards over what we have presented to him, and this includes our time, our strength, our talents, our influence, and our money. These are assets which can be used in the service of the Lord. Very few possess all these, but most of us have something which can be devoted directly to the service of the truth; and each consecrated Christian must decide for himself just what he can do, and then do it wholeheartedly and cheerfully.

In exhorting the brethren to love and good works we are not to attempt to decide for them how much they can give along any line. It is simply a matter of reminding one another of the glorious opportunities the Lord has placed before us, pointing out ways and means whereby our talents can be used to his glory.

We all need such exhortation. We need exhortation along all lines of Christian endeavor. Peter exhorts us to give all diligence to add to our faith virtue and other fruits and graces of the Spirit; and we should all stir up one another’s minds along this line.

And just as it is eminently proper to exhort the brethren along all these lines, so it is appropriate to encourage them in Christian sacrifice and service in other ways. There are many and varied forms of service in connection with the activities, for example, of the local ecclesias, and also with respect to the general work of proclaiming the glad tidings of the kingdom.

Those whose hearts are filled with love will not need to be chided because they are not doing enough in the service of the Lord. They want to serve in any and every way they can. They may not always know how and where they can serve best, so it is proper, at appropriate times, and in keeping with the Spirit of the Lord, to call attention to opportunities which may lie within reach.

Paul did this for the brethren at Corinth and other places. He did not solicit them, nor did he imply that they would be unfaithful to the Lord if they did not respond. Pressure soliciting of various kinds has resulted in bringing much reproach upon the cause of Christ.

Paul assured the brethren in Corinth that the Lord would richly reward them for whatever sacrifices they made. “God is able,” he wrote, “to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” We can deduce from this that our spiritual lives will be enriched as a result of our sacrifices in the service of the Lord. We believe that every faithful Christian can testify that this is true.

QUESTIONS

Why is it not proper to solicit money for the Lord’s work?

How are we to exhort one another to love and to good works?

In what way does a Christian benefit from making sacrifices in the Lord’s work?

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