7. I Don't Have Enough To Give It Away

By Thomas M. Parsons

What Christian Religion Teaches
There are many things it is necessary to do with the money I earn. I have to provide a home for myself and my family, and food, clothing, and medical care.

Then there is the need for dependable transportation, which means car payments, insurance costs, gasoline and repairs and maintenance.

And, of course, the government wants its share. Income taxes, medicare, social security, state and city, all of which add up to a significant portion of my income. When I have kids in school, that increases my expenses even more. Lunch costs, field trips, supplies, books, and so on dig deeper and deeper into the family budget. And if I decide that I want my kids to go to a Christian school in order to protect them and help them to understand what they study from a Biblical perspective, my expenses rise even more significantly.

So, when it comes to giving, to the church, and to helping meet the needs of others, I find myself stretched to the limits. There is only so much I can do. Even church adds costs to my family budget. There are youth activities, AWANA books, men and women’s activities, family activities; the list seems endless.

Add to all of this the fact that many of these costs keep rising year after year, and my income does not, I am left with one conclusion.

I don’t have enough to give it away.

What the Bible Actually Says
Paul wanted to tell the Corinthian church what God had done for the Macedonian churches. It was an example of His grace to them.

These churches were going through a severe trial. A very severe trial. The context here suggests that the trial involved wealth. Perhaps a drought, or some other aberration of weather, had caused an interruption in the food supply.

Or perhaps political issues had come to the fore and caused pressure and perhaps persecution from the Roman government that caused hardships for the churches of Jesus Christ.

Whatever it was, it affected the churches greatly. They were burdened with the heavy load this trial laid on them. But by God’s grace, “their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.”

There was something in the Macedonian believers that was even deeper than their poverty. It was their generosity. Paul says they gave as much as they could, and then went beyond that and gave even beyond their ability. How did they do that? How can one be generous even in poverty? It was by God’s grace. But Paul says there was something else at work in the lives of these believers.

These impoverished believers actually begged Paul for the privilege of assisting with a special offering for other believers whose needs were even greater than theirs. The focus of these believers was not on their impoverished situation. Paul says that first of all, they had given themselves “to the Lord.” Their focus was on Christ who had made them rich beyond their wildest imaginings.

Secondly, they had given themselves to the ministry of Paul. They were ardent supporters of what God was doing through the apostle. They knew it was God’s will that they encourage Paul in his work in any way they were able.

Paul mentioned all of this to encourage the Corinthian church in the matter of giving. They had shown that they excelled in so many areas - in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in earnestness and in love as kindled by Paul and his ministry. Paul’s message to them was simple. “See that you also excel in this grace of giving.”

It is important to note that Paul was not giving the believers a command in this matter of giving. He did not instruct them that they had to give at

Sep 6 - Problems Are For Losers 2 Cor 1:1-2:4
Sep 13 - The Old Ways Are Better 2 Cor 2:5-3:18
Sep 20 - Pie-In-The-Sky Religion Won’t Cut It 2 Cor 4:1-5:10
Sep 27 - I Have To Do It Myself 2 Cor 5:11-6:2
Oct 4 - God Doesn’t Want Me To Suffer 2 Cor 6:3-7:1
Oct 11 - Don’t Judge Me 2 Cor 7:2-16
Oct 18 - I Don’t Have Enough To Give It Away 2 Cor 8:1-9:5
Oct 25 - God Gave It To Me For Me 2 Cor 9:6-15
Nov 1 - I Take Pride in Myself 2 Cor 10:1-18
Nov 8 - You’re Okay, I’m Okay 2 Cor 11:1-15
Nov 15 - My Heritage Is Important 2 Cor 11:16-12:10
Nov 22 - Don’t Make a Fool of Yourself 2 Cor 12:11-21
Nov 29 - Don’t Tell Me What Not to Do 2 Cor 13:1-14
Classes taught by Tom Parsons at Maranatha Baptist church in Columbus, Ohio Sunday mornings at 9:30 am.

least ten percent of their income to support ministries. He was simply comparing what they were doing with what God had entrusted to them with what the Macedonian churches were doing with what God had entrusted to them.

He also cited the Lord Himself as an example of the grace of giving. Though Jesus was rich (after all, He created all things and thus owned all things), he chose poverty so that through his poverty, His people might become rich in the things that really count and last forever.

Paul was not demanding a large sum from the Corinthians; he was encouraging them to finish what they had started the year before according to their means. “For if the willingness is there,” he said, “the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what one does not have.”

Paul taught something here that is challenging for 21st century Christians because it suggests that an economic system generally rejected by the church is actually the preferred one. He says that his purpose is not that one should be impoverished by giving so that another might be enriched, but that both might be equal. “The goal is equality,” Paul said. Then he quoted the Old Testament book of Exodus. “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

This sounds, at least on the surface, like the economic theory proposed by Karl Marx, a theory now known to the world as Communism. Marx said that wealth should be taken from each one according to his ability, and given to each one according to his need.

So, was the Apostle Paul advocating Communism? Or, at least, the lesser form of Communism known as Socialism? Definitely not. The Bible does not endorse any particular economic system. Paul was not advocating that anyone be compelled by anyone to give anything to anyone. In a Communistic system, giving is mandatory and the amount prescribed by law.

Paul was advocating voluntary giving based not on compulsion, but on compassion and devotion to the Lord. One more thing was on Paul’s heart. The Macedonian churches had entrusted to Paul a large gift to be used to aid other impoverished believers. Paul felt a conviction to handle this gift in the wisest manner possible. “We want to avoid any criticism for the way we administer this liberal gift,” he said. He wanted to do what was right not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of others.

Christians are not encouraged to give out of what they do not have. They are encouraged to give out of what they do have. Christians are not encourage to give grudgingly. They are encouraged to give generously. Our giving is a reflection of our love for the Lord, our appreciation for what He has done for us, and of the compassion God by His grace puts in our hearts for the needs of others.

No one who serves Christ is compelled to give to the Lord’s work what he does not have.

Next: GOD GAVE IT TO ME FOR ME