Diligence in the Details 2 Corinthians 8:16-24
How many people have had their hearts hardened to the message of Jesus because of the corruption of His followers? I’ve lost track of the number that I have met through the years. Their stories have broken my heart and at the same time caused me to be mindful of the fact that I am no different than those who failed them. Each and every one of us has within us the same potential for corruption that we read and hear about in the lives of the high profile who have suffered a public moral failure. More than 30 years ago, I was in Plano, Texas before coming to Oklahoma City. Three of the biggest names in American Christianity at the time, in the 1980s, were Billy Graham, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, and a local preacher named Robert Tilton whose church was in Farmers Branch, Texas. Two of the three were exposed and the name of Jesus was tarnished because of His followers. Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker had started the PTL Club which grew into a television program that was carried on 1,300 cable systems. Their ministry brought in $128 million dollars annually. In 1978, they opened a 2,300 acre Christian theme park, water park, and residential complex in South Carolina. Within eight years it was attracting 6 million people a year. It was America’s third most popular attraction behind Disneyland and Walt Disney World. In 1988, Jim Bakker was indicted on 24 federal charges and was convicted on all of them. Jim Bakker was keeping two sets of books when it came to the finances of the ministry. While he was pleading for people to give he was buying “his” and “her” Rolls Royces for himself and his wife. He bought homes all over the country. Jim’s thirst for a lavish lifestyle could not be quenched…until he was arrested. The Assistant United States Attorney, Jerry Miller, who prosecuted Jim Bakker said, “When Mr. Bakker started PTL it was designed as a place to love people. But as the money got enticing, he changed into a person who loved things and used people.” First Christian Church in Plano, Texas was just 25 minutes from Robert Tilton’s Word of Faith Family Church in Farmers Branch. The Dallas Fort Worth metroplex is known for its big, impressive churches, but none were being talked about like Word of Faith in the 80s. They couldn’t buy enough land or build a big enough building to accommodate all of the people who were coming. Robert Tilton built a school and a broadcasting studio. They brought in about $70 million dollars a year. Word of Faith and Robert Tilton were the talk of Dallas/Fort Worth and beyond. And then it all came crashing down. A man named Ole Anthony who preached to the homeless in Dallas and was also the president of the Trinity Foundation pulled back the curtain and the wizard of Farmers Branch was exposed. The people scattered as quickly as they had flooded into the church. The church buildings were eventually sold, torn down, and an ice skating complex was built. This morning, there are people ice skating where others once worshiped. Ole Anthony said, “I’m sad when any church goes away for the people who were sincere followers. In this case, the followers didn’t realize he wasn’t feeding the sheep, he was eating the sheep.” You would think that with such high profile failures, people would learn, but that, sadly, is not the case. Today, there continues to be an endless string of misappropriation of church funds. Two California nuns embezzled $500,000 from Catholic school tuition and other school funds to bankroll gambling trips to Las Vegas. A pastor in Darien, Connecticut was arrested for stealing $1.3 million dollars from his church to buy Cartier jewelry, a Jaguar, and tons of other luxury items. Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell, who was pastor of Houston’s Windsor Village Methodist Church and an adviser to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, is sitting in a prison cell this very morning. The prosecutor said Dr. Caldwell, “used his status as the pastor of a mega-church to help convince the many victim investors that they were making a legitimate investment, but instead he took their hard-earned money from them and used it for his own personal gain.”These are all such horrible stories. Well meaning people who gave their hard earned money for the purpose of ministry had their money used for personal gain by wolves in sheep's clothing. They are horrible stories, but what you and I need to focus on this morning are not the stories of failure from the past, but the lesson for us today. Let’s read our Scripture for this morning and see what we can learn. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians 8:16-24.
16 Thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. 17 For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. 18 And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. 19 What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. 20 We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. 21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man. 22 In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and co-worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ. 24 Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it. (2 Corinthians 8:16-24 NIV)
There are two things which we need to keep before us as we begin our study of these verses this morning. First, we need to remember that Paul was collecting money from the churches he worked with for the church in Jerusalem that was experiencing a very difficult time because of persecution and a famine. Second, the church in Corinth had some folks that were suspicious of Paul. False teachers had come in from outside the church and were working to undermine Paul’s ministry. They had several negative things to say about Paul, but one thing that irritated them was the fact that he refused to accept payment from the church for his work with them. Paul wasn’t against preachers being paid, but he chose to pay his own way. Instead of appreciating Paul’s sacrifice, the Corinthians condemned Paul for not accepting their financial support. There is no doubt that some of those who opposed Paul were spreading rumors that Paul was dipping into the offering for Jerusalem to pay his bills. These two important facts are important for us to consider as we study these verses. Now, let’s go back to our Scripture for this morning. In Paul’s letter, he is informing the people in Corinth that he is sending three men who will help with carrying their offering to the church in Jerusalem. First of all there is Titus. In verses 16-17, Paul writes
16 Thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. 17 For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. (2 Corinthians 8:16-17 NIV)
Paul says that Titus has the same “concern” for the church in Corinth that Paul has. The Greek word translated “concern” is “??????” (spoud?) and it means “eagerness, diligence, haste, or zeal.” Titus was more than concerned, in the way that most of us would be concerned. His concern led him to action, action that included a bulldog tenacity that refused to let go of the task God had given him. Peter uses this same Greek word in 2 Peter 1:5. Let’s back up to 2 Peter 1:3 and begin reading from there.
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. (2 Peter 1:3-7 NIV)
God has given us everything we need to live a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by his own glory and goodness…So “make every effort,” be diligent in your walk with the Lord, be eager to live the life He has called us to live, serve Him, love them, and share the Good News with an unquenchable zeal. Where does this kind of diligence, zeal, and tenacity come from? Is it something we can muster up, is there a conference we can attend to stoke the fires? Paul says, “Thanks be to God, who put it into the heart of Titus…” What if you are listening to me right now and you realize that you do not have that kind of zeal for the Lord and His people? Are you just out of luck? Not at all, remember, the passion and diligence didn’t come from Titus, it came from God. We must go to God, cry out to God, continue to seek Him and He will give us the eagerness to serve Him and His people just like He did Titus. Remember, Titus had already been to Corinth to help smooth things over between the church and Paul and now he was ready to go again to help them complete the offering. Paul, I’m certain, had asked Titus about going back to Corinth, but Paul tells the church that Titus was heading their way with “much enthusiasm” and “on his own initiative.” Oh, can you imagine the impact we could have on our neighborhood and our city if we possessed “much enthusiasm” and sought to be a blessing “on our own initiative,” without being asked or begged? Titus wasn’t the only one going to Corinth to help with the offering. There were two other men, nameless men to us, they were highly respected men to the brothers and sisters in Christ. We can learn about them in 2 Corinthians 8:18-19; 22. Read it with me.
18 And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. 19 What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. 22 In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. (2 Corinthians 8:18-19; 22 NIV)
There have been lots of ideas about who the two nameless men could have been; Luke, Barnabas, Apollos, Gaius or Aristarchus, who we read in Acts 19:29 were Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia. We could spend the rest of our time discussing ideas, but the truth is there is no way to know. What we do know is this first guy, “the brother,” was “praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel.” When Paul says “all of the churches,” he means the churches in that area: Macedonia, Achaia, and Asia. We can also learn that this man was not chosen by Paul, but he was chosen by the churches to go along with the men who would deliver the offering to Jerusalem. The Greek word for “chosen” is a technical term for being elected by the raising of hands. In verse 22, we can learn that the third man who was traveling to Corinth, was a man “who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous…” Like Titus, in verses 16-17, this man was eager to serve, he was zealous about helping the church in Corinth with their offering to the brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. I’ve been around long enough to know that passion, zeal, and being gifted are wonderful, but those traits alone can get a person in lots of trouble. Paul says this second brother had been tested. I like the Christian Standard Bible’s translation of this verse. It reads,
22 We have also sent with them our brother. We have often tested him in many circumstances and found him to be diligent-- and now even more diligent because of his great confidence in you. (2 Corinthians 8:22 CSB)
The Greek word for “tested” in this verse is “????????” (dokimaz?) and it means “to test, examine, scrutinize to see whether a thing is genuine or not.” We don’t have any idea how Paul and others had tested this man’s spiritual maturity and integrity, but we can know that he had passed the test. Jesus told those who were listening to Him,
10 "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (Luke 16:10-11 NIV)
This third man traveling to help the church in Corinth had been tested and he had passed the test time and time again. Most Bible teachers believe that these two men were Gentiles and not Jews and they were men from Macedonia and not Jerusalem. It must have been a big offering, but surely one man would have been able to take it to Jerusalem. Why three? That is such an important question. The answer is found right in the verses we are studying this morning. Go back with me to verse 19 and let’s read 19-21 together once again. This time you see if you can identify why Paul went to such lengths to involve three men in the collection and delivery of the offering to Jerusalem.
19 What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. 20 We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. 21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man. (2 Corinthians 8:19-21 NIV)
I have read these verses time and time again this week and thought about our own church. I’ve found three important phrases, all of them having to do with how the gift was to be administered or delivered. See if you noticed the same three in these verses.
The gift was to be delivered in a way that honored the Lord.
The gift was to be delivered in a way that avoided any criticism.
The gift was to be delivered in a way that was right in the eyes of the Lord and in the eyes of people.
If I were to hold a training session for the Stewardship Committee of our church I would highlight these three truths over and over again. Those who are in charge of administering the gifts given to this church for ministry should do so with the intent of honoring the Lord, avoiding criticism, and doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord and in the eyes of the people of this church. Paul went to great lengths to guard the integrity of the offering and to avoid any criticism about the way he was handling things. As we have read these verses, have you noticed how Paul has distanced himself from the offering? Back in Paul’s first letter to this church, he wrote to them about this offering for the church in Jerusalem. Listen to this.
1 Now about the collection for the Lord's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. 2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made. 3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem. 4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me. (1 Corinthians 16:1-4 NIV)
Paul would not be present when the offering was collected. He didn’t want anyone to feel pressure because of his presence. Paul would give letters to the men who would carry the offering to Jerusalem. If the church felt it was necessary for Paul to go then the men would accompany him. Paul paid incredible attention to the details so that there would not even be a hint of impropriety. I learned a valuable lesson many years ago from a friend in ministry. He told me to never be involved in money matters with the church for two reasons. First, those who handle money with no accountability will eventually give in to temptation. He said, “People will trust you because you are the pastor, but never trust yourself.” Never trust yourself. That’s great advice. At the beginning of our study I told you there were three prominent figures in Christianity in America back in the 80s. Two of them crashed and burned and left many followers asking all kinds of questions. The third was Billy Graham. No one underwent greater public scrutiny than Billy Graham and yet no evidence ever turned up. Why is that? Well, as Billy’s ministry began to grow, he formed a board of Christian businessmen to handle all of the money. They put everyone in his organization on a salary, and the organization’s books and Billy’s personal finances were audited annually and the records made public. Billy removed himself from all matters pertaining to money and the result was that his organization was a model of integrity.There was a second piece of advice I was given regarding church finances when I was much younger. Here it is: Avoid the temptation to find out what the people of the church give. If you know what people are giving you are sure to treat them differently. In the typical church those who give the most money are treated better than others. At the same time, if you know someone has a lot of money and then you find out that those living off social security are giving more, then you are sure to feel bitterness towards them. If you don’t know what people give you have a better chance of treating everyone the same. It was great advice.Paul went to great lengths to do what was right in the eyes of God and in the eyes of people. Paul was looked down on by some in Corinth and there is no doubt that if we are faithfully following Jesus we will be looked down upon by others at times also. In Paul’s first letter to the church he wrote,
11 To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. 12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; 13 when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world-- right up to this moment. (1 Corinthians 4:11-13 NIV)
Paul was willing to be mistreated for the sake of the Gospel, but he was not willing for his behavior to bring shame on the name of Jesus or the cause of Christ. David Garland wrote,
The gospel may be scandalous, but his behavior and sincerity must be exemplary to both believers and unbelievers. Too often Christians have brought discredit to themselves and to the Christian faith in the eyes of the world by mishandling donations through fraud or by receiving disproportionately high salaries for their ‘service’ in the gospel. Paul is sensitive to any charges that he might be guilty of corruption. He therefore bends over backwards to keep everything open and public and to avoid the slightest impression of any self-seeking in all of his ministry, especially with regard to a collection of a substantial sum of money. (Garland, David. 2 Corinthians. pg. 394.)
That’s golden and it has application for each and every one of us here this morning regardless of whether or not you are on the stewardship committee, on staff at this church, or work in another ministry in town. Here’s the application for everyone here who is not working in some ministry position. Fraud, embezzlement, and the misappropriation of funds are a growing problem in the church, but they are an even greater problem in society. Employee fraud cases have skyrocketed according to Business News Daily. 46% of businesses reported that they had experienced fraud in the past 24 months. 57% of the cases investigated occurred with the help of an employee. The list of examples of fraud in our society is so long, but I’m running out of time. Tax fraud, insurance fraud, imposter fraud, etc. are all ways that people are taking advantage of others to line their own pockets. Don’t think these crimes are just committed by unbelievers. When we fail to pay attention to the details and go to great lengths to preserve the integrity of how we handle finances, we are tarnishing the name of our Savior and our witness to an unbelieving world. We should steward the resources the Lord has entrusted to us in a way that honors Him, avoids criticism from those who would like to discredit our faith, and is right in the eyes of the Lord and in the eyes of people. Just one more thing before we go. I don’t think we have it in ourselves to live this kind of life. I’m convinced that we need help in this area of our life just like we need help in every other area of our life. Our testimony is not simply how God saved us, it is also how God is molding us and conforming us to the image of His Son in every area of our lives. There is a watching world looking on…what do they see? We want them to see the honesty, integrity, and purity of our King. Mike HaysBritton Christian ChurchJuly 30, 2023