PASTORING PRINCIPLES
2 Corinthians 8:8-12 (KJV)
I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.
Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.
For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
I would like to remind you that the passage we are currently working through is thoroughly about giving.
More specifically, about giving money.
It’s one of the most sensitive topics a preacher can approach.
When we start talking about a person’s pocketbook, that person generally begins to wiggle a bit in their seat.
And yet, it is clearly addressed in the Bible and therefore it is a Biblical responsibility to teach and preach on the subject.
I want to approach this little piece of the Bible this morning from the perspective of a professor and teach a bit of “Bible College Pastorology.”
We can see some principles within this text to help the preacher work through not just the subject of giving, but other sensitive Bible subjects as well.
Notice first
I. PAUL DID NOT COMMAND
2 Corinthians 8:8 (KJV)
I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.
The Apostle Paul, a man who obviously possessed authority, clearly told them that he was commanding them to do anything in this regard.
· Paul was not afraid to rebuke.
· He was willing to confront sin.
· He was ready to correct wrong.
But in this case, he said that he would not command them.
Rather, he used an opportunity, the need of the believers in Jerusalem, and the generosity of the believers in Macedonia, to prove or challenge their love for the Lord and His people.
· He was bold.
· But he wasn’t controlling.
I would suggest that men in spiritual leadership do best when they follow this pattern.
Secondly
II. PAUL USED CHRIST AS HIS EXAMPLE
2 Corinthians 8:9 (KJV)
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.
He used the Macedonians as an example too, but they were not his primary source.
I would argue that the Macedonians were led by the example of Christ so that, Christ is really the only example.
You might put it like this,
· This is what Jesus did “though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor…” and
· This is a list of those who did what Jesus did…. The Macedonians, etc.
Especially when the topic is a sensitive one, it is good principle to stay close to Jesus Christ.
Thirdly,
III. PAUL OFFERED ADVICE
2 Corinthians 8:10 (KJV)
And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.
Far from commanding, Paul gave advice.
The word advice has to do with, “counsel on a subject he has knowledge of.”
Two things about giving advice:
· I would suggest you not give it unless you are asked for it
· I would suggest you only give it if you are studied and knowledgeable in it.
Advice unsolicited will almost never be taken well.[1]
Advice on a subject you do not have expert knowledge in is just opinion – and that is very close to idle words.[2]
Number four,
IV. PAUL URGED THEM TO DO IT
2 Corinthians 8:11 (KJV)
Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.
It was not a command. Paul was quick to say so.
It was advice. But is would be expedient, and best if they would follow it.
Therefore, the Apostle Paul urged them to “perform the doing of it.”
Please do take anything I have said so far to mean that Paul was a milquetoast[3] type of preacher, or that preachers today ought to be milquetoast types of men.
Even the most casual reading of the New Testament shows that Paul was not that sort of man nor did he teach that other preachers ought to be.
Paul pressed them into action.
Finally,
V. PAUL YIELDED TO “FREE WILL”
2 Corinthians 8:12 (KJV)
For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
This is the great difference between religion and real Christianity.
Religion always forces.
Religion believes that men have to be made to comply.
It’s why the Catholics and later the Protestants are always married to the government, if they can be. They believe that people won’t obey the Lord unless there is sufficient force, that means an army, to make them obey the Lord.
Its why Martin Luther would not join the Baptists in Germany when the Pope excommunicated him. He did not believe their principle of individual soul liberty was practical. People, he believed, would not attend church, tithe, and observe the ordinances unless they were made to.
True Christianity operates on a different level because it presupposes its followers are new creatures.
You don’t need to make a sheep acts like a sheep because he is a sheep.[4]
[1] Proverbs 20:5 (KJV)
Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out.
Let people draw it out of you.
[2] Matthew 12:36 (KJV)
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
[3] Caspar Milquetoast was a comic strip character created in 1924 by the American cartoonist Harold T. Webster. The strip, called "The Timid Soul," ran every Sunday in the New York Herald Tribune for many years. Webster, who claimed that Milquetoast was a self-portrait, summed up the character as "the man who speaks softly and gets hit with a big stick." The earliest examples for Milquetoast used as a generic synonym for "timid person" date from the mid-1930s. Caspar's last name might remind you of "milk toast," a bland concoction of buttered toast served in a dish of warm milk
[4] But you’ll work yourself to death making a goat act like a sheep because he is not a sheep.
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