Did you hear the news?  One church was struggling—literally in the midst of famine.  And yet another church, which was not doing so hot itself, took up a special offering for the church experiencing famine.  It’s described like this:

                  Fierce troubles came down on the people of those churches, pushing them to the very limit. The trial exposed their true colors: They were incredibly happy, though desperately poor. The pressure triggered something totally unexpected: an outpouring of pure and generous gifts. I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could—far more than they could afford!—pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians.

                  This was totally spontaneous, entirely their own idea, and caught us completely off guard. What explains it was that they had first given themselves unreservedly to God and to us. The other giving simply flowed out of the purposes of God working in their lives.

                  What’s the response to believers who live so radically?  It might be summarized with an appropriate challenge for us to live that way as well:

            You do so well in so many things—you trust God, you`re articulate, you`re insightful, you`re passionate, you love us—now, do your best in this, too.

                 I`m not trying to order you around against your will. But by bringing in [this Church’s] enthusiasm as a stimulus to your love, I am hoping to bring the best out of you. You are familiar with the generosity of our Master, Jesus Christ. Rich as he was, he gave it all away for us—in one stroke he became poor and we became rich.

Of course, you know the rest of the story.  It’s the story of the Macedonian Church found in II Corinthians 8—The Message.

Bill High

Bill is CEO & Founder of Vyne Legacy. He works with families to equip them with tools to build multigenerational legacies, and he teaches givers and financial advisers on transformational biblical generosity. He is the co-author with David Green of Giving It All Away and Getting It All Back Again: The Way of Living Generously.

Published January 28, 2011

Topics: Generosity

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