Bible Guys Classics: 2 Corinthians 8

Hey, everybody, we're the Bibble guys, and if you're just

tuning in recently, just know that we are showing a

little bit of reruns for a few months and then

we'll be back bigger and better than ever on August

thirty first, because behind the scenes we're taking a hiatus

to do some very important things.

Yeah, we're building building out a new studio and we've

got some new structure. Super excited about it. So August

thirty first, brand new content. But in the meantime, enjoy

some of our greatest hits.

Well, today we're talking about the difference between being generous

and being stingy.

Yeah. Man, this whole book, Paul is thrown out some

big challenges and I think for many of us this

is the toughest one. Well them anyways. So he's Chris

and I'm Jeff, and we're the Bible guys. Okay, Chris,

So I have a segment that's right in your wheelhouse. Yes,

So I'm going to give you quotes from movies and

you have to tell me what movie it's from.

Just the movie, nothing, not the players.

Well, you can do whatever you want, but the movie

is the big part of it. Ok Just what movie

it's from. I'm not going I'm not gonna give you

much time.

So have you read these through just now?

Yeah? Yeah, I think you're going to know a few

of them, and then a couple of them that might

be more of a challenge. Oh, here we go, very

very quick.

I'm actually excited.

As fast as you can.

This is a speed thing.

As fast as you can.

Hear good.

I will make him an offer he can't refuse, no, godfather, Yes,

I knew that one.

And by the way, it's the horse's head, right.

That's right.

That's that's great.

Here's to looking at you, kid.

It's the black and white movie with the airplane Casablanco.

Okay, I've been to Casa Blanca. Sneak. We we ate

in his cafe. That's right.

That's right.

You guys, give up or you're thirsty for more.

Oh, I just saw this home alone, because I literally

just saw it like two days ago.

This one is easy. I think. Hello, my name is

a Ningolatoya.

My father prepared to die the Prince's pride, of course, Hello,

my name.

Is an It's such a funny character.

That's so great. We just stopped saying that.

That's right. I don't think that word means what you

think it means.

That's great.

There's no crying in baseball.

Oh jeez.

Uh, tom anks in a league of their own.

And after all, tomorrow is another day.

After all, tomorrow is I know this. After all, after all,

tomorrow is another day.

I know this.

It's an old movie. It's Clark Gable.

Gone with the Wind.

There you go, you nailed it.

Job.

Yes, a couple of those were layups for you, but

that one was. I thought that would be the challenge

for you. Yeah. Nice, nice, Yeah, it's how fun. Movie

quotes are fun. Although I will say you either love

or hate the Princess Bride, right, there's no neutravel neutral

opinions about the Pride.

Anybody who doesn't like it?

Oh, man, my daughter hates it. Oh if we want

to turn on? So we made. My daughter's boyfriend was

over and he'd never seen it, and so Bonnie and

I were like, oh, that's what we're watching tonight. And

you know, so he's sitting there laughing at it. But bydie,

I probably through the movie. We quoted, you know, oh

sure the line, sure, yeah, but people either love it

or hate it.

It's so quotable.

You know what I found that's also true with Avatar.

Oh really Yeah.

People either absolutely love it and think it's the best

thing in the world, or they just absolutely can't stand it.

And I've really run into a lot of people who

just can't stand it.

Wow, and I love it.

I thought that the second movie, by the way, was

really good.

Well, I didn't even finish the first one. O. Yeah,

well there is. I don't hate it.

I just there's a difference between you and me.

Yeah, I think so again amusement versus entertainment.

Well, I was totally engrossed in the whole thing.

Yeah, I thought it was fascinating. So amusement for me

has turned my brain off. I don't have to think

about it.

Although pretty much the first movie was just Pocahontas and

dances with wolves. Dances with wolves pretty much rolled up

into alien sci fire.

That's what it was. But it's okay.

It was still good, well good anyways, very interesting us

getting just a little glimpse into your vast treasury of

a library. Yeah, movie quotes. Yeah, so we're going to

read in second Grint is eight and this is I

think very useful passage for Christians, as you're trying to

think about balance in how you manage your resources and

how do you live out a generous life, And this

is one It's not the only passage where Paul talks

about wealth and setting aside caring for others, but it's

one of them and one of the key passages. And

there's a couple of key phrases that most Christians have

heard at one point or another. So sure, here we go.

In sec Critias, chapter eight, we'll just start in verse one.

It says, now I want you to know, dear brothers

and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through

the churches in Macedonia. They're being tested by many troubles,

and they're very poor, but they are also filled with

abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. For I

can testify that they gave not only what they could afford,

but far more than they did it of their own

free will. They begged us again and again for the

privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem.

They even did more than we had hoped for, For

their first action was to give themselves to the Lord

and to us, just as God wanted them to do. So,

we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the

first place, to return to you and encourage you to

finish this ministry at giving. Since you excel in so

many ways in your faith, your gifted speakers, your knowledge,

your enthusiasm, and your love from us, I want you

to excel also in this gracious act of giving. I'm

not commanding you to do this, but I am testing

how genuine your love is by comparing it with the

eagerness of the other churches. You know the grace of

our Lord Jesus Christ, though he was rich, yet for

your sakes he became so that by his poverty he

could make you rich. Here's my advice. It would be

good for you to finish what you started a year ago.

Last year, you were the first who wanted to give,

and you were the first to begin doing it. Now

you should finish what you started. Let the eagerness you

showed in the beginning be matched now by your giving.

Give in proportion to what you have. Whatever you give

is acceptable if you give it eagerly and give according

to what you have, not what you don't have. Of course,

I don't mean your giving should make life easy for

others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there

should be some equality. Right Now, you have plenty and

can help those who are in need. Later they will

have plenty and can share with you when you need it.

In this way things will be equal. As the scriptures say,

those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and

those who gathered only little had enough. But thank God

He's given Titus the same enthusiasm for you that I have.

Titus welcomed our request that he visit you again. In fact,

he himself was very eager to go and see you.

We are also sending another brother with Titus. All the

churches praise him as a preacher of the good news,

appointed by the churches to company us as we take

the offering to Jerusalem, a service that glorifies the Lord

and shows our eagerness to help. We are traveling together

to guard against any criticism for the way we're handling

this generous gift. We're careful to be honorable before the Lord,

but we also want everyone else to see that we

are honorable. We're also sending with them another of our brothers,

who has proven himself many times and has shown on

many occasions, how eager he is, He's now even more

enthusiastic because of his great confidence in you. If anyone

asks about Titus, say that he's my partner who works

with me to help you. And the brothers with him

have been sent by the churches, and they bring honor

to Christ. So show them your love and prove to

all the churches that are boasting about you is justified. Yeah,

well there you go. So he's sending Titus. I love.

Let's cover this back end first. I love the fact

that he's being very, very he's choosing to be accountable.

I mean, he's Apostle Paul. He can do whatever he

wants to do. Sure, but he chooses to say, Hey,

we're traveling together so that nobody has any questions how

we're using these resources. We're traveling together so that we're

treating this gift from the people as a gift from God,

and we're going to be as transparent and open and

as protective of it as possible. And I think that

there's something to be said for Christians to go above board.

So you know, people's opinions of us don't matter, but

they do matter, right they shouldn't We shouldn't do everything

based on other people's opinions, but we should work hard

to make sure that our good name and our reputation

is good. A Book of Proverbs says that a good

name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and

so protecting your name is important.

Yeah, that's awesome.

And I think that all of these you know, tidbits,

these little nuggets about about giving is pretty awesome. And

you know, the thing that actually stands out to me,

I mean, there's obviously a lot that stands up, but

is that said that they begged us again and again

for the privilege of sharing in the gift for all

the believers in Jerusalem.

They just said, please let us be a part of this.

This blame.

You know, when somebody goes out of their way and

they just they want to give. It reminds me, honestly

every time of my wife, because she is the gift

of giving. It's when you take a spiritual test, you know,

her gift of giving is up there, and man, she

just absolutely loves it.

And so I'll give you a quick little example.

So Christmas just ended right, and and we ended up,

you know, opening up everything under the tree and to

be honest with you, it wasn't There wasn't a ton

I mean, like we had enough obviously. It wasn't like

you know, I remember Christmas is in the past where

it was a lot, a lot bigger.

When kids a little, their boxes tend to be bigger.

Yes, yes, okay.

Well, Liz had actually spent money sending gifts like to

Ohio to all of our relatives, you know, just buying

for people and doing for people. And and she came

over to me at the end of the evening one

night and she gave me a big kiss and she

said thank you, And I said what she said, thank you,

thank you for letting me buy for everyone, And she

just got so much joy. And the fact that she

was like, oh, it's like the best gift I could

have given her was to let her spend all my

money to give it away for everybody else, right, And

it reminds me of It's like at least.

Somebody enjoys it, right, right, right, It's like let me,

I'm begging you, let us be a blessing.

And you know, it's just great.

You know. We I'm a part of an organization, the

Timothy Initiative. I'm on the board and we plant churches

all around the world. There's tens of thousands of church

planters and in thirty something countries, and we needed to

have a gathering of the top leaders in the world.

We needed to get them all together. And for the

last several years we've set a goal not just to

fundraise from the US, but also the fundraise from the field,

to invite all these new churches that were starting to

also participate in this wonderful act of giving, to teach

them to be generous. And so we set a goal

and all that well, one of the poorest countries on

the planet, maybe one of the bottom two or three

in the world, is Nepal per household, one of the

poorest countries in the world. And it was the Napali

church leaders who stepped up and said, we want to

fund this event in Dubai where we are a blessing

to all the other nations in the world that are

also trying to start churches. And so they raised a

couple hundred thousand dollars among the Nepali people, which in

America would be millions upon millions of dollars, right, and

these people delighted in the fact that they could serve

all these other church leaders and church planters around the

world for the purpose of the whole purpose behind that

meeting was to strategize on how to get a church

in every for every people in every place. And they

knew what it was and they knew the importance of it,

and they said we and they kept pushing. So we

kept saying no, well you these resources in other ways,

and they were like, no, we want to help fund

this event, and they delighted in it, and they kept

pushing until finally they got their way and they were

able to fund this. And so it was really neat

because I sat right behind the Nepali delegation in this meeting,

and there's people in all of their native dress all over,

the Africans and the Asians, and so colorful, and the

worship the worship band was like five or six different

nations languages, and so they'd lead worship in different languages,

and everybody's praying, everybody's celebrating in different ways. But the

Nepalis were sitting right in front of me, and they

were celebrating on a level that nobody else was even

close to. It was a delight to watch. Well, it

was because they were so invested. Oh yeah, and so

they were delighted in it. And so he says, it's

a privilege. I think sometimes we set the bar low

for other Christians where we don't ask for a lot

from them as far as volunteering or giving or whatever.

And he's saying, it's a great privilege. And when these

Macedonians were so poor realized we get to be a

part of that. It's a privilege, then they jumped in

and they got to be a part of what God

was doing by set making some sacrifices.

You know, I'm sure it was a difficult thing for

you and the other leaders to you know, we we

have more resources than they do. It would have been

easier for us to you know, to write the check,

write the check, gather resources ourselves and say, oh, we'll

just take care of it, because obviously we have more

than they do, and you know, much more than they do.

But in order to say, listen, whether it's the widow

with two mites, right, you know in the scripture that

just you know, gives in the offering play, or whether

it's the rich man who gives up his wealth, that

isn't the point Jesus never talked about equal giving. He

talked about equal sacrifice. He talked about equal you know,

you know, just the attitude of giving of what you had.

And you know, there's a note in here in my

Life Application Study Bible that actually talks about it.

Says, the topic of.

Fun raising is not one to be avoided and one

that should embarrass us. But fundraising efforts should be planned

and conducted responsibly. Like Paul, we should be guided in

these practices when it comes to raising money. And this

is really what you guys were providing for the people

to experience. So he says, as leaders, we need number one,

be persistent, trusting God to provide, and then it lists

all the different verses that we just covered. Provide information,

show the definite purpose of the goal. Be dedicated to God,

Be enthusiastic, be generous yourself. As leaders, have someone to

keep things moving. Act with honesty and integrity before God

and others. Be accountable, and then let people give willingly.

Believe it or not.

Every single principle that I just read through is in

you can find in the passages that we just read,

and then bleeding in the chapter number nine, which is

really cool, because again Paul is modeling for us not

only to give, but also what it means to inspire

others to give as well.

You know, there were traveling with us on that trip.

There were ten men and women business people who could

have funded that whole thing. Among them, probably from this

month's extra money, right, some very wealthy business people that

were with us on this trip. And one of the

men came and said, I think I'm going to write

a check back to the Nepalis and refund their money.

And I said, look at how they're celebrating and their joy.

Don't steal their joy. Instead, let's let us make sure

that this is not a waste of their money, right,

because what they were doing is they were investing. This

was not just a vacation. This was not just a

nice little get together where we're going to have some

nice food in a beautiful environment. This was we are

strategizing to move the Kingdom of God forward. And it's

worth that investment. Our extreme sacrifice is worth it. And

so I told the rest of these people, let's just

make sure we don't waste their investment. Let's instead take

this investment and multiply it twentyfold. One hundredfold and then

it'll be worth it. Then we'll all celebrate. And so

those businessmen quickly changed their opinion in their mind, and

they did. They stepped up, and you know, we're partnering

to plant tens of thousands churches together as a result

of this. So it wasn't just a sacrifice for the

sake of sacrificing. It was a sacrificial investment so that

they would see a greater return. And then in that

there's the joy of it, there's the privilege of it.

There's the expectation that God's people would make sacrifices to

move his kingdom forward. That's an expectation of Paul's writings.

I think of the church in general, is that we

would sacrifice in order to move God's kingdom forward. And

when we talk about moving is king forward, that means

so that everybody everywhere can hear the Gospel and experience

the love of Jesus.

That's incredible. Hey, let's talk about this verse and verse

number nine. It says, you know, the generous grace of

our Lord Jesus Christ, and it talks about Jesus himself

and he says though he was rich, yet he for

your sakes became poor so that by his poverty he

could make you rich.

Yeah, that's an interesting passage.

Yeah, because you would think it faced value that he's

talking about money. Yeah, right, you know, Jesus being rich and.

Poor and everything else.

But the life application study about But I'm just want

to read the first couple of sentences on that notation.

It says, the Gospels don't indicate that Jesus was any

poorer than most first century Palestinians. Rather, Jesus became poor

by giving up his rights as God and becoming human,

and the incarnation God voluntarily became man and holy human

person of Jesus of Nazareth. So the interpretation that of

this verse about being rich and becoming poor isn't necessarily

dollars or cents.

Yeah, I think that traditionally within the Church, there's always

been this passage and then the one where Jesus says,

the son of Man doesn't have anywhere to lay his head,

right right, those two passages, people have kind of taken

it out of context and said, oh, Jesus was poor,

and so his followers, his leaders, should also be poor.

And I don't know that there's any evidence that Jesus

was poor, he just wasn't a homeowner, right, there's a

difference between those two things. And so he didn't at

least during those three years of his ministry. So you know,

we don't know. Prior to that, he would have probably

inherited Joseph's family, you know, situation, whatever that would be.

But as far as him traveling during the three years

of his ministry, he didn't have a home.

And by the way, he had a job. He was

a carpenter.

Yeah, that's right, right, that's right, so he can provide

for himself if he needed to. All of those things

in the first thirty years, it doesn't there's no demonstration

that they were overly poor or any more poor than

the first century of Palestinians. And then you know, Jesus

had some friends that had significant resources. Peter was a

business owner. We know where his home was. His home

was fairly substantial. It wasn't a mansion, but he was okay, well, his.

Home in Capernaum was larger than the homes around it.

So if you visit which we're going to we're going

to Israel in May, yeah, so you'll see it.

Yeah.

But when I when I.

Was there they had built a church directly above Peter's

home because well, you know, just just because and and anyway,

But the point is is that you know, the thatched rus.

They're all gone.

So really what you see in the city of Capernaum

is you see sort of the walls. So they excavated this,

you know, little tiny village really is what it is.

And you see the walls of these homes and they're.

Not very big at all. I mean, they're probably.

The whole home is like a master's suite in a

bedroom right compared to today. But Peter's home was bigger,

which means that and this is where they believe that

Jesus healed Peter's mother in law, sure when he came over.

But anyway, all that to say, Peter was a business owner. Yeah,

he probably had more wealth than you know, probably anybody

in Capernaum.

Well it mentions his boats plural, the other fishermen that

were with him. Then you've got James and John and

their dad with the other boats that mentioned. So these

guys were at least business type people. Matthew was a

tax collector. He had a bunch of money, and tax

collectors were wealthy people, right, usually. Now we don't know

how deep into his career he was, but you used

to have to buy the right to be a tax collector,

which means you had to have resources even get started. Yes,

zach Chius came and was generous. You had the women

that you know come to visit him in the in

the garden. We do know that there's multiple women that

helped fund jesus ministry very generously. Uh. Jesus was when

he when he was put to death, he was wearing

a robe that was valuable enough that the Roman soldiers

gambled over it. It doesn't say that they were gambling

over the thieves clothes, but they were gambling over Jesus clothes.

So the fact that he didn't own a home during

those three years or have a specific place that he

was traveling to and from all the time doesn't mean

that he necessarily was poor. This is talking about he

was unlimited in heaven, right he was, and instead he

limited himself to time and place. He limited himself into

a human body during that time, and then he had

to deal with then all the things that the human

body deals with, hunger and pain and sadness and all

these things, and so he was in the riches and

the glory of heaven down to the poverty of Earth,

and you know, this should kind of inspire us just

a little bit. The reverse of this is we are

currently in the poverty of this planet, even on the

best days. You know, We've had some great days in

my life, and I think back, Oh, man, I was

watching the movie the other night and I saw a

landscape of a place I've been, and it just kind

of made my heart leap and I went, Man, that

place is beautiful, and I loved that day. It was incredible. Okay,

that's great. This is the poverty of earth even on

our best days, and the glory and the riches of

eternity far exceed anything that we could achieve here. So

he was in those riches and he came to this

poor planet. Someday he made it possible for us now

to leave the poverty of this planet and go to

the riches of eternity. You know.

It is not unlike where Paul talks about in the

Church the Philippi Philippians too, where he basically uses the

idea that Jesus was equal with God and he was born,

you know, and then became you know, a servant to

human humanity and things like this, became obedient to death.

And what he's doing is he's using the birth of Jesus,

of him leaving Heaven coming to earth. And then, if

you remember, he says, in your relationships with one another,

have the same mindset as Christ Jesus in verse five.

And here's what he's saying.

He's saying, like Jesus is leaving Heaven, sets an example

as an example visual aid of your relationships to submit.

And have that mindset.

Well, this is what he's saying here too. He's saying, listen,

sometimes you need to give in your wealth for the

benefit of others so that they may give back to

you and you need it. And then he says, hey,

Jesus had everything and then he gave up everything were

you so that you might have everything. So use this

idea as as a pattern to give to others.

That wonderful. That's wonderful.

So I think that's probably a great place to end,

and we will catch you next time on the Bible.

Guys,