Therefore, as you abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that you abound in this grace also. I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love. (Second Corinthians 8:7-8)
As we shared in yesterday's blog post, there is a grace of giving and a gestalt of giving; that is, when the Spirit of God empowers us to give, there are other signs of Christian maturity that mark the sincere giver. Giving does not occur in a vacuum; it is part of a package of excellence. The above verses give us a breakdown of what a giver looks like.
As you abound...
The giving Christian gets more than a mere passing grade. Pastor Sam used the word "excellent" several times during the sermon. The giver is a person who demonstrates all-around excellence. Second Corinthians 8:7 provides a brief list of the areas in which such persons excel.
In every thing...
Well, the apostle Paul seems to leave no room for slacking off. What area of our life can be left out of "every thing"? I recently got a very unfortunate comment from a person who has been a Christian for almost forty-five years. In justification of holding on to anger, the person said that holding on to their personal feeling was more important than obeying God's command to forgive and to "not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity... Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger." (see Ephesians 4:26-27 and 4:31) If we are to abound in every thing, then we are to pursue excellence in every area of Christian living. God has not given us leeway to be less than 100% obedient to Him.
In faith...
As the apostle Paul digs deeper and begins picking out certain topics from the overarching umbrella of "every thing", he first details faith. The classic faith passage, Hebrews 11, is an excellent source for understanding what faith is and how faith is lived out in the lives of God's people. Earlier in Second Corinthians (5:7) Paul writes that "we walk by faith, not by sight". A sign of excellence is that we do what God says even when we can't see Him in our circumstance.
And utterance...
As Scripture informs us, "out of the mouth the heart speaks" (see Matthew 12:34-35; Luke 6:45). Our speech is a confession of our heart. The Christian in pursuit of excellence speaks words of comfort, blessing, encouragement, honor, fidelity, and love.
And knowledge...
In some popular cultures it is not fashionable to be intellectual. But, as we review these markers of excellence, we see that our intellect is not excluded from the list. God has said that we are to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). Paul exhorts us to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-12). Jesus, Holder of all knowledge, found it necessary and essential to obey His Father. We should do no less.
And in all diligence...
Other translations use the words enthusiasm, earnestness, dedication, carefulness, and zeal. The pursuit of excellence is something done with passion! It is neither obligation nor chore; it is a joy. What could the world become if all self-proclaimed Christians were passionate in their pursuit of God's desires?
And in your love to us...
Some translations expand this thought to say "the love from us that is in you." The excellent Christian is all about loving his fellow believers, loving the lost, loving his leaders, and loving his Lord. Paul, however, is specific in discussing the love relationship being laity and leadership. Our act of giving to the work of the Lord is an echo of the love our ministers have shown by obeying God and entering into full-time ministry as a service to Him and to us.
Paul ends this thought by saying a very curious thing in verse 8: "I am not commanding you." Though Paul is writing and has made a clear, sound, Biblical argument, he then steps back and says, in effect, that each believer is responsible to respond: not to Paul's words, but to the word of God. Or to say it another way, as much as we love our pastors, our ultimate task is to love God and obey His word. The truth is that if we obey God's word, we will certainly be a blessing to our leaders, to the body of Christ, and to the world. Part of that blessing is demonstrated by our joyful giving of ourselves and our substance to the work of God.
Are you in passionate pursuit of excellence?
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