Week 1 – A promised pledge

Sacred Insight: Context
As you read, look for answers to these questions: What is the context of this scripture? Who wrote it? Who is speaking? At what point in time? Who is the audience? Why?

Sometimes I wonder if 2 Corinthians 9:7 strikes fear in the hearts of pastors around the world. I mean, what man of the cloth actually enjoys asking their congregation for money?  Let’s face it, people are pretty touchy about the subject.  In truth, people are touchy about anything they fear losing. And people fear losing the things they’ve made idols out of, the most.

Can’t take criticism?  You’ve probably made an idol of your reputation and fear losing it. Can’t handle another girl so much as looking at your boyfriend? You’ve probably elevated her to Demi-god status and live in fear that you’ll lose her.  On and on it goes – our worldly idols leading us by the hand into the realm of fear and trepidation… and money is right up there on the list of human idols.

So it’s no wonder the Bible talks so much about money. Jesus was known for talking about things no one else wanted to address.
 
Our 2 Corinthians passage is one of those very verses and its focus is on the idea of giving – specifically giving to those in need.  
 
The book of 2 Corinthians was a letter written by Paul to the church in Corinth. The church had promised to collect and send a donation to the poor in Jerusalem and Paul was like a proud dad of the church. He’d been bragging about the Church’s generous intentions to give to the people in Macedonia, where he was currently writing this letter. The promised generosity of the Church in Corinth had not only made Paul proud, but had spurred its recipients – the people of Macedonia to begin giving, as well.
 
And now, Paul was ready to begin collecting and handing out those promised donations. So here he is, reminding the people of Corinth that they had made this pledge to give and urging them to put their money where their mouths were – and be generous in the process.
 
Paul started out by urging the people of Corinth to resist being stingy and to give generously.

2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

Notice that the very next verse qualifies that generosity, though.

2 Corinthians 9:7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

So we see that Paul is reminding the people to, as always, be earnest and sincere in whatever they do for the sake of God’s Kingdom. As the Gospel repeatedly teaches, everything should flow from what God has first done for us and given to us. So, with sincere hearts, we should respond to His generosity with our own generosity toward others. We should do these things because our personal cup is overflowing with God’s love and we are compelled to share it, not because it is an obligation or rule.
 
Why is this important in the context of our verse? Don’t forget about the rigidity that the followers of God had recently come from in Paul’s day. Many of them had emerged from a strict religious culture that worshiped God’s Laws nearly more than God, himself. 
Instead of guiding and teaching the people to have a heart for God, the rules had become the very thing of worship and focus. Paul didn’t want the Corinthians to make this same mistake with money.
 
In our scripture, Paul is reminding the people in Corinth that they weren’t being forced or guilted into giving. This wasn’t about wagging a finger in anyone’s face but reminding them to let whatever they give come from their own hearts, not by the requirements of others.
 

Like the church in Corinth, we’ve inherited certain ideas about money and giving, too. Some of us come from family backgrounds where spending was done extremely cautiously and conservatively. Others of us grew up believing money was meant to be spent freely. It’s important to understand our own relationship with money in order to evaluate whether our giving is coming from a pure and Godly heart. Only once we know where our attitudes with money are coming from can we determine whether we are giving with a generous and cheerful heart.

What is the context of this scripture? Who wrote it? Who is speaking? At what point in time? Who is the audience? Why?

Reread our scripture and think about how the Corinthians or us today, could misinterpret this verse about giving?

How does your experience or family background influence your own giving?

Are you a naturally generous person? What makes you that way?

Live It Out:

  • See if you have any of the following: A study Bible, index in the back of your Bible, concordances, historical timelines, etc. What contextual information can you can dig up about the author, the time in history in which it was written, what was going on in the lives of its recipients, etc. Pick any contextual element that interests you and find out more.