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“Sacrifical Giving Not Required”
Categories: Bulletin Articles, Clay Gentry
When we examine the Macedonian believers (specifically Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea), a remarkable characteristic emerges: despite their poverty, they were incredibly generous. Perhaps you’ve heard it taught that their “sacrificial” giving serves as a model for believers to follow. “You’re not really giving unless it hurts” is the idea conveyed. Yet, the apostle Paul reveals something far more profound about their giving. “For they according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints – and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us” (2 Cor 8:3-5).
Did you catch that? Paul didn’t demand sacrificial giving in the way it’s sometimes taught. Their extraordinary generosity wasn’t forced or grudging (cf. 2 Cor 9:7). He expected the poor Macedonians to contribute, yes, but they went far beyond that. In fact, they literally begged Paul for the favor of giving beyond their means! Moved by their earnest plea, he finally accepted their astonishing offering. The apostle’s focus wasn’t on the pain of the sacrifice but on the heart of the giver. The ultimate starting point for all giving isn’t the amount, but the heart that is first given to the Lord.
Despite their differing circumstances, Paul didn’t expect the Achaens (Corinth, Cenchrea, and Athens) to give sacrificially either. Unlike their poorer countrymen to the north, the Achaean churches were situated in the prosperous southern part of Greece. Generally speaking, they were people of greater means, and Paul specifically urged them to give out of their abundance. He wrote, "I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of fairness your abundance at the present time should supply their need, so that their abundance also may supply your need, that there may be fairness” (2 Cor 8:13-14). Paul wasn’t asking the Achaeans to give beyond their means to the point of personal deprivation; he was simply asking them to share from their surplus to meet the urgent needs of the saints in Jerusalem.
What unites these two diverse examples – the Macedonians’ joyous giving from poverty and the Corinthians’ expected giving from plenty – is not a prescribed level of material sacrifice, but the underlying foundation: a life given first to God. In both cases, the giving was to be a willing, cheerful outflow of a heart devoted to the Lord (cf. 2 Cor 9:7).
This foundational surrender to God is what transforms all our acts of giving, whether of time, talent, or treasure. It’s not merely about the amount given or the pain felt, but the heart from which it flows – a heart made willing and cheerful because it has been captivated by Christ. As Jesus taught, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mat 6:21). When our heart is fully given to God, our resources joyfully follow.
