Handling and Administering God's Money - Study 4/26/12
Handling and Administering God’s Money
The headline this week reads: Small Town Treasurer arrested in Staggering $30 million Theft. “Rita Crundwell was a familiar face in Dixon , Illinois , a sleepy town of 15,000 where Crundwell also worked, managing the town's finances for about 30 years. But on Tuesday, federal authorities arrested the 58-year-old civil servant, accusing her of stealing $30 million in taxpayer funds in the past six years. The FBI was tipped by the city's mayor to the comptroller's suspected malfeasance. Crundwell's arrest leaves many Dixon residents wondering how she might have managed such a feat in a town as small as Dixon . Crundwell allegedly used money stolen from the town treasury to fund a lavish lifestyle, which included the purchase of a 2009 Liberty Coach motor home for $2.1 million, a 2009 Kenworth T800 tractor truck for nearly $150,000, as well as two more trucks and a horse trailer for hundreds of thousands of dollars more”.
How could this happen? There were no checks and balances. Crundwell managed everything. She was in charge. Even the auditors could not find her secrets. But it has unraveled. This can happen and do happen in the Church. When it happens, unfortunately we do not call it what it is. We call it prosperity of the preacher in charge - the owner and founding pastor; the one who started the church, the Bishop, the GO (the General Overseer). In today’s church, Judas Iscariot would be described as prosperous. The money was flowing and he could buy whatever he wanted. He was in charge of the treasury. He was a thief.
Paul tells the Corinthians, “20 We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. 21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men” (2 Corinthians 8:21). Did you hear that? There must be accountability in the eyes of God and also of men. God sees all our money transactions. Hopefully, we are making the money God's way and not stealing even with the pen.
How do we manage God’s money? We all have been entrusted with God’s money and wealth. The responsibility for stewardship is both at the individual and then corporate levels. What ever we have is not ours and all of it has been received by the grace of God.
May we give out of the “indescribable gift” of grace that we have received.
2 Corinthians 8: 16-24:
16 I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. 17 For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. 18 And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. 19 What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. 20 We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. 21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.
22 In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ. 24 Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
2 Corinthians 9
1 There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the saints. 2 For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. 3 But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to say anything about you—would be ashamed of having been so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given.
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”[a]
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have:
1.Paul had trust in Titus to go Corinth and to collect the money from the Corinthian Church . In as much as Paul trusted and believed in Titus, for the sake of men, he is sending Titus and another trusted well known brother to accompany Titus. “22 In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you” vs. 22. We must do all we can to be above reproach when it comes to the handling of God’s money.
2.Paul continues his encouragement of the Corinthians to really carry out what they had intended to do from beginning. In essence no one is forcing them to give because God loves a cheerful giver and not a grudging giver. God does not need our money; we are the ones who need God. Our giving must reflect our gratitude for His grace which we have freely received.
3.Notice that our giving will bring thanksgiving and glory to God when other lives and people are blessed and their needs met. 12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else” vs.12-13. Paul also tells the Corinthians that their giving is evidence of their obedience for the gospel they confess. Our money should go with our heart. If our heart is in the gospel then our money should support the spread of the gospel.
4.Now we come to one of the most misused scriptures when it comes to giving. “6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” vs.6. This is the favorite scripture for the prosperity preachers. Paul is restating the principle of sowing and reaping to the Corinthians. The Macedonian churches have given their own contributions out of the little they have. The Corinthian churches that are richer should at least give more to support the saints in Jerusalem . Paul never intended for this scripture to be the basis of giving and the motivation for giving. We only give based of the grace we have received. The prosperity preacher says you must give so that you can receive more money. This is twisting God’s word for personal gain.
5.Yes, we must touch on the dreaded T word – tithing. Listen to Paul, “14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” vs. 14-15. What does Paul teach about tithing? Zero, zap, nothing and not even one mention in all his writings. Paul has been delivered from his old life of tithing and had received so much grace in the new covenant. He was never going back to his old life of the Law nor compels people to do so (Read Paul’s Letter to the Galatians). That is why Paul teaches and believes and breathes God’s grace. He said it is an “indescribable gift”. In other words, you cannot quantify God’s grace. Giving 10% cannot buy God’s grace ever and will never. Paul believes in giving what is in your heart; that has been motivated by grace and in response to the grace you have received. Not out of compulsion. How can the same God who has lavished His grace on us turn around to curse us because we did not give 10% as some of the prosperity preachers teach? It does not make sense and it is contrary to the salvation we have received by grace and not of works lest anyone should boast. I will believe God for his grace and respond and relate to Him as my Father based on grace. I used to relate to him based on my 10% tithing.
All that we have comes from and belongs to God. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” vs. 8. May we abound in good works from what God has given us. May we handle God’s money well in his eyes and in the eyes of men and women. This means watching our appetite and spending so that we can have enough to abound in good works. Amen.
The headline this week reads: Small Town Treasurer arrested in Staggering $30 million Theft. “Rita Crundwell was a familiar face in Dixon , Illinois , a sleepy town of 15,000 where Crundwell also worked, managing the town's finances for about 30 years. But on Tuesday, federal authorities arrested the 58-year-old civil servant, accusing her of stealing $30 million in taxpayer funds in the past six years. The FBI was tipped by the city's mayor to the comptroller's suspected malfeasance. Crundwell's arrest leaves many Dixon residents wondering how she might have managed such a feat in a town as small as Dixon . Crundwell allegedly used money stolen from the town treasury to fund a lavish lifestyle, which included the purchase of a 2009 Liberty Coach motor home for $2.1 million, a 2009 Kenworth T800 tractor truck for nearly $150,000, as well as two more trucks and a horse trailer for hundreds of thousands of dollars more”.
How could this happen? There were no checks and balances. Crundwell managed everything. She was in charge. Even the auditors could not find her secrets. But it has unraveled. This can happen and do happen in the Church. When it happens, unfortunately we do not call it what it is. We call it prosperity of the preacher in charge - the owner and founding pastor; the one who started the church, the Bishop, the GO (the General Overseer). In today’s church, Judas Iscariot would be described as prosperous. The money was flowing and he could buy whatever he wanted. He was in charge of the treasury. He was a thief.
Paul tells the Corinthians, “20 We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. 21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men” (2 Corinthians 8:21). Did you hear that? There must be accountability in the eyes of God and also of men. God sees all our money transactions. Hopefully, we are making the money God's way and not stealing even with the pen.
How do we manage God’s money? We all have been entrusted with God’s money and wealth. The responsibility for stewardship is both at the individual and then corporate levels. What ever we have is not ours and all of it has been received by the grace of God.
May we give out of the “indescribable gift” of grace that we have received.
2 Corinthians 8: 16-24:
16 I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. 17 For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. 18 And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. 19 What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. 20 We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. 21 For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.
22 In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. 23 As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ. 24 Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
2 Corinthians 9
1 There is no need for me to write to you about this service to the saints. 2 For I know your eagerness to help, and I have been boasting about it to the Macedonians, telling them that since last year you in Achaia were ready to give; and your enthusiasm has stirred most of them to action. 3 But I am sending the brothers in order that our boasting about you in this matter should not prove hollow, but that you may be ready, as I said you would be. 4 For if any Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we—not to say anything about you—would be ashamed of having been so confident. 5 So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to visit you in advance and finish the arrangements for the generous gift you had promised. Then it will be ready as a generous gift, not as one grudgingly given.
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”[a]
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have:
1.Paul had trust in Titus to go Corinth and to collect the money from the Corinthian Church . In as much as Paul trusted and believed in Titus, for the sake of men, he is sending Titus and another trusted well known brother to accompany Titus. “22 In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you” vs. 22. We must do all we can to be above reproach when it comes to the handling of God’s money.
2.Paul continues his encouragement of the Corinthians to really carry out what they had intended to do from beginning. In essence no one is forcing them to give because God loves a cheerful giver and not a grudging giver. God does not need our money; we are the ones who need God. Our giving must reflect our gratitude for His grace which we have freely received.
3.Notice that our giving will bring thanksgiving and glory to God when other lives and people are blessed and their needs met. 12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else” vs.12-13. Paul also tells the Corinthians that their giving is evidence of their obedience for the gospel they confess. Our money should go with our heart. If our heart is in the gospel then our money should support the spread of the gospel.
4.Now we come to one of the most misused scriptures when it comes to giving. “6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” vs.6. This is the favorite scripture for the prosperity preachers. Paul is restating the principle of sowing and reaping to the Corinthians. The Macedonian churches have given their own contributions out of the little they have. The Corinthian churches that are richer should at least give more to support the saints in Jerusalem . Paul never intended for this scripture to be the basis of giving and the motivation for giving. We only give based of the grace we have received. The prosperity preacher says you must give so that you can receive more money. This is twisting God’s word for personal gain.
5.Yes, we must touch on the dreaded T word – tithing. Listen to Paul, “14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” vs. 14-15. What does Paul teach about tithing? Zero, zap, nothing and not even one mention in all his writings. Paul has been delivered from his old life of tithing and had received so much grace in the new covenant. He was never going back to his old life of the Law nor compels people to do so (Read Paul’s Letter to the Galatians). That is why Paul teaches and believes and breathes God’s grace. He said it is an “indescribable gift”. In other words, you cannot quantify God’s grace. Giving 10% cannot buy God’s grace ever and will never. Paul believes in giving what is in your heart; that has been motivated by grace and in response to the grace you have received. Not out of compulsion. How can the same God who has lavished His grace on us turn around to curse us because we did not give 10% as some of the prosperity preachers teach? It does not make sense and it is contrary to the salvation we have received by grace and not of works lest anyone should boast. I will believe God for his grace and respond and relate to Him as my Father based on grace. I used to relate to him based on my 10% tithing.
All that we have comes from and belongs to God. “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” vs. 8. May we abound in good works from what God has given us. May we handle God’s money well in his eyes and in the eyes of men and women. This means watching our appetite and spending so that we can have enough to abound in good works. Amen.
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