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This is day five of our look through 2 Corinthians chapter eight, this chapter
that's all about generosity. We're going to be looking at verses 16 to 24 today.
These are verses that remind us that for generosity to happen, the gift has to
be given in the right way.

It starts there, and we've been talking about that all week. First you give to
the Lord with excellence. You finish what you started, but these are verses
today that remind us that once it's given in the right way, then that gift has
to be, and the word that's used here is administered in the right way.

And what this means is those who handle and distribute the gift have to do so in
a trustworthy way, in the right kind of way, because that trust enables people's
generosity. Why would you want to give if you couldn't trust that the gift was
going to go to meet the need that it was supposed to go to? If you thought
somebody was going to take it and use it selfishly for themselves, you wouldn't
want to give.

So you have to handle, you have to administer the gift in the right kind of way.
In essence, Paul is talking in these verses about how to take an offering, how
to handle an offering. And whether you're in a church where you're having to do
this, take an offering and handle it in the right kind of way, you're a leader
in a church, or whether you're somebody who's just giving to a church, these are
truths we all need to understand.

How do you do this in a trustworthy way? Well, first thing you do is just walk
through the principles he gives us about how to take an offering in a
trustworthy way. First principle is this, don't be afraid to ask.

You can't take an offering in a trustworthy way unless you take an offering,
unless at some point you pass the plate, unless at some point you ask people to
give. Now, a lot of us are afraid to ask to give because we see our own
weaknesses, but when you ask someone to give, you're not asking them to give to
you, you're asking them to give to the body of Christ. You're just passing along
Jesus' invitation to give.

Verses 16 and 17, "I thank God who put into the heart of Titus the same concern
I have for you. For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he's coming to you
with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. " Now, Titus was going to them
to finish taking an offering.

If he didn't go, if he didn't ask, then the offering wouldn't have been
finished. So to take a trustworthy offering, first you have to ask. If you ask
in a selfish way, you should be ashamed.

But we don't ask in selfish ways, mostly in church. If you ask people to give to
the Lord, you should have great joy in that because you know as people give,
there's going to be great joy in their lives. Don't be afraid to ask.

Second principle of how to take an offering, how to enable people's generosity
by being trustworthy with the offering is you avoid criticism. Listen to what
Paul says in verse 20 and then we'll go back a couple of verses. In verse 20 he
says, "We want to avoid any criticism of the way that we administer this liberal
gift.

" You have to realize money is one of life's most sensitive issues. Paul
realized that. So he administered the offering in such a way as to protect it
from criticism.

He says we manage it to avoid criticism. We do that in our church. We do that
not because we distrust our leaders, but because we love them.

We don't want to put them in a place of possible vulnerability to attack, "Hey,
you mishandled the offering. If you handle it in the right way, you can avoid
criticism. " Now how do you do that?

He talks about one very practical way to do that in these verses. This is where
you start. He said we have two people carry the gift, verses 18 and 19, "We're
sending along with him," Titus who he trusted, "but we're sending along with him
the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel.

What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the
offering. " Two people. Anytime you put money in the hands of just one person,
that is going to be the two things that can result from that that are bad are
one, temptation.

They have this money and they think, "Well, I could just take a little bit to
meet the needs of my life and then a little bit becomes a little bit more and a
little bit more. " So by having two people handle an offering, you've avoided
temptation. The other bad thing that can happen is criticism.

Somebody can say, "Hey, they had that money all by themselves in their home
overnight or they took it all by themselves to the bank, however you might do
it. " I wonder how they handle it. I wonder because we all get tempted sometimes
when it comes to money.

So you just avoid criticism by having two people there at all times. Avoid
criticism in the way you handle the offering. A third principle in a way to
handle the offering is you know your motivation, why you're handling it in this
kind of way.

In the last half of verse 19, we administer it in this way in order, Paul says,
to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. To honor the Lord,
he says, Paul's desire was to lift up Jesus in this offering that the body of
Christ would give to meet the needs for food of another part of the body of
Christ. And he knew that managing it wrong, the wrong kind of administration,
would ruin that gift.

All of a sudden the body of Christ would be dishonored because someone stole the
money. It would be dishonored because the money never got there to meet the
need. So he says we've got to handle it in the right way to honor the Lord.

And he says also to show our eagerness to help. Offerings without administration
cause intentions to be muddied. The money might arrive, but everybody goes, "Who
is this for?

What's it supposed to be for? " And it doesn't go to what it was intended to go
for. Paul wanted the love of the churches to be clear.

And so he administered the offering in such a way that it was very clear how
that need was going to be met. That was his motivation, that the love of Christ
could be seen, the body of Christ could be seen through the way this offering
was given. Just continue to walk through this, what Paul has to say about this.

Next thing he says is you take pains to do what is right. Verse 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.

" Someone said Paul was a big enough man to do the little things, the practical
things supremely well. And that's what he's doing here. It's an offering to the
Lord, so he treats it that way.

He handles it more carefully than he'd handle his own finances. And notice what
he says. "Not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men.

" Some people may say, "Well, if people want to be tempted to think I'm handling
the offering wrong, then that's their fault. That's their own selfishness. "
"No," Paul says, "look at how people might think about this.

Not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also how might somebody be tempted to
think wrongly of this? And you take pains to do what is right. Take pains to do
what is right.

That's why we don't do it, because it's painful. It takes more time, it takes
more energy, it takes more people, and we don't want to do that. " Paul says,
"It's an offering to the Lord.

And if we're going to receive it in the right way, you take pains to do what's
right. " One principle as we walk through this is he says you express trust in
those who are taking the offering, verses 22 and 23. 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.

As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you. As for our brothers,
they are representatives of the church and an honor to Christ. The reminder here
is that those who administer an offering should be models of giving and
sacrifice in their own lives.

If the people who are encouraging or administering an offering are models of
selfishness in their life, then there's no trustworthiness that's there. You
look for people that you trust them, and those are the people who should
administer an offering. It's a very trustworthy place to be.

And if God has called you to do that ministry in a church, it is a great place
of honor and trust. Now you're not perfect, I know that, but you want to be
trustworthy. So by administering it right, you're doing what is right, you're
expressing trust then in those who are taking the offering.

And then a final principle Paul gives, and maybe the most important principle
about the right way to take an offering is you express confidence in those who
are giving the offering. In verse 24 he says, "Therefore, show these men the
proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that all the churches
can see it. " I want you to see how Paul motivated this offering in the life of
the Corinthians.

He motivated it by saying, "We have confidence in you. We know you love Christ,
so we want you to excel in giving, just like you're excellent in everything
else. We have confidence in you.

We have pride in what God's going to do in your life, a godly kind of pride. "
He motivated their offering by his confidence in what Christ in them, who Christ
in them was, and what that would mean for their gift. This is a great principle
of giving.

Whenever you hear someone trying to motivate an offering, whether it's on TV,
whether it's in a church, whether it's in your church, when you hear someone
trying to motivate an offering through guilt, you know something is wrong. You
should give this to the Lord because if you don't give this to the Lord, you're
not loving Jesus who gave himself for you. You can say we're motivated to give
because Jesus gave himself for us.

That's okay. When somebody starts playing the guilt angle, "He loved you so
much. He gave so much for you.

How could you not give to him? " When they start going down that road,
something's wrong. That is not the right motivation for giving.

A gift that comes out of guilt isn't going to be blessed by the Lord anyway.
When someone's motivating an offering by guilt, you know something is wrong.
Whenever you hear someone motivating an offering by selfishness, you know
something is wrong.

If you'll give $100 to the Lord, he will give you $10,000 before the end of the
month. If you give this to the Lord, he'll give you this kind of a car. If you
give this to the Lord, he will give you this job.

I can't promise what God's going to do in your finances. I can't promise what
kind of a job or a car he's going to give you. I know God wants to bless your
life, but I also know we all go through times of lack and we all go through
times of abundance in this life.

That's what happens with most of us. The truth is when someone tries to motivate
your giving through selfishness, it's called the health and wealth gospel. You
give to God and he has to give to you.

He has to give money to you. You know something is wrong. The right motivation
is confidence.

Confidence in God's spirit, working in God's people to achieve God's result.
That's where you start. I'm confident that if you'll listen to the Lord, God
will show you what to do.

Then you're not playing the guilt trip angle. Then you're not playing the
selfishness angle. Then you're just trusting in what God does in people's lives.

That's how you give an offering. We've been talking all this week about
generosity. How about me?

How about you? Do you need in your life to look to God for a change of attitude,
a change of action in this area of generosity? Maybe you've been thinking about
it all week long.

Remember, Paul said, "Finish what you started. " I just want to express what he
just talked about. I have confidence.

I have confidence that through God's spirit in you, as you listen to him, say,
"God, what should I do? " As you hear from him and as you follow him, the result
will be generosity because he's a generous God. So he causes us to be his
generous people.

Let's pray together. Father, we end this week where we began it thanking you.
Thank you for your generosity to us.

Thank you for all you've given to us. And out of the abundance of what you've
given, Lord, let generosity overflow in our lives. Let it overflow in our lives
so that needs can be met in our lives and in others' lives.

Let it overflow in our lives so that the body of Christ can be lifted up in this
world. Let it overflow in our lives so that joy can be released in us. Let it
overflow in our lives, Jesus, so that your love can be seen.

We ask this in the name of Jesus, amen. Next week, we're going to look at 2
Corinthians chapter 9. This chapter talks all about God's powerful law of growth
and blessing in our lives.