2 Corinthians 8:14
But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality: But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:
The verse teaches equality in which present abundance supplies present want, with help to flow back the other way when circumstances change, so that no one has excess while others lack. It does not ease some by burdening others, but shares burdens fairly according to each one's ability and means, accepting a willing mind according to what a person has and not according to what he does not have. It is the practical lesson of the manna, where he that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no lack. Paul used it to urge the Corinthians to contribute to the poor saints in Jerusalem, pointing to the Macedonians who in deep poverty gave willingly and joyfully, without laying a command upon them. Since all that one has and is belongs to the Lord to be held as His stewards, giving is to be self-denying and sacrificial, expressing genuine conversion in tangible deeds toward the dependent and destitute, while those able to earn a living are not to live on the provision of others.
Meaning and Original Setting
The verse teaches equality by present abundance supplying present want, with help able to flow back the other way when circumstances change, so that no one has excess while others lack. At a time when one group has plenty it is to meet another group's need, with the expectation of mutual exchange as conditions reverse, and the aim is fair sharing rather than easing one group by burdening another. God can make a small gift go as far as a large one, blessing gifts in keeping with the self-denial and sacrifice they show, and those who sacrifice to help others may in turn receive help from them. Giving through self-denial and self-sacrifice lets many share in the blessing of helping God's people.
Equality does not mean leaving some eased while others are burdened, but distributing the church's burdens fairly according to each person's ability and means. Those who are prosperous are to give from what has already been given them, not only from what they receive at the moment. It is not the divine design for a few to be eased while others carry the load, but for each to do his part as prospered, esteeming it a privilege to give in a freewill offering and cutting loose from the world to hear His voice. God does not at present call for the houses His people need to live in, yet if those with abundance refuse He will pass them by and call those willing to do anything, even to sell their homes, while the poor who have least see the need and divide and divide to meet it and the able and wealthy hold tightly, blinded by riches so they do not see the need.
The verse gives the explanation and practical lesson of the manna gathering, where he that gathered much had nothing over and he that gathered little had no lack, meaning equality in supply so that none has too much and none lacks. God accepts a willing mind according to what a person has and not according to what he does not have, so even those who are poor are not shut out but may share in the blessing of giving according to what they have.
The verse belongs to Paul's appeal for the Corinthian believers to contribute to the poor saints in Jerusalem, holding up the example of the Macedonian churches whose joy and generosity led them even in deep poverty to give willingly for others. He urged the need without laying a command on them, setting the necessity before them and pointing to what others with fewer advantages and less ability had given in order to move them to give. Every converted soul who appreciates God's rich gifts will show great benevolence, for character cannot be complete unless benevolence is expressed in returning to God His due, revealing the power of truth by counterworking selfishness and self-indulgence and showing fruit-bearing and sincerity of faith by tangible liberality that advances the kingdom.
Principle of Mutual Sharing
Everything a person has and is belongs to the Lord, to be held as His stewards in sharing with brethren in need so that abundance supplies want and there is equality. This stewardship leaves no room for partiality, hypocrisy, waste, or selfish use, for it means devoting means to God as well as giving self to His service rather than spending on selfish gratification. As stewards give generously from entrusted means they also receive, because God supplies them so that they may give to others.
Giving that brings God's blessing is self-denying and sacrificial for the proclamation of the message for this time. When hearts are stirred by the Spirit to see the necessities of the work, self is denied and gifts flow into the treasury, with believers entreating the privilege of having their offerings received as when they were laid at the apostles' feet. In this mutual sharing those with abundance supply the needs of those who lack, with the possibility of their own needs being met in turn, so that equality results.
God can make a small gift go as far as a large one, blessing gifts in keeping with the self-denial and sacrifice they show. Those who sacrifice to help others may in turn receive help from them, for help is reciprocal and those who have plenty now may need help later. As believers impart they receive, for God gives to them so that they may give to others, and giving through self-denial and self-sacrifice lets many share in the blessing of helping God's people.
Free giving to poorer believers expresses genuine conversion and appreciation of the gospel and of God's rich gifts. Character cannot be complete unless benevolence is expressed in tangible deeds, in returning to God His due by sustaining every good work. Liberality that counterworks selfishness and self-indulgence and advances the kingdom of God is the very best evidence of sincerity of faith and of true fruit-bearing, with love expressed in something tangible.
Practical generosity is owed to people who are dependent, destitute, weak, or otherwise in need, with abundance used to meet lack so that resources are shared fairly and help can flow back the other way when circumstances change. Able-bodied people who can earn a living are not entitled to live on others' provision.
By practicing economy under God's blessing, abundance becomes sufficient to supply the food, clothing and other manifest necessities of the poor and of God's workers in positive necessity, so that there is equality. This means not living to please self but denying self for Christ's sake and showing the tenderness and compassion Christ manifested. It calls for working with equity and divine wisdom in dealing with workers, acknowledging work done for Christ by awarding needed support from tithes and offerings brought into the treasury. Ministers are to wear neat clothing while avoiding unnecessary expense, because influence and success come not from clothing but from virtue received by personal contact with Christ.
These are the Lord's directions and Bible principles for generous sowing and giving, to be followed with God's word as counsellor. Following them is the Lord's work, glorifies God in His people, and makes the glory of the Lord their rereward.
Applying Equality in Practice
In hard and trying times those with means are to help believers in need, as when money is supplied to build a house for the Lord so His people can worship decently and in order, and such timely help answers earnest prayer, comes from hearts moved by the Holy Spirit, and fills receivers with gratitude to God and to the givers. The same equality comes when poor laborers with large families dependent on daily labor give liberally even in deep poverty to build a humble church where they can worship and let their light shine to others. Those who have abundance must hear His voice, cut loose from the world, and sacrifice in freewill offerings as God has prospered them, esteeming it a privilege to give and each doing his part.
God does not at present call for the houses His people need to live in, but if those with abundance refuse He will pass them by and call those willing to do anything, even to sell their homes. The poor who have least of this world's goods see the need and divide and divide to meet it, while the able and wealthy hold their means tightly, blinded by the deceitfulness of riches so they do not see the need and find it hard to hear Jesus calling for their means. Those who are poor should also make sacrifices and accept wise counsel, and when they do their best and still face hardship, their wealthier brethren should cheerfully help them, with one person's sufficiency supplying another's lack and circumstances able later to be reversed. Parents are to read and practice these lessons, teaching children to give self-denying offerings to support God's work and institutions in need.
Abundance now should supply want in unworked foreign fields, selfish motives must not withhold needed funds when the field is ready for advance, and believers should emulate the liberal spirit of the Macedonians who gave beyond their power to the cause that called for their help. Pressing emergencies in aggressive work in other parts of the field are to be met by giving liberally of entrusted means willingly even by those who already sustain the work in their own borders, and reading this teaching in the churches inspires liberality and a correct view of duty, for as they impart they receive because God gives to them so that they may give to others. Well-supplied places must not absorb profits to enlarge and enrich themselves where there is no real need, but must provide destitute fields with facilities such as meeting places and advantages enjoyed elsewhere, handling means as God's stewards without partiality and without hypocrisy in self-denial and love for souls following Christ's example. Grasping much where there is no need brings robbery and want to other fields, while right doing is safe and brings God's blessing.
Those with much better advantages in every way must use their abundance for the Southern Field as a hard, destitute, ignorant and defiled field, including the entire profits of the books designated for it instead of appropriating that means to already advantaged fields. Diverting means after light has been given increases the wrong of neglect, because the design and the facilities and treasury for the work originate with God and His specified methods must be followed, and the neglect will be met in the judgment with reward according to neglect, requiring more than a late beginning including restitution of diverted means. Those able to give should help free the institutions in Scandinavia from debt, recognizing the money belongs to God and comes from His people including people who have little. Brethren and sisters scattered abroad are called to give means to build a substantial, economical building for the Sydney Sanitarium for uplifting people to an elevated plane of action, with even those who are poor not shut out from the privilege of giving.
Resources in America should have helped provide for the sanitarium rather than leaving others to carry the burden alone, and facilities and means concentrated in America should have supported the work in Australia and England where they could help reach people and prepare workers for other regions. Prosperous and well-established churches and institutions are to help those more needy, struggling under poverty and debt and bravely struggling for standing room, in proportion as God has prospered them, with hearts of flesh full of charity and unselfish interest and without jealousy seeking to push a working force out of existence in conscious superiority. This means curtailing large plans, aiding struggling ones to increase facilities, refusing to use every dollar to enlarge their own facilities and increase their own responsibilities, and reserving means for health institutions and schools elsewhere where people will be most benefited. Resources are not to be concentrated in one part of God's work while another is left suffering, but those with more than they need should share abundance with poorer believers and workers laboring with meager means to advance the truth into new fields, which rejects high wages for institutional workers while field workers lack enough for support.
In caring for the sick, funds are to be raised by free donations small and large as needed, spent wisely with charges kept as reasonable as possible, with those having means donating to pay expenses of the suffering worthy poor. Benevolence, charity, humanity, love of Christ and sympathy for suffering humanity are to rule all connected with the work instead of seeking high wages, good investment, and profit. Those who have abundance must supply the food, clothing and other manifest necessities of the poor and of God's workers in positive necessity in their own field, and must not leave them destitute while asking help from a poorer, poverty-stricken field already carrying a heavy load in clothing its own destitute. To supply another's lack when able is a plain duty and privilege belonging to those on the ground, and neglect comes from lack of heart to do it, while by practicing economy under God's blessing abundance becomes sufficient to supply necessities so there is equality.