Craig Keener: Approach to possessions

“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” Acts 20:32-35

“Paul’s example of sacrificial service, emphasized here, dominates the entire speech: his ministry in Ephesus (Acts 20:20-21), his willingness to sacrifice his life in Jerusalem (Acts 20:22-25), and his approach to possessions (Acts 20:33-35)…In his farewell instruction, Jesus said that the greatest should be a servant (Luke 22:26), following his example (22:27). This teaching inverted the normal status expected of the teacher-disciple relationship. Paul, like Jesus, will serve rather than be served…

Paul claims not only to model working hard to help the weak but also to model following Jesus’ example…Acts, like Paul’s letters, does not regularly cite Jesus, but sometimes it does cite him at strategic points (such as in the climax here)…Although a citation of an authority would prove effective only among those who accepted his authority. Jesus would be the highest authority for Paul’s (and Luke’s) audience.”

Craig S. Keener in Acts: An Exegetical Commentary – 15:1-23:35, Volume 3 (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2014) 3007, 3062-3063.

Today Jenni and I bid farewell to Malaga, Spain. With God’s help and safe travel, we will return home via Paris and Chicago. Yesterday we were privileged to visit the Teatro Romano de Málaga, the ruins of the Roman Theatre that dates back to the days of the Apostle Paul. We have no record of whether or not he visited here but we know he made famous speeches in such settings.

I took a many photos and chose this one with the arch on the right as the new header for my daily posts. I did so with a specific purpose. If our time here on earth would be equated to a stage, we enter and exit with the sole purpose of playing our part in the proverbial theatre. Paul was adamant that his role would be to serve others like Jesus. That’s my aim!

What about you! Since it is better to give than receive, ask God today what it might look like for you to work hard, serve those around you, and help the weak. To do this we must say no to the many desires that tempt us to covet that which other people have. Don’t do it. God’s grace is able to build us up and help us exhibit his generosity toward others. Make it so, Lord Jesus!

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.” Matthew 16:24-27

“In the life and stories of Jesus lies the potential for a way of life that can make real God’s intention of wholeness for all. The challenge for the individual disciple of Jesus is to be prepared to do whatever is needed to align him or herself with ways of living and giving that release rather than obstruct the flow of God’s generosity. Together we are called to establish a social order in which all enjoy provision for their needs in a way that sustains not only life but abundant living. As we do so, we allow God’s overflowing grace to permeate lifestyle and relationships, and demonstrate the abundant economy of the kingdom of heaven.”

John Preston serves as National Stewardship Officer for the Anglican Church. It’s been good to interact with him this week in Malaga, Spain. Today’s post comes from Giving for Life 4.3, a report by the National Stewardship committee of the Anglican Church.

Few quotes sum up our role in God’s economy better than this one. Read it again!

Next time I return to the UK, it will be good to reconnect with John and perhaps train clergy from the NT to model and teach this way of living. It’s brilliant!

“This is what the Lord Almighty said: ‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor. Do not plot evil against each other.’ Zechariah 7:9-10

“Kindness goes further than money. Zechariah 7:9-10 is one of many verses in the Bible to explain the gracious nature of kindness as an attitude of giving time, talents and indeed our all to God…In kindness, our very lives are engaged with Christ’s purposes in our world, and Acts 1:8 reminds us that the Holy Spirit will assist us in those purposes, reaching others for Christ to the end of the age.

Those laboring in the Great Commission not only must receive Christlike kindness in all its forms but also must know how to give so that their communities and nations see Christ in the flesh. Thus, what we are calling “Faith Reliance” is more than a message about giving money generously. The Western church will never, on its own, reach the ends of the earth. It will take every believer’s participation to accomplish the biblical goal of reaching every ethnic group with Christ’s message of love. As our forefathers in the faith knew, the local church in every community will need to practice and disciple others as examples of Christ.

Faith Reliance is a call not for dependence on funding plans administered abroad but for reliance on God for every kindness in every nation.”

Barbara Shantz champions this message as she serves as TWR’s Global Fund Development Strategist and as the Lausanne Catalyst for Resource Mobilization. Today’s post appears in “TWR and Faith Reliance: Promoting Global, Generous Christian Living” 5-6.

It’s been good for Jenni and I to interface with Shantz among so many other wonderful fellow workers in God’s Kingdom in Malaga, Spain this week. To enjoy and share God’s kindnesses requires faith. Let’s resolve to live this way wherever God plants us. Amen? In so doing God is glorified through our humble obedience and His kingdom is expanded through faith reliance.

For those who grasp definitions best by contrasts, faith reliance is the opposite of “financial sustainability”. Those who lead ministries according to the economy of this world (cf. “The Common Path” as Willmer, Rodin, and I refer to it in our book The Choice: The Christ-Centered Pursuit of Kingdom Outcomes) look to money and financial models to fuel and sustain mission.

Faith reliance is about functioning in God’s economy. His work is advanced and sustained through the humble obedience of faithful servants who enjoy and share His kindnesses and by faith rely on Him to fuel mission.

Tell those who are rich in this present world not to be contemptuous of others, and not to rest the weight of their confidence on the transitory power of wealth but on the living God, who generously gives us everything for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in kindly actions, to be ready to give to others and to sympathise with those in distress. Their security should be invested in the life to come so that they may be sure of holding a share in the life which is permanent. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 (J.B. Phillips)

“The plentiful provision of good things is not meant to be a basis for self-security but is a pointer to the goodness of God who supplies them…God thus appoints that riches are to be enjoyed, but also shared generously. They are not for self-indulgence but for thankful acceptance and helping people.”

I. Howard Marshall in The Pastoral Epistles (ICC; London; T&T Clark, 1999) 672.

Jenni and I are NOW (pardon the typo in my earlier post today which read “not” this morning) attending the Compass Europartners conference with leaders from 15 countries across Europe. The various seminars are exploring ways to help people understand a New Testament view of handling money in post-Christian Europe.

As Phillips notes in his translation of the famous command to the rich, and as Howard notes in his commentary, our tendency is toward self-indulgence and finding security in our financial resources. God has appointed them for a different purpose: “thankful acceptance and helping people.”

Such thinking is countercultural in post-Christian Europe where culture dictates the rules for enjoyment and charity. We must retrain our minds to follow instead the Bible’s teaching so that our lives reflect God’s design. Make it so Lord Jesus.

But since you excel in everything–in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you–see that you also excel in this grace of giving. 2 Corinthians 8:7

“There is still a long way to go on the journey of the faithful steward for Western Christians, but there is hope if only the free grace of God will be preached more powerfully and linked with the new life that is to flow from it. The European context is not especially conducive to a culture of generosity, but Christians should take this as an opportunity to live counterculturally and to show how the grace of God can change a human heart and community. If we do this, it will surely benefit the church, the mission, the poor, and many in need.”

Daniel Hillion in “Christ-Centered Generosity and Western European Christians” in Christ-Centered Generosity: Global Perspectives on the Biblical Call to a Generous Life (Colbert: GGN & KLP) 37-49.

Hillion is from France and spoke at the European Generosity Consultation. I deeply appreciated his emphasis that there is hope for us to grow as faithful, generous stewards only as we grasp the grace of God. Think about it. Whether we live in the East or West, North or South, if we do not understand that all our blessings–materially, spiritually, and otherwise–have come to us as gifts of grace from God, we will never live countercultural, graciously, and generously toward others.

I have been longing for many years to visit you on my way to Spain; for I hope to see you as I travel through, and to be sent there with your support after having enjoyed your company for a while. But at the moment I am on my way to Jerusalem, on an errand to God’s people there. For Macedonia and Achaia have resolved to raise a common fund for the benefit of the poor among God’s people at Jerusalem. They have resolved to do so, and indeed they are under an obligation to them. For if the Jewish Christians shared their spiritual treasures with the Gentiles, the Gentiles have a clear duty to contribute to their material needs. So when I have finished this business and delivered the proceeds under my own seal, I shall set out for Spain by way of your city, and I am sure that when I arrive I shall come to you with a full measure of the blessing of Christ. I implore you by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love that the Spirit inspires, be my allies in the fight; pray to God for me that I may be saved from unbelievers in Judaea and that my errand to Jerusalem may find acceptance with God’s people, so that by his will I may come to you in a happy frame of mind and enjoy a time of rest with you. The God of peace be with you all. Amen. Romans 15:23b-33 (NEB)

“The collection for Jerusalem marked no innovation in policy on Paul’s part…Paul uses a formal business expression; cf. NEB, ‘delivered the proceeds under my own seal’.”

F. F. Bruce (1910-1990) in The Letter of Paul to the Romans: An Introduction and Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985) 249-251.

We know that the Apostle Paul coordinated the Jerusalem collection from about AD 53-58, and Bruce reveals the proverbial “campaign language” in play. Notice the message in the terms that appear in the NEB translation. Literally the Greek reads that Paul “sealed to them” this contribution. Seals were common in antiquity to mark the integrity of a message or of a delivery. Likewise in our time, seals send a strong message.

Tonight I will give a plenary address to more than 50 Christian leaders from across Europe entitled, “Financial Transparency and Christian Generosity: NT Insights for Global Application” at the European Generosity Consultation in Malaga, Spain. As ECFA International Liaison, I will share how the ECFA seal has enhanced trust and contributed to greater participation in God’s work in the USA for more than 2,000 ministries over the past 35 years, and how similar peer accountability groups are being launched by national leaders around the world, such as CCFK (South Korea), CCTA (Philippines), AfCAA (Australia), and CMA (Australia) to name a few.

Pray with me that God will raise up European leaders who will set standards for such a seal in Europe to encourage greater levels of generosity, much like Paul did nearly 2,000 years ago. A seal instilled confidence in the integrity of the collection for Christ-followers across the Mediterranean world back then, and it could have the same impact today.

I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings. When therefore I have completed this and have delivered to them what has been collected, I will leave for Spain by way of you. I know that when I come to you I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ. Romans 15:24-29

“Why then did Paul conceive and initiate this freewill offering project, this koinōnia? Clearly he saw great significance in it, as may be seen partly from the disproportionate amount of space which he devoted to it in his letters, partly from the passionate zeal with which he promoted it, and partly from his astonishing decision to add nearly 2,000 miles to his journey, in order to present the offering himself. Instead of sailing directly west from Corinth to Rome to Spain, he has made up his mind to travel first in entirely the wrong direction, that is go to Rome via Jerusalem!

The significance of the offering (the solidarity of God’s people in Christ) was primarily neither geographical (from Greece to Judea), nor social (from the rich to the poor), nor even ethnic (from Gentiles to Jews), but both religious (from liberated radicals to traditional conservatives, that is, from the strong to the weak), and especially theological (from beneficiaries to benefactors). In other words, the so-called ‘gift’ was in reality a ‘debt’…when we Gentiles are thinking of the great blessings of salvation, we are hugely in debt to the Jews and always will be. Paul sees the offering from the Gentile churches as a humble, material, symbolic demonstration of this indebtedness.”

John R. W. Stott (1921-2011) in The Message of Romans: God’s Good News for the World (Downers Grove: IVP, 1994) 386-387.

By the time you are reading this, Jenni and I will have arrived in Malaga, Spain, for the European Generosity Consultation and Compass Europartners conference. Jenni is eager to share her Spanish stewardship curriculum, and as ECFA International Liaison, I pray that my plenary address and workshop will motivate attendees to rally together to adopt standards for financial transparency in Europe in order to enhance trust and inspire more generous participation in God’s work.

While we don’t have record whether or not the Apostle Paul made it to Spain, evidence exists here in Malaga of a Roman presence at the time of Paul. We hope to visit the Roman theatre and other ruins on Sunday. We are amazed to think that the Apostle Paul spent about five years of his life (AD 53-58) to travel throughout the ancient Mediterranean world to facilitate this “freewill offering project” in order to deliver material blessings to those that shared spiritual blessings with them.

Is there someone in your life that has blessed you with a spiritual blessing who may be in need of a material blessing today? Ask God to guide you regarding what to share with them.

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. Titus 3:14

“The ‘good works’ in question are not ‘living a good moral life’ or ‘obeying the law’. They are the ‘good works’ of giving practical help, particularly money, to those in need, or where there are social emergencies that require urgent assistance. This passage begins to sound, in fact, as though Titus is to set up what we today would call a charity organization.

In a sense, that’s exactly what early Christianity was. One of the remarkable things the early Christians were known for — and one of the reasons for the rapid spread of the faith — is the way they were unstoppable when it came to helping others, both financially and in practical ways. If people were ill, they would nurse them. If they were hungry, they would get them food. If they were in prison, they would visit them. And so on.

No only with their own family — most people in the world would do that — but with strangers, with people from difference ethnic groups, even with former enemies. This, of course, follows directly from the previous passage [Titus 3:1-13]. Having been gripped by the generous love of God themselves, they couldn’t help acting in the same way.”

N.T. Wright in Paul for Everyone: The Pastoral Letters, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus (London SPCK, 2003) 163.

It seems fitting to cite N.T. Wright this morning as Jenni and I are heading to Europe today. Specifically, this week we will attend a European Generosity Consultation and Compass Europartners conference in Malaga, Spain. We hope to engage in good discussions with European leaders we know and others we will meet for the first time. Jenni will share stewardship resources she developed in Spanish with Potter’s House in Guatemala, and I am scheduled to facilitate a workshop and deliver a plenary address as ECFA International Liaison. Why go do this?

In the biblical text above, the Apostle Paul is instructing Titus (his co-worker appointed to minister in Crete) to help fellow Christ-followers (“our people”) scattered throughout the ancient Mediterranean world to show their faith through fruitful works. As we visit the shores of the Mediterranean this week, pray with us that likewise we will encourage “our people”, that is brothers and sisters in Christ who have been “gripped by the generous love of God”, to put structures in place to help God’s people more generously participate in His work all over Europe. Make it so Lord Jesus!

“Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” Proverbs 30:7-9

“The writer asks God for two things that will be important as long as he lives. First he begs the Lord to preserve him from falsehood and lies. He longs to maintain his integrity, no matter what. Second, he requests that God provide his daily necessities, not too much or too little. He recognizes the distinctive temptations that go with either extreme. Too much money, and we are tempted to forget God and trust in our own resources. Too little, and desperation may tempt us to steal. Either way, we dishonor the name of our God.”

Max Anders in Proverbs (Holman Old Testament Commentary; Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2005) 349.

Today I am preaching at Bear Valley Church, in Lakewood, Colorado on one verse: Give us this day our daily bread (Matthew 6:11). Anders’ comments above mirror what a first-century Jewish Christian would have heard in this humble request at the heart of “the Lord’s Prayer”. Jesus was affirming this idea from Proverbs that taught God’s people to trust Him for even the most basic provisions as the place of daily dependence helps us avoid the “distinctive temptations” associated with riches and poverty.

Sadly many people think they know better. They think they can serve both God and riches. They are fooling themselves. I know. I was there. That’s likely why the writer of Proverbs coupled the request for daily bread with the petition to help him avoid falsehood and lies. For years my wife and I stockpiled for ourselves. Don’t do it! Do not store up treasures on earth. Deploy them to the things God cares about. We have learned that the pathway between riches and poverty leads to freedom.

The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:7-8

“My children, how great things patience works, and prayer with fasting. And if you therefore follow after sobriety and purity in patience and humility of heart, the Lord will dwell among you, because He loves sobriety. And wheresoever the Most High dwells, even though a man fall into envy, or slavery, or slander, the Lord who dwells in him, for his sobriety’s sake not only delivers him from evil, but also exalts and glorifies him, even as me. For in every way the man is guarded, whether in deed, or in word, or in thought.

My brethren know how my father loved me, and I was not exalted in my heart; although I was a child, I had the fear of God in my thoughts. For I knew that all things should pass away, and I kept myself within bounds, and I honoured my brethren; and through fear of them I held my peace when I was sold, and revealed not my family to the Ishmaelites, that I was the son of Jacob, a great man and a mighty. Do ye also, therefore, have the fear of God in your works, and honour your brethren. For every one who works the law of the Lord shall be loved by Him.”

Testament of Joseph, Concerning Sobriety 11.10-11 (second century BC). Today’s post is a fitting conclusion to our exploration of the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, Jewish apocalyptic writings that likely shaped the thinking of first-century Jewish believers in the early church.

The Apostle Peter urges us, when it seems like the end is near and the world is falling apart, to have a sober mind so that we can pray. Likewise the Testament of Joseph–whose life was anything but peaceful at times as he was sold into slavery and unjustly imprisoned–urges us toward patience, fasting and prayer in order to preserve sobriety and purity.

To be alert is to be prepared for disaster, which will come sooner or later, so that our first response is to run to God in prayer. When we do, the Testament of Joseph reminds us that the Lord will dwell with us. To be sober is to have the right response to such situations: we are prepared.

These are heavy ideas. What is their connection to generosity?

Most of the quotes from the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs (this one included) have spoken to the posture of our hearts. Today, Joseph teaches that to have the fear of God in our works, we must be sober people. Amazing that Joseph could show love to his brothers after the multitude of sins he endured. That was generosity! It’s what flows through sober people.

In these dark days, God help us be alert and of sober mind.