6. Christian giving must be carefully supervised (8:16–24)
6. Christian giving must be carefully supervised (8:16–24)
16I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. 17For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. 18And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. 19What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honour the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. 20We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. 21For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.
22In 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. 23As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow-worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honour to Christ. 24Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
Handling money is a risky business and Paul is evidently aware of the dangers. He writes ‘we want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift’ (v20) and ‘we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men’ (v21). He was determined not only to do right, but to be seen to do right.
So what steps did Paul take? First, he did not handle the financial arrangements himself, but put Titus in charge of them (v16–17) and expressed his full confidence in him (v23). Secondly, Paul added that he was sending along with Titus another brother, who was ‘praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel’ (v18). Thirdly, this second brother had been ‘chosen by the churches to accompany’ Paul and carry the gift (v19; 1 Corinthians 16:3). The people carrying the offering to Jerusalem had been elected by the churches because of their confidence in them.
It is wise for us now to take similar precautions against possible criticism. It is good for churches to be openly careful about the number of people present when the offering is counted, and for regular reports to be given to church members on the church finances. We need such transparency in church life; it gives confidence to the membership.
For mission agencies it is important to have a board giving wise and experienced oversight of the financial operations, so that money received from supporters can be invested well and pressed effectively into service. On a broader canvas, we can be thankful for the work of auditors, and for the government’s oversight of all charitable giving through the Charity Commission, or its equivalent, which regulates both good practice and good reporting.