The Pursuit of God by Tozer – Reflections (18a)

  

 

As I ponder 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9, I see an unfolding richness in Christ, gems here and there, beauty, challenge…so much. Perhaps, by His grace, I’ll be able to return at some time and write extended reflections. For now, let’s consider how this passage might challenge our attitude toward possessions, toward the question of who owns the things we have, including our money.

 

The Christians in Judea are poor and need financial help. In response to this Paul has asked Christians in Galatia (a region of modern-day Turkey), Macedonia, and Greece to provide assistance to their brothers and sisters in Judea. (Galatians 2:10; Romans 15:25 – 28; Acts 19:21; 24:17; 1 Corinthians 16:1 – 6.)

 

In 2 Corinthians 8:1 – 5, Paul points out that the Macedonians, even though they themselves were in “extreme poverty,” begged Paul to be allowed to send money to their brothers and sisters in Judea. This is in contrast to the Corinthians who have been lacking in gathering financial assistance for the Judean churches. Corinth was an economic and commercial center, a financial powerhouse; so we have a situation where those who had little were giving much and those who had much were, at least at this point, giving little.

 

The Thessalonians had an affinity with the Judean Christians, not only with respect to straightened financial circumstances, but also with respect to suffering for Jesus. “For you, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea, for you also endured the same suffering at the hands of your own countrymen, even as they did from the Jews, who both killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets, and drove us out” (1 Thess. 2:14 – 15).

 

It is often the case that those with little share more of what they have than those who have much. Over the years I’ve seen survey after survey that indicates that Americans in low-income regions give a greater portion of their financial resources than those in affluent areas. My own observations have validated this as have conversations with social workers and pastors.  

 

After providing the Thessalonians as an example of sacrificial giving, Paul then provides the Greatest Example. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).

 

Now we come to a passage that I just don’t think we can very well teach, but you be the judge.

 

“For this is not for the ease of others and for your affliction, but by way of equality – at this present time your abundance being a supply for their need, so that their abundance also may become a supply for your need, that there may be equality; as it is written, He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little had no lack” (2 Cor. 8:13 – 15).

 

There are at least two hurdles for us in the United States with this passage. They are both significant.

 

The first hurdle is the word “equality,” We are usually fine with the ideal of equality, after all our nation is built on the words, “All men are created equal.” However, since those words were first penned, we have engaged in never-ceasing internal and external conflict over just how that ideal should be expressed. This conflict has employed bullets and police dogs and economic and political and cultural weaponry and there is no end in sight. Truly, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…as has any true national notion of all men and women and children being created equal. Well, I suppose all nations need myths in order to survive – if only we would be honest about it (more on this below).

 

Now for those of us who want to know what the real meaning of the word “equality” is in the Greek that Paul used, here is the answer, an answer that may surprise some of us, disappoint some of us, challenge some of us, and hopefully encourage some of us. Drum roll please…the actual meaning of the Greek word that is translated “equality” into English is…EQUALITY!

 

As the article in Kittel (TDNT, Vol. III, page 343ff) discusses, equality was part of the fabric of ancient Greek philosophy and basic to Greek society. It is also embedded in the fabric of the New Testament within various contexts and is connected with righteousness. We cannot have righteousness without equality.

 

Now then, it is one thing to have equality in terms of opportunity (as mythical as that may be), and equality in terms of casting a vote on election day (though in our heart of hearts many of us will do anything to win), or equality in terms of education or access to housing or healthcare (all of which we excel in giving lip service to); most of us will tolerate to some degree superficial discussion about these things, however, the ONE THING most of us draw the line at, the one place we will most certainly erect barbed wire fencing, is when it comes to our money, most of us will not tolerate the use of the word “equality” and “money” in the same sentence.

 

(And really, isn’t this why we disagree on housing and education and healthcare? If these things didn’t cost anything we’d be all for equality…or at least more for it than we are right now. We have no problem with Bill Gates or Jeff Bezos or Warren Buffett helping others with healthcare, just don’t ask us to participate.)

 

One of the ways we preempt discussion about financial equality, and therefore one of the ways we ensure that 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 will not (as a rule) be fairly preached, is by using the canards “communism” and “socialism” at any suggestion of economic equality. “Socialism” is our preferred canard at present, and by it we usually mean atheistic Marxism – we dare others to use the term “equality” because if they do we will smear them as Marxists and therefore un-American.

 

Let’s note that Paul is writing to the Church of Jesus Christ, he is not promulgating an economic system for nations, though nations may learn from his teaching, but he is teaching the Body of Christ how it ought to view its economic resources; the Holy Spirit is speaking to congregations, marriages, families, and individuals. As Tozer writes in our chapter, this is about the blessedness of possessing nothing.

 

I am amused at how many pastors and teachers will look at the common fund in Acts 2:43 – 45 and 4:32 – 37 (“there was not a needy person among them” 4:34) and say, “That was for those people in that place at that time, it is not meant for us today,” and at the same time gloss over the teaching of 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9, teaching which is clearly addressed to the Body of Christ across national and ethnic and economic boundaries, teaching having to do with our core identity in Christ and in one another. Why can’t we be honest and just remove these chapters from our Bibles?

 

As you ponder 2 Corinthians 8:13 – 15 in its context, what does this look like in your congregation? Your community? Your denomination? In the professing church in the United States?

 

I would much rather see us teach this and admit that we aren’t going to obey it, than ignore it.

 

It is as if there is a gag order on these chapters. It reminds me of a rule in the U.S. Congress prior to our Civil War, you were not allowed to discuss slavery. Isn’t that nuts? The burning issue of the time and congressmen and senators couldn’t talk about it; it was deemed too inflammatory and threatening.

 

Most of us don’t dare teach 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9 because what is mine is mine and if you use the word “equality” with regard to money I’ll call you a socialist and we know that is anti-American and therefore must be anti-Christian.

 

Paul must not have been a Christian.

 

There is more to explore here, but this post is now long enough so we will return to it, the Lord willing, in the next post in this series.

 

The is a reason Tozer made this the second chapter in The Pursuit of God, for where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also (Matthew 6:19 – 21).

 

Personally, I’d just like us to be honest about this, rather than seek to justify ourselves and our attitudes towards money and possessions. As Tozer says, we must make no attempt to excuse ourselves, either in our own eyes or before the Lord (page 29).

 

 

The Pursuit of God by Tozer - Reflections (18)

 

 

As I pondered how to conclude our reflections on Chapter Two, The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing, my thoughts were drawn to 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. I have never heard these chapters fairly preached or taught, and I don’t expect to in my lifetime. Yes, I have heard preachers cherry pick them when speaking on “stewardship,” for “God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7) is too good to pass up – but this is really crass manipulation of the passage for it rips it out of context and spares us the challenge of obedience.

 

These two chapters have the potential to expose our hearts regarding possessions, regarding what Tozer terms, “my and mine,” more than any other passage in the Bible. They have the potential not only to do this to us as individuals, but also as marriages, as families, as congregations, as denominations, and as various institutions (such as parachurch ministries and seminaries).

 

In this passage the Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, calls us not just to a single act of obedience, but to a way of life – and it is in confronting this way of life that our attitude toward possessions is especially revealed.

Saturday, July 5: I intended to complete this post today in order to conclude Chapter Two, however, we have a tropical storm moving into our area and it is uncertain what to expect. This means that I’ve spent a couple of hours already (it’s 7:32 AM right now) preparing for the storm – bringing umbrellas inside, making room in the garage for the car (ha!), and otherwise preparing for what will hopefully be a couple of days of uneventful weather. We have learned over the years, whether with New England blizzards or Virginia and South Carolina tropical storms and hurricanes, that it is wise to prepare for the worst and pray for the best.

 

So I am going to post what I’ve written above and ask you to read and ponder 2 Corinthians chapters 8 and 9. What is Paul saying about how we should live in Christ toward one another? What should our attitude toward possessions be – as seen in these chapters? What are the challenges in these chapters? That is, what are the barriers in thinking and living like they portray?

 

I’ll circle back to this passage in my next post and complete what I began in this post, the Lord willing.

 

Right now I still have other things to do regarding the storm.

 

Much love,

 

Bob

 

The Pursuit of God by Tozer - Reflections (17)

 

“The Christian who is alive enough to know himself even slightly will recognize the symptoms of this possession malady, and will grieve to find them in his own heart. If the longing after God is strong enough within him, he will want to do something about the matter. Now, what should he do?” (pages 28 – 29).

 

“First of all, he should put away all defense and make no attempt to excuse himself either in his own eyes or before the Lord. Whoever defends himself will have himself for his defense, and he will have no other. But let him come defenseless before the Lord and he will have for his defender no less than God Himself. Let the inquiring Christian trample under foot every slippery trick of his deceitful heart and insist upon frank and open relations with the Lord” (page 29).

 

Our Father and Lord Jesus want the best for us, and that includes setting us free from being possessed by possessions, whether material or otherwise. As Tozer writes on page 22, “There is within the human heart a tough, fibrous root of a fallen life whose nature is to possess, always to possess” (italics mine). As we’ve pointed out, what this looks like in my life is probably not what it looks like in your life, our calling is not to evaluate one another, it is to stand before Jesus Christ and ask Him to search us and try us, to shine His Light upon us, and to ensure that only God is worshipped within the Holy of Holies of our hearts and souls.

 

I wonder how it is possible to have this conversation in the world and church in which we live, it is like speaking a different language; more than that, it is speaking a different language within an alien culture, one with different values than our own.

 

We exalt worldly success within the professing church, we talk about money as a central benchmark of our congregational health (and we are adept at justifying this focus), we justify hoarding money while neighbors are hungry and homeless, we are more interested in our children and grandchildren having well – paying jobs than knowing Jesus and living godly lives, we know the composition of our 401ks but not our Bibles, we are more prone to speak to one another of the financial markets at church than of how Jesus is revealing Himself to us.

 

We forget, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).

 

I find it hard to conceive that in a society and a church that is obsessed with money and things and power and pleasure that we can even begin to approach the problem of the insidious idols within us; all the more reason to cry out to Jesus for mercy and help.

 

For sure, as Tozer writes, we must put away all defense and excuses – and this goes against our grain, for again we live in a church and society that tells us we deserve the best, that we deserve all that we can obtain. We can’t do this without the grace of Jesus, and we need His grace every day to do it.  Only the Holy Spirit can enable us to “trample under foot every slippery trick” of our deceitful hearts.

 

What a challenge this can be in the face of churches and so-called ministries that exalt material prosperity, that teach us to avoid the Christ of the Cross and laying down our lives for Christ and others.

 

Tozer writes that we ought to, “Insist that God accept his [our] all, that He take things out of his [our] heart and Himself reign there in power” (page 29). We ought not to be among those “Who coddle their feelings and insist upon caution in their dealings with God” (page 29).

 

Will we take the walk of Abraham with our Isaac up Mt. Moriah and offer to God that which is most precious to us? Will we say with David, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth” (Psalm 73:25)? Will we allow God to reorient our hearts and minds from the earthly and self-centered to the heavenly and Christ-centered?

 

Tozer says that we must experience this work of God in our hearts, that it is not a truth to be intellectually learned. He writes that we must “live through Abraham’s hard and bitter experiences if we would know the blessedness which follows them. The ancient curse will not go out painlessly…” (page 29).

 

I have never preached this nor taught it, and this shames me. O yes, I have preached the Way of the Cross, I have taught the intercessory life, I have quoted Mark 8:34 – 38 times without number. But O how I wish I could go back and lead my people with Abraham up Mt. Moriah, how I wish I could ask each one of us to bring our Isaacs to offer to God, how I wish we could ponder each step, one foot in front of the other, allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to us and to work deep within our hearts and souls.

 

Even now I am not sure I understand the depth of what Tozer is writing, I have been in the religious opium den too long. What was once familiar to me was lost in layer after layer of pragmatic American religion. Have we not become like Peter in trying to shield Jesus from the Cross, from His calling and destiny and glory? (Matthew 16:21 – 23). And let’s not forget, one minute Peter confessed Jesus, the next he played the role of Satan!

 

Do we not strive to shield one another from Mt. Moriah, from the Cross of Christ?

 

“If we would indeed know God in growing intimacy, we must go this way of renunciation. And if we are set upon the pursuit of God, He will sooner or later bring us to this test” (page 30).

 

Does this make any sense to you?

 

The Lord willing, we’ll take one more look at this before we conclude Tozer’s chapter on, The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing.

 

What might the “way of renunciation” look like in our lives?