Paul and Money

The apostle Paul was a business owner and a money raiser. He took offerings from the churches for God’s poor in Jerusalem and mission work proclaiming Jesus where he was not named.

He was neither shy about money nor owned by it. He was the same with and the same without money; he knew what it was to have plenty and what it was to have little. To him, the secret of having or not having was contentment – something in staggeringly short supply today. In this context, Paul stated something often taken out of context – “I can do all things (live with plenty or poverty) through him who strengthens me.” We use this scripture in the oddest of contexts, Paul in the most difficult and demanding contexts. (Philippians 4.10-14)

As a messenger of Christ, Paul had a right to be paid for ministry, which he regularly forewent to be an example of a self-sufficient leader, not relying upon nor sponging off others. His example of a Christ-like (cruciform) life mattered more than his right to be paid.

Paul raised money from the churches to, in essence, repay the church in Jerusalem, whose poor members were suffering. He worked hard at this task and was diligent in sending and safeguarding the money - to remain above reproach. (2 Corinthians 8.20-22)

Of those he encouraged to fulfill their intention for this offering was the church in Corinth. Two famous chapters about giving were written about this situation – 2 Corinthians 8 & 9. These remarkable verses are filled with encouragement to generosity, assurance the gift is administered with transparency and integrity, calling people to account by using the example of others, promises to those who are generous, and warnings to those who aren’t. He climaxes these two chapters by saying that by giving, they would be enriched in every way.

Paul is not presenting giving as a principle to personal prosperity but giving to express love for God’s church, which incidentally/also brings a harvest to and in the giver. If we primarily give to receive, we have missed the point and misrepresented the apostle.

And finally, Paul didn’t say, as it has often been wrongly quoted, that money is the root of all evil. He said the love of and an obsession with money is the root of all evil. (1 Timothy 6.9-10) Never was a truer word spoken.