8:16 But
thanks be to God who puts the same earnest care for you into the
heart of Titus. 17 For he not only accepted the exhortation, but
being more diligent, he went to you of his own accord. 18 And we have
sent with him the brother whose praise is in the gospel throughout
all the churches, 19 and not only that, but who was also
chosen by the churches to travel with us with this gift, which is administered
by us to the glory of the Lord Himself and to show your ready
mind, 20 avoiding this: that anyone should blame us in this lavish
gift which is administered by us— 21 providing honorable things, not
only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.
22 And we have
sent with them our brother whom we have often proved diligent in many things,
but now much more diligent, because of the great confidence which we
have in you. 23 If anyone inquires about
Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker concerning you. Or if our
brethren are inquired about, they are messengers of the churches, the
glory of Christ. 24 Therefore show to them, and before the
churches, the proof of your love and of our boasting on your behalf.
I often read Paul's writings with a certain envy. He is bold.
A boldness I do not possess, at least not yet. Titus, who has pastored them
before is returning to Corinth. He has volunteered to do so. Paul says Titus
has a heart for them that is equal to Paul's care for them. Along with Titus is
an unnamed person who has been given the responsibility of overseeing the money
given by the churches in Macedonia that is destined to provide relief in
Judea.
So Paul is challenging them to give, something they promised
to do a year earlier but haven't followed through on, and now he is sending
Titus and the money man to collect. He ends section with verse 24 -
"Therefore show to them, and before the churches, the proof of your
love and of our boasting on your behalf."
He is basically saying "It's time to put your money
where your mouth is. We have boasted about you so don't make us liars."
That's bold. Very bold. I'm not a pusher. I never have been.
I have been to seminars where speakers talked about the importance of making
appeals and some of their tactics seemed very pushy to me, almost manipulative.
There is no doubt in my mind that manipulation to get someone to do something
they don't want to do is wrong. However this is a different case. Paul is not
pushing them to do something they don't want to do. He is pushing them to do
something they already committed to do. This was their promise, not his.
It has me thinking about the implications for mutual
accountability and pushing each other to be what we desire to be. This is the
kind of boldness I pray for. I never want to push anyone into something they
don't want to do, but I do want to help people realize the personal goals and
commitments they have set themselves and have others do the same for me.
"Those I love I rebuke and correct." - God
See how practical God's word is. :)
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