Remembering the Poor

I coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothing, you know for yourselves that I worked with my own hands to support myself and my companions. In all this I have given you an example that by such work we must support the weak, remembering the word of the Lord Jesus, for he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” —Acts 20:33–35

Nowadays, “ministry” is big business. Every pastor, every preacher is pitching a vision, and the question of giving boils down to which big project you want to back. A megachurch complex with media rooms and coffee bars? A daily television program beamed into so many countries? A faith-based film that wants to go Hollywood? Many of the more audacious visionaries seize upon a couple of verses out of Malachi to guarantee monetary returns on these spiritual investments. Laying up treasures in heaven is for those standing still.

Saying farewell to the Ephesians elders, Paul spoke about money. But he didn’t mention Malachi, tithes, or even faith-based commitment cards. He spoke about the poor (the weak), and how he had shared from his own hard labor to help alleviate their grief. And he tied his toil to Jesus’ own words that it is more blessed to give than it is to receive. 

Paul’s farewell address doesn’t stand for the proposition that believers shouldn’t support their pastors or itinerant preachers, even those with over-the-top visions. Paul writes in Corinthians that those who preach the Gospel should live by the Gospel. But preachers tend to visualize big things when there is a tax exemption in place. And they often go beyond the Word to see that their visions are fulfilled (“Are you so stupid? having begun in the Spirit, are you now made mature in the flesh?”). Whenever we abandon the poor and give as a means to actualize our fleshly desires (read: help the rich get richer), we turn the Lord’s promise on its head.