“The Example of Jesus

When you hear the word stewardship, what comes to mind?

Tithe and offerings.

Budgets. Fundraising. Supporting the work of the church.

All reasonable answers. But perhaps Paul wants us to look at stewardship from the other end.
He says, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor.”

Why would Paul introduce Jesus into a discussion about an offering?

Because Jesus is our example of giving?

Yes. But notice where Paul begins. Not with what the Corinthians should give, but with what Christ had already given.
Before there was our gift, there was His grace.

So stewardship begins with grace?

Exactly.
And that raises an uncomfortable question:
Are we giving because we have encountered grace—or because we have been given a target?

But the church has to set financial goals. Evangelistic campaigns cost money.

Of course. Planning and budgeting are legitimate. The question is what happens when a budget becomes an obligation imposed on members.
Paul says, “ I speak not by commandment ,” and speaks of a “willing mind .”
So when does an invitation to participate in mission become an obligation to meet the budget?

Especially when every member is assigned a financial goal.

Yes. The church can tell us what the mission requires. But can the church determine exactly what God requires each person to give?
Those are not necessarily the same thing.

But if everyone isn't pressured, what happens when the goal isn't reached?

That is the tension.
But Paul gives us another safeguard. He says he doesn't want some to be relieved while others are burdened.
Christian generosity should never become spiritual manipulation.

So a good cause can still be presented in the wrong way?

Absolutely.
We can take something beautiful—generosity—and turn it into guilt, competition, or a test of faithfulness.
And then something else happens.
We start measuring generosity by the size of the gift.

But look at the Macedonians. They were poor, yet they gave generously.
Their generosity wasn't explained by abundance.
It was explained by grace.

So the question isn't simply how much someone gives?

No.
It is also what is happening in the heart of the giver.
And now we reach what I think is the most uncomfortable question of all:
Can we give money without giving ourselves?

What do you mean?

• I can finance an evangelistic campaign and never speak to my neighbor about Christ.
• I can support a mission project and ignore the lonely person sitting beside me.
• I can give generously to the church while being stingy with forgiveness, compassion, time, and attention.
• I can fund ministry without allowing ministry to transform me.

Then, a church could have a generous offering plate and an ungenerous heart.

Exactly.
Money is easy to count.
Love isn't.
A budget can tell us how much we collected. It cannot tell us how much Christlike love was released into the world.

But Paul wasn't simply raising money. There were people who needed help.

That's crucial.
The collection was for real people—believers who were suffering.
Mission wasn't an abstract budget.
It had human faces.
The resources were supposed to move from one person's abundance toward another person's need.

So, mission is what the moneyʻ is supposed to become.

Exactly.
Mission is not what happens after the offering is collected.
*
And that brings us back to Jesus.
He didn't merely give something.
He gave Himself.

He left glory.
He embraced humanity.
He became a servant.
He accepted the cross.
And Paul says He did it “for your sakes.”
So perhaps Jesus isn't simply teaching us how much to give.He's showing us what a life shaped by grace looks like.

Then what is the ultimate test of stewardship?

Perhaps it's not simply, “How much did I give?”
It is:
“What is God making of me through what He has placed in my hands?”
And perhaps an even harder question:
“What has God placed in my hands that was never meant to stop there?”
If everything God gives us stops with us, have we really understood the example of Jesus?

Then stewardship isn't merely about giving things back to God.

No.
It is about allowing what God has given us to become a blessing to someone else.
Because Christ was rich—yet He became poor.
Not because heaven lacked anything. But because love refused to keep everything for itself.

Perhaps that is the real challenge of this lesson:
Are we merely learning how to give what we have—or are we learning how to give ourselves?