2 Corinthians 8:16-24

2 Corinthians 8:16-24  I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you.  For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative.  And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel.  What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help.  We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift.  For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.  In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you.  As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ.  Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it. 

The will of God for Paul at this time was to collect money from various churches for the struggling Jerusalem church.  He desired to be above reproach in this activity, especially in collecting money from the troubled Corinthian church.  In many ways they were a church out of control and suspicious of Paul.  Therefore, Paul sent three upstanding men, one his partner Titus, to collect the Corinthian donations.  By sending three good men, Paul was attempting to alleviate the Corinthians' fears that their offering might be used in an inappropriate way or that it might not reach its Jerusalem destination.  Paul was taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.  He was making sure that the Corinthians could have confidence their money would actually get to Jerusalem to do the good for which it was intended.

In the church and out of the church, men and women should be able to trust our words.  We should not be lax in our interactions with others.  For sure, we should keep our word within the body of Christ.  Sometimes in Christian circles, men and women easily forsake their promises.  "Yes, I will teach Sunday school next week," or "I will bring treats to our next gathering," or "You can count on me to be there early," but as readily as they make those promises, they drop or forget them.  And sadly, sometimes they violate their words merely because of a peripheral concern or an existential whim--"Something came up," or "It is such a nice day out," or "It's been a long day and I'm tired," or "I just don't feel like it."  Our words should be trusted.  Paul wanted his words to be trusted; he wanted to win over the Corinthians' confidence.  He even sent three good men to validate his words and concerns.  

We also should want to win over others with our upright words and actions.  We are our Heavenly Father's representatives here on Earth; therefore, our words should be HIS.  WE SHOULD SPEAK AND ACT AS HE WOULD.  We would not treat our employers as we sometimes treat our Heavenly Father, for we would get fired, but many times our Heavenly Father and his church are treated exactly in this capricious way.  As Christians we know we are bought with a price, that we are not our own.  When we act as if we are our own, when we violate our own words or break our promises to God and to the community of believers, we not only look bad, we are a reproach to God.  Of course we all have good excuses.  But I am afraid our whimsical attitude toward keeping our word will not hold up in the court of the righteous judge.  He knows the true intent of our hearts.  Therefore, let us do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.  Let us do what is right with joy and gladness unto the Lord who loves us and gave himself for us.