Dear friends,
It is a preacher’s foible and failing that we like to have alliteration, so today’s heading of Money, Men and Manners is an attempt to unite Paul’s concluding chapter in his first letter to the Corinthians. There is more teaching and challenge in the scriptures about money than almost any other ethical topic. Our attitude to money is one of those distinctive qualities of Christian life for we know of the impossibility of serving both God and money. However, there is very little teaching in the scriptures that is exclusively addressed to manliness, and 1 Corinthians 16 gives us the challenge to be manly. As you read this week’s episode, I will leave you to find the importance of manners. I hope you enjoy it—or should I say, please enjoy it.
Yours,
Phillip
Phillip Jensen: In this episode, we are dealing with the very last chapter of 1 Corinthians. There are so many issues raised in this one book, and today we will look at some very unusual and controversial topics: the doctrine of work, the work of the Lord, and the work for the Lord.
I would like to remind our listeners and readers that in 2017 at our Queen’s Birthday Conference, Al Stewart and I spoke on the work of the Lord and the work for the Lord, and you can find those talks here.
This passage also talks on the nature of manliness, which is such a controversial subject for today. If you want to follow up on the subject of manliness, I gave a series of talks at the Katoomba Men’s Convention back in 2001, which you can find here.
So we’ve dealt with these topics in other contexts, but they both come out here in 1 Corinthians 16, which is, I suspect, not your favourite chapter.
Peter Jensen: I was a bit hesitant about this one and wondered if we should jump over it. I can give you a running commentary, just out of my head, on all of the chapters that lead up to it, culminating in 1 Corinthians 15. But I couldn’t think of a single thing to say about 1 Corinthians 16. It seems to be the postscript at the end of a letter. But after reading it again, I have a different point of view. I suppose I was hesitant because it’s rather historically bound, which calls into question its relevance for us today. But I should have known better; the word of the Lord is relevant all the way through. Its historical provenance is obviously important. We’re reading a real letter here, not a series of unrelated proverbs or maxims. It enables us to see the people that Paul is talking to. But of course, it’s God’s Word; it’s God speaking to us. As we hear what he has to say, its relevance happens to be quite significant at various points, as you’ve already said. There are some pretty forthright challenges, as we’ll see in 16:13–14, and then again in 16:22.
Phillip: I would like to pick up on what you’ve said on the historical provenance of these things. It’s easy to take it for granted as Bible readers, but one of the difficulties with the Qur’an and with Confucius, for instance, is they’re just maxims, and maxims without any historical context can be made to mean quite different things. Whereas you can understand the Bible more easily because it does give this clear historical context. It is a real letter written to real people, and as we can see, this context enables us to understand with greater confidence what the author was saying to the people.
Peter: The first 2 words of the chapter, “Now concerning,” are very important. He’s repeated that same phrase in chapter 7, chapter 12, et cetera. That is, there were topics that the Corinthians were raising with him, and he would answer them one after another. Likewise, in saying “Now concerning the collection for the saints,” Paul raises this last issue. It seems unimportant at first, but as we’ll see in a few moments, it is still significant, for the great climax at the end of chapter 15 and its application to life still filters through to chapter 16.
So 15:58 is said in the light of the resurrection: “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” Similarly, he says in 16:13–14, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” The end of chapter 15 flows through to chapter 16, even though he’s raising a particular subject at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 16
Now concerning the collection for the saints: as I directed the churches of Galatia, so you also are to do. On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I come. And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem. If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.
I will visit you after passing through Macedonia, for I intend to pass through Macedonia, and perhaps I will stay with you or even spend the winter, so that you may help me on my journey, wherever I go. For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits. But I will stay in Ephesus until Pentecost, for a wide door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.
When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
Now concerning our brother Apollos, I strongly urged him to visit you with the other brothers, but it was not at all his will to come now. He will come when he has opportunity.
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
Now I urge you, brothers—you know that the household of Stephanas were the first converts in Achaia, and that they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints—be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such people.
The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord. All the brothers send you greetings. Greet one another with a holy kiss.
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Peter: Let’s begin with the discussion of the financial arrangements, because there are some interesting remarks. In 2 Corinthians 8–9, he has a great deal more to say about this very subject. He also says some interesting things in Acts 20 to the Ephesian elders about finance and giving, and quotes the Lord Jesus in Acts 20:35, “Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Returning to 16:1, “Now concerning the collection for the saints,” it’s important to note that he doesn’t say, “the collection to support the ministers.” That’s dealt with elsewhere in the New Testament. The saints, in other words, are all the Christians. In the light of 2 Corinthians 8–9, the Jews in Judea were suffering particularly for their Christian faith at that time, so it may be referring to the collection to support them. But we’re more interested in the principles at stake here. Notice too that he made the same appeal to the churches of Galatia. The churches were networked, and they looked to each other for support. What happened in one church should have happened in the other.
Phillip: But there was a sense that the Gentiles in particular should have been giving to the Jews, because in Acts 11, there was a famine in Judea for which they were collecting money. But the collection was about more than just relief for people in poverty.
Peter: There was a sense of gratitude for the way in which the Jews were the ones who preached the gospel first.
Phillip: They had given the spiritual blessings for which, therefore, it would have been right to bring the physical blessings. But it’s also part of that Old Testament sense that in the end, all the nations of the world will pay tribute to God’s people of Israel. I’m not talking of the modern state of Israel; I’m talking of the true Jew.
Peter: That’s an interesting thought. You’d also turn to Romans 9–11, which refers to the way in which we are merely grafted into the tree of the original.
Phillip: Which is the true Jew, the one who follows the Lord Jesus.
Let’s return to 1 Corinthians 16. This first bit is about the organisational system.
Peter: Yes. It’s worth mentioning that this giving is not merely spontaneous, but organised. Although spontaneous giving occurs; that is the giving you may do in the street when you see a beggar, or when you’ve heard an appeal for money. But that ought to be a byproduct of your organised giving, which is what Paul is talking about here. He tells them to give on the first day of every week, which is a tantalising thing to say. Did he choose the first day of the week because that was the day on which they would meet?
Phillip: Yes, it may mean that. For those of us who believe in gathering on the first day of the week, which you and I have been doing all our lives, you naturally read church into it. But the passage doesn’t mention church. It could be that they’re paid on the last day of the week, and so Paul is saying, “Before you start spending on the first day of the week, put aside the money that you should.” We don’t know for sure, so it is important to be reticent in any application of this.
Peter: That’s very fair. I personally think it is referring to church, but you’re right in saying that.
Phillip: Though in our church now, a very small percentage of our regular congregation put money in a plate.
Peter: We don’t pass the plate.
Phillip: We still do at our church, but it’s almost an embarrassment because it looks like only 2 or 3 people actually use it, when in fact a lot of people are giving by electronic transfers.
Peter: Yes. I don’t think the point of the passage is that your giving has to be done on the first day of the week; rather, it ought not to just be spontaneous. By all means, spontaneous generosity is a wonderful thing, but it ought to be also planned, so that you give generously to those in need. I think that’s a fair deduction from what he is saying here.
The other thing that he mentions here is the accreditation of those who carried the gift to Jerusalem. 16:3, “And when I arrive, I will send those whom you accredit by letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem.” When I used to visit various churches, I would make a habit of going into the vestry after the church service to observe the counting of the money there, which still happened in many churches back then. I would see that 2 people were counting the money instead of just one. Why was that?
Phillip: That would be because of this passage, but also because of the rightness of this practice. Being sinful people, we must never encourage people into situations where sinfulness will have its way. So when auditing accounts, it is good to have 2 people counting money in order to make sure that everything is financially proper. It goes back to Paul, you see; in chapter 9, he’s insistent that he’s making the gospel free of charge, that it’s a generosity that lies at the back of it. In 1 Timothy 6, he warns about people who are lovers of money and who minister because of their love for money. It’s therefore very important that we, who live in such a financially greedy world, minister like the Lord Jesus Christ, who, as it says in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “Was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” So the ministry of the gospel must always be absolutely above board in terms of financial accountability, and more importantly, must be an expression of generosity over and above financial accountability.
Peter: It is also a reminder that we are all sinners, and so we need to do both those things.
Phillip: Dreadful things in human history, and even today, have come by churches not following these practical examples of the Apostle Paul. Remember that in his day, there were people who preached for money as a pattern of life, and so he made sure he was not like them. But those who push the prosperity gospel, I’m afraid, bring disrepute upon the generosity of gospel sharing.
Peter: The other thing that comes up in talking about his travel arrangements is the impression we sometimes have that the Apostle is, in a sense, ‘spirit-led’. I’m not saying this impression has any relationship with the scriptures, but we sometimes think that Paul moves solely by some instinct of the Spirit’s leadership, or something like that. But it’s interesting to see him saying, 16:4, “If it seems advisable that I should go also, they will accompany me.”
In other words, he uses his common sense, and he takes into account the opinion of others. He does what we do as human beings in making his travel arrangements. That’s also to be found in other bits and pieces of the passage; for example, 16:7, “For I do not want to see you now just in passing. I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.” That is, he’ll wait and see what happens. Notice, though, how he says, “If the Lord permits.” In other words, he’s fully conscious that his life is under the sovereign control of the Lord. He doesn’t just make up his own mind, but he’s aware of the Lord’s provision. Please notice here too, in the conduct of ministry, his real affection for them. For one thing that ought to be true of Christians, and pastors in particular, is the love, affection and care of those who receive your teaching. Teaching is not something that’s done simply online, so to speak. That’s why I hope the church will never again meet online as we did during COVID, because it is a matter of a relationship with real affection. That is why Paul says, “I want to spend some time with you.” We spend money, but spending time is also a very important thing.
Phillip: Notice 16:24, where he finishes, “My love be with you all in Christ Jesus. Amen.” It’s a very strong part of his thinking. It reminds me of James 4:13, in which James tells people not to say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit,” for you don’t know what tomorrow holds. Instead, you should say, “If the Lord permits.” But that doesn’t mean that you don’t make any plans at all. It means that you make plans, but recognise that they will happen if the Lord permits. You make the plans. If the Lord permits, that will happen.
You mentioned COVID and meeting online. This will upset some of our readers and listeners, I know, but I suspect you will agree with me on this. That is, theological degrees online are second best, at best. Learning online is fundamentally different from learning properly. People doing university degrees online are missing out on a university education, and theological teachers being trained online are missing out on the loving and affectionate relationship with their teachers, which is so fundamental to training in ministry. Now, in an age of poverty, in an age of difficulty, it still can be done. But we shouldn’t ever see it as the best way to do it. It’s second best, at best. I’m afraid that sometimes I see it as third and fourth best.
Peter: It’s happening especially in the United States. People think, “I can do this while I’m still living at home.” I can understand that. But as you say, you don’t have church online, and there’s a sense of overlap between the seminary, the place that shapes you, and church. Because you’re shaped not just by information, but also by the very people who give you the information, their lives, their love, and their prayers for you—and you miss out on your relationships with fellow students. I still meet with people I came to college with in 1966. We still meet and support each other. So yes, this is a controversial thing to say. I understand, and people will be offended, I’m sure. But I think it’s something we need to just step back and think about, without being swamped by our instincts at this point.
Phillip: I talked to a man the other day who told me that he got his arts degree during COVID. He did 3 years without ever going on the campus because of COVID. But he worked out at the end of his first year that he didn’t need to spend much time at home because he could listen to his lectures at double speed, and there were only so many lectures he had to listen to. So in his second and third year, he had a full-time job while doing his degree. He told me that at the end of it, he realised he had not been to university at all. He just had a degree from a university. It’s a deception to think that you can learn without teachers. AI is only going to reinforce this problem for us because it depersonalises the relationship between teachers and students. Throughout chapter 16, you see the love that Paul has for Timothy, for the relationship he has with Apollos, and his relationship with Stephanas.
Peter: Let’s now discuss what he says about ministry arrangements.
Phillip: This passage challenges me because of my egalitarianism as an Australian citizen and because of my anti-clericalism as a Protestant. Both of those things need to be qualified. Notice Paul’s care for Timothy in 16:10–11,
When Timothy comes, see that you put him at ease among you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, as I am. So let no one despise him. Help him on his way in peace, that he may return to me, for I am expecting him with the brothers.
Paul commands them to care for Timothy and help him on his way because he’s doing the Lord’s work. It’s not as though he’s simply saying, “My little brother Timothy is coming, so please look after him.” It’s more than that.
Then we turn to 16:16, “Be subject to such as these, and to every fellow worker and laborer.” That is, submit yourselves not to the teaching of people, but to people. Submit yourself to those devoted to the service of the saints. Likewise, 16:18, “Give recognition to such people.” I still am pretty, anti-clerical, and you read every now and then about cults where submission to the cult leader is demanded, and it is horrendous. I want to underline that we mustn’t encourage that. But we also mustn’t go to the other extreme and say, “Your pastor doesn’t matter. He’s no different to any other member. The missionaries who came bringing the gospel to you are just like any other human being.” No, those who are labouring for the Lord do need to be recognised.
Hebrews 13 speaks of it again, reminding us that we need to have some degree of recognition for those who teach the gospel. Take the word ‘Reverend’ which of course contains the word ‘revere’. You revere the person. But I don’t think people understand that the only people who call me ‘Reverend’ are people who don’t know me, like funeral directors. “I’ll carry your bag for you, Reverend,” they say. But they don’t revere me. The people who do revere me call me Phillip. But they revere me not because I am great, but because the gospel I preach is great. But it’s important that you revere not just the gospel, but the person who brings that to you. So Timothy, like Paul, is doing the work of the Lord. Stephanas and the others are devoted to the service of the saints; he’s a fellow worker and labourer.
Peter: Indeed. I’ve always thought that the temptations of ministry are, among others, greed. It is possible for ministers to make money out of their ministry. I’m not going to go into the details of how, because I don’t want to tempt anyone, but I’ve seen it. It’s possible also for ministers to be besotted with power. Even leading a small congregation means that you’ve got power over them. While it is right to honour the minister, it is wrong for the minister to turn that honour into a means of receiving self-approval, and then to exploit it in a way which is ungodly over the people whom God has given him.
It’s very beautiful when Paul says here that we are to do the work of the Lord, and that those to whom they are to be subject are devoted to the service of the saints. Because as you say, it is right to revere the minister, but we are in service to the Lord and his people. Unless the minister sees that they are in service, they are in danger of falling into this sin of power which is so unpleasant.
Phillip: It’s interesting that the recipients of the gospel should honour those over them, while those who are over them should see themselves as under them in service. Both sides must not fight for power, but give power to the other.
Before we finish, let’s look at the challenges given to us in 1 Corinthians 16:13–14
Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.
Peter: Be watchful against the evil one and against false teaching. Stand firm in the faith. That is to say, we need to guard the faith, and we need to act out the faith. This is very important, because again and again, Christians have become vulnerable by not standing firm in the faith, and vulnerable to the words of this world which have seduced us into ways of life which are unscriptural, and made us feel as though we need to be more popular than we are.
Phillip: Take 1 Corinthians 15:2, “Hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” The entire book commands this of us, not just this verse. But what about “act like men”?
Peter: Bearing in mind that this is addressed to men and women in the congregation, I presume this means that there’s an aspect of manliness which we can all practice. I see it personally as being that aspect of manliness which is to take responsibility. Specifically, we are to be responsible for the gospel and for those who believe in the gospel. I take it that it’s true for all of us, male and female alike.
Phillip: So women need to be like men?
Peter: In that respect. What do you make of it?
Phillip: I think men are supposed to be men. There is a certain masculinity that is right, but it’s not the masculinity of Andrew Tate and those influencers who see masculinity in the size of their biceps. It’s the masculinity of taking responsibility. There is a sense in which some men do bear that masculinity, which must be committed to the Lord Jesus Christ. But men, it’s time to stand up and be men for the Lord Jesus.
Peter: So you see it as being addressed particularly to men?
Phillip: Yes.
Peter: Therefore you’re not saying women should be manly. You’re saying, “Come on, men, be men.”
Phillip: Yes. 1 Timothy 2:8 tells us, “The men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarrelling.” Because men are great at fighting, but they really need to be manly in prayer.
Peter: So 16:14, “Let all that you do be done in love,” is presumably addressed to all?
Phillip: “Be strong,” is the next phrase. But yes, it’s addressed to all. However, it’s not just women who should do things in love.
Peter: Certainly not. It’s part of our manliness. I’m presuming that women want us to be manly in the right sense—and then men and women must do all things in love.
Phillip: Yes. Whatever it is you do, do it in love. Let’s run down to the other challenge, because it’s tougher than that one. 16:22, “If anyone has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed. Our Lord, come!” The word ‘cursed’ here is a translation of the Greek word ‘anathema’; that is, “Let him be no more. Let him be damned.” This is not what the pastoral care and gentility of the 21st century could possibly be encouraging, is it? There is a sense in which we need to speak of hell, though it is never a joy to do so. The only hellfire preacher in the scriptures is Jesus, but here is one of the few occasions in which Paul speaks of it, like he does with Galatians in the first chapter of that book. And who is it that he’s accursing? Those who don’t love the Lord Jesus. When he appeals, “Come, Lord Jesus,” he’s appealing to that judgement when ‘anathema’ happens. So 16:22 is one of the harshest verses of the scriptures. I don’t know many that are as harsh as that. It is calling upon God’s judgement and making it clear, as we said last week, the contrast between the man of dust and the man of heaven. Humanity is divided like that. There are those who love the Lord Jesus and those who don’t, and that terrible division now is a division of eternal consequences.
Peter: And why would we love Jesus?
Phillip: Because his love for us is overwhelming. But you’ll notice while 16:22 is so harsh, 16:23–24 are lovely verses, for they speak of the grace, generosity, and the love of the Lord Jesus. Then you see it in Paul himself: his love for the Corinthians, who are such a pain to him. The whole book has been involved in the controversies, difficulties and hostilities that he has received from them, yet he loves the sinner as the Lord Jesus loved the sinner. So while we know the end consequence of sin is judgement, we also know that the gospel is of Jesus overcoming judgement, not because we deserve it, but because of his grace and his love.
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Links & Recommendations
For more on this topic, check out this talk given at St Andrew’s Cathedral called Let All Be Done In Love.
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