For [it is] not in order that there may be ease for others, and for you distress,
Paul is asking the believers at Corinth to finish a collection for poor believers in Jerusalem. Here he stops to answer a fear. He is not asking them to sink so that others can rise — so what exactly is the "fairness" he has in view, and how far does it reach?
Paul has just said that a gift is measured by what a person has. That rules out one way of helping the poor.
Second, let their giving be "according to what a person has." There is no thought of meeting one person's need by pushing another into need. That would only ease the burden on one by putting it on the other.
Paul is not asking Corinth to carry a share out of proportion to anyone else.
Paul did not want the Corinthians to take on a load out of proportion to others. He was not making things hard for them so that others could be relieved. But a spirit that gladly shares what God has given with those in clear need is a right expression of unity, and that unity wants blessing for all believers.
The ESV reads "fairness" here, where the older translation the commentators quote reads "equality." The word does not mean everyone ends up with the same amount or the same standing. The picture behind it is the manna, the food God gave Israel in the desert.
Third, the giving is to produce an "equality." This need not be equality in wealth or social position. It means that each one is equally set free from need. The Apostle shows what this equality is like by pointing to the manna. The amount gathered could differ greatly from person to person, since some gathered much and some little. Yet all were alike in this: every need was met.
This is not permanent charity from a fixed set of givers. Who gives and who receives can change.
When Paul wrote, the need was among the believers in Jerusalem. The supply was among the non-Jewish believers whom Paul's work had reached. So a tide of supply was to flow from the second group to the first. In time the situation might be reversed, and then the tide would flow the other way.
Paul backs the point with the desert food God sent Israel, where some gathered much and some little yet nobody was short. The lesson drawn is about the God who did the measuring.
Grace refuses to force anyone. It values, encourages, and directs a ready mind. Without that, what is a gift worth? ... God's own way and word about the gathering of the manna long ago backs this up. He matched the supply to the need with a wisdom and power that ruled out both too much and too little. He who gave the manna from heaven measured it exactly, whatever the different amounts in people's hands. And we have to do with the same God, who orders everything in the church with no less care and love.
None of this works as a rule forced from outside. It grows out of believers belonging to one another.
Unless we have taken in the truth of the "one body," this call must feel like a burden and not a privilege. That is why so many poor believers grumble and complain. All Christians are saints, and all are members of the body of Christ. We all know that the members of one body share the same interests, sympathies, feelings, and future. On this principle we take part in the needs of fellow believers, or should do, treating those needs as our own... On this verse one commentator remarks: "The apostle suggests here that we ought to meet the needs of poor believers with as much care as if we were helping ourselves."
- Need, not amount — the aim is that each one is equally set free from need, not that wealth or social position match.
- Need not created — you never relieve one person's need by pushing another into need. The burden is shared, not moved.
- Need is measured — the gift matches "what a person has." A ready mind matters more than the size of the gift, and grace never uses pressure.
- Need moves — today's giver may be tomorrow's receiver. The tide of supply can flow the other way.
- Need is felt as your own — God measured the manna exactly, and He still measures. Because we are one body, we treat another's shortage as our own.
but [on the principle] of equality; in the present time your abundance for their lack, that their abundance may be for your lack, so that there should be equality.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
According as it is written, He who [gathered] much had no excess, and he who [gathered] little was nothing short.
Paul closes his appeal for the collection by pointing back to the manna in the wilderness, where every gatherer went home satisfied. So what is the "equality" God wants among His people, and how does a story about manna become a rule for money?
In the wilderness each person gathered a set daily measure of manna, called an omer.
This passage, quoted from Exodus 16, is a striking example. The Spirit of God often gives one scripture a variety of meanings when He applies it. The Exodus account plainly contains three things. First, on God's part, He makes equal provision for each: an omer for every man. Second, on man's part, "each of them gathered as much as he could eat" — the appetite governed the amount collected. And so, last, whatever the amount gathered, the one who gathered much had nothing over and the one who gathered little had no lack. Both the large and the small desires were satisfied by what each obtained.
The wonder in the wilderness was not in the gatherers but in the Giver. That same hand is at work now.
God's way and word about the gathering of the manna long ago back this up. He fitted the supply to the demand with a wisdom and power that ruled out excess just as much as shortage. The One who gave the manna from heaven measured it exactly, whatever the differing measures in men's hands. And we have to do with the same God. We can be sure He regulates everything in the church with no less care and love.
The word could sound like a demand that everyone end up with the same amount.
Third, the giving is to produce an "equality." This need not mean equal wealth or social position. It means that each one is equally freed from need. The Apostle gives an example of this equality by referring to the manna. The amounts people gathered might have differed greatly. Some gathered much and some little. Yet all were alike in this: each one had his need met.
Nor does this verse turn private property into a common fund.
Community of goods is not taught in Scripture; it is entirely foreign to its spirit. The rich had their duties, and the poor had theirs as well (1 Tim. 6:17; James 1:9-10). All who were able were to work so that they might have something to give — not to a common purse, but to the needy (Eph. 4:28; 2 Thess. 3:10, 12). The needy Jewish believers at Jerusalem were remembered and helped by believers from other nations (Acts 11:27-30; Gal. 2:10; Rom. 15:25-27). This generosity was to reach wherever the need appeared — even to the world, as they had the ability (Rom. 12:13; Gal. 6:10).
In the wilderness God did the levelling Himself. Now He does it through people, and that has a purpose.
The beautiful example of the manna is what he sets before them here. It was a ministry from heaven itself. Men had only to gather what God had given, and yet "whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack." That was God's thought and desire for them all. Now He uses human hands to do it. In this way He binds the hearts of His people to each other and draws out their love. The gift, if it was anything at all, was only the display of that love.
The principle only becomes real when someone looks at what they hold and acts.
The Lord had provided the manna: some gathered more, some less, but His care was the same for all, and all had enough with no excess. If that is the Lord's way, then if I have excess, I should be thankful to be able to share it with another who has lack. If I see others not having equality, at least let me have the heart to equalise things.
The manna also teaches something about the gatherer.
There was enough for all, but each one was to gather according to his capacity to take it in. It is often said that we enjoy Christ and His grace according to our capacity and our diligence. Here we have that idea pictured.
- Provision — God sent enough manna for everyone. He measured it Himself, so there was no surplus and no shortage.
- Pattern — What He did Himself in the wilderness He now does through His people's hands. This binds their hearts together and draws out their love.
- Meaning — "Equality" is not equal wealth or status. It is every need met. Scripture does not pool property: rich and poor each keep their own duties.
- Decision — Excess in my hands is the signal to share, and the heart that sees inequality wants to close it.
- Appetite — The same words teach one more thing. We take in as much of Christ as our capacity and diligence reach for.