Giving Is The Highest Level of Living?

Rick WarrenVerified account‏@RickWarren

Giving is the highest level of living. "Remember our Lord Jesus said 'It's more blessed to give than to receive'" Acts20:35

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10:45 AM - 22 Jan 2014

I thought  it was to walk in a manner worthy of the Gospel by loving God with all one's heart, mind, soul, and strength and loving your neighbor as yourself. One can also ask, "giving what"?

Here's the context of the verse Warren used:

Act 20:16  For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. 

Act 20:17  From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. 

Act 20:18  And when they had come to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, 

Act 20:19  serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; 

Act 20:26  "Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 

Act 20:27  "For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. 

Act 20:28  "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 

Act 20:29  "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; 

Act 20:30  and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 

Act 20:31  "Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. 

Act 20:32  "And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 

Act 20:33  "I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes. 

Act 20:34  "You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. 

Act 20:35  "In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'" 

Act 20:36  When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 

This doesn't say that "giving is the highest level of living" and it's certainly not about money. It's also not about social justice.

Just to be clear I found that  "weak" doesn't mean the poor. The "weak" are feeble, diseased, sick. 

Greek work for "weak":

astheneō

as-then-eh'-o

From G772; to be feeble (in any sense): - be diseased, impotent folk (man), (be) sick, (be, be made) weak.

Often in the NT it is used for just being physically sick, but weak in the faith.

So the true elder is to give to the flock the rich Word of God, protect the flock from false teachers (which by the way, Warren is one), and not be a burden to the local church. Those in true need are to be taken care of first by their family, and failing that, by his or her own church (in the case of the severely poor and persecuted church in Jerusalem, helped by other churches). 

It's about living out a life consistent with the "whole counsel of the Word of God" and not being a burden to the churches, but rather wanting to be an example of being a shepherd both in word and indeed with those believers around him ("the men who were with me").  The heart of it is that a true believer and shepherd will not covet material wealth but instead seeks the true needs of those around him, which are fundamentally spiritual, and then physical, when God gives the opportunity. Paul was certainly not a social worker.

John MacArthur speaks on this whole passage here.

In fact, the juxtaposition of what Paul is teaching the Ephesian elders is what Judas was. He was a professor of Christ, a disciple of Christ, but coveted the moneybag and was in reality a thief, a liar, a betrayer, a fool. A true shepherd will feed AND protect God's flock.

1Th 2:8  Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. 

1Th 2:9  For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 

1Th 2:10  You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; 

1Th 2:11  just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, 

1Th 2:12  so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. 

1Th 2:13  For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe. 

Other passages to check out in regard to not being a burden on the church but to make Scripture the focus is 1Thes. 4:9-12; 2 Thes. 3:7-12.

And lastly here is John MacArthur on Acts 20:35:

A truly God-honoring ministry must focus on giving, not getting. God will not bless the ministry of someone who is preoccupied with money. The Lord Jesus Christ put it simply and directly when He said, “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matt. 6:24). All believers are commanded, “Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have” (Heb. 13:5); that is doubly true of those in positions of spiritual leadership (1 Tim. 3:3; Titus 1:7). Those who care for the flock of God must not do so for material gain.

Love of money has always characterized false teachers. In the Old Testament, Isaiah (56:11), Jeremiah (6:13; 8:10), and Micah (3:11) denounced the greedy false leaders of Israel. In the New Testament, Paul described false teachers as those who teach “things they should not teach, for the sake of sordid gain” (Titus 1:11). Peter also warned against the greed of false teachers (2 Pet. 2:3).

Paul’s ministry was not characterized by self-seeking materialism. The apostle emphatically declared I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. He then appealed to their firsthand observation of his three years of ministry at Ephesus. You yourselves know, he reminded them, no doubt holding up his hands as he spoke, that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. Although Paul had every right to receive support for his ministry (1 Cor. 9:3ff.) and sometimes did (2 Cor. 11:8–9; Phil. 4:10–19), it was his custom to support himself (2 Cor. 11:7; 12:13; 1 Thess. 2:9; 2 Thess. 3:8). He did so that he might “offer the gospel without charge” (1 Cor. 9:18).

Paul then appealed to them to follow his example: In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ The apostle not only supported himself but also worked to help others in need. This quotation of Jesus is not recorded in the gospels but was nonetheless known among the early Christians. It is of great consequence that this is the only quotation recorded outside the gospels of a statement spoken by Jesus while He was on earth. That gives significant weight to the truth it reveals. The gospels no more contain every word our Lord spoke during His earthly ministry than they do all His deeds (John 21:25). Only the divinely inspired Bible, however, contains those words and deeds that He wished us to remember. The fanciful deeds and sayings recorded in extrabiblical writings are to be rejected.

~MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1994). Acts (p. 326). Chicago: Moody Press.

It is quite telling that Warren is well-known for his "giving" (like his "reverse tithing"). Its paraded around like a badge of honor, thus is of pride and arrogance, similar to the Pharisees of Jesus' day. "Doing good" to gain the world's applause and supposed favor from God is condemned by God and He will not honor such selfish pride.

The very passage Warren quotes in order to what? guilt people into works-righteousness a la social justice? is the very passage that warns about men like him.