Contradiction

I showed you all these things, that working in this way we ought to help those being weak, and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Acts 20:35

To Receive – Read the words of Yeshua cited by Paul.  Do they really make any sense?  Think about it.  Does Yeshua really compare the blessing of giving with the blessing of receiving, and then tell us that one blessing is better than the other?  Is there something wrong with receiving?  Is receiving a lesser spiritual action than giving?  I should hope not!  Where would any of us be if receiving from the Lord carried less of a blessing than the Lord’s giving?  We’ve read these words (and probably said them) so often that we never stop to think about what they imply.  But a look at the Greek text indicates that maybe we don’t have this translation quite right, and when we really understand what Yeshua said, everything changes.

The Greek verb here is lambano.  It can mean “receive” but it also means “to take hold of, to seize, to actively take.”  While the statement sounds so spiritual in its traditional form, the context doesn’t support such a reading.  Paul is talking about his selfless actions on behalf of the congregation at Ephesus.  He specifically mentions the fact that he did not take anything for himself.  He says that he even supported himself during the ministry in Ephesus.  In other words, he was a living example of giving without taking.  To suggest that he quotes Yeshua about not receiving doesn’t fit.  Paul did receive from the people at Ephesus.  He belonged to that community.  He shared in their meals, their worship, their fellowship and their lives.  But he didn’t use his position for accumulation.  Instead of building up his own storehouse, he gave back.  “It is more blessed to give than to accumulate – to take hold or seize.”

How would our behavior have to change if Yeshua told us that giving is the antidote to amassing wealth?  Clearly the behavior of the early Messianic congregations demonstrates the actions of giving rather than accumulating.  In fact, there are many occasions in Scripture where we are exhorted to use what God graciously provides for the benefit of others.  This is one of the great contradictions of faith.  Our lives are not measured by how much we collect or acquire or control.  Our lives are measured by how much we distribute from what God provides.  We are the pipelines of His grace for others, and that includes physical resources.

Brian Rosner makes this point:  “ . . . the greedy are those with a strong desire to acquire and keep for themselves more and more money and possessions, because they love, trust and obey wealth rather than God.”  In other words, greed is idolatry.  But greed is not limited to millionaires and Wall Street bankers.  Greed fits anyone who desires to accumulate and control.  Maybe that’s why it is such a dangerous component of false worship.

Topical Index:  greed, receive, blessing, seize, take hold, Acts 20:35