The Generosity Of The Macedonian Christians: A Godly Model For Christian Giving
- May 5, 2022
- Posted by: rsispostadmin
- Categories: IJRISS, Religion and Cultural Studies, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume VI, Issue IV, April 2022 | ISSN 2454–6186
The Generosity Of The Macedonian Christians: A Godly Model For Christian Giving
Iddrissu A. Shaibu (Phd)
Department Of Religion And Human Values
College Of Humanities And Legal Studies
University Of Cape Coast, Cape Coast
Ghana-West Africa
ABSTRACT
In recent times, concerns have been raised by section of the Church regarding the excessive demands for money by the Church. The argument is that the excessive demands are to the detriment to the personal needs of the congregants. What is more, the presence of Covid-19 has partially led to worsen economic situations, which has in a way affected the giving pattern of the Church. This situation drew the attention of this researcher to the generosity of the Macedonian Christians as found in 2 Cor. 8 & 9. Using secondary sources and the theory of gratitude this paper established that the Macedonian Christians exhibited prosocial behaviour and were energised to sustain their moral behaviour through giving in the midst of severe afflictions. They gave not only to show appreciation for the extension of the Gospel to them, but to aid in the mission work of the Church. In this regard, severe economic and social situations should not deter believers from giving to the Church.
Key Words: Giving, Macedonian Christians, severe afflictions, gratitude, and generosity.
1.02 Introduction
The study deals with the generosity of the Macedonia Christians, which is seen as a godly model when it comes to Christian giving in the Church. It unearths lessons that the Ghanaian Church can learn from the generosity of the Macedonia Christians. It commences with the definition of concepts, statement of the problem, formation and situations, theory and ends with guiding principles.
It is significant from the onset to state the context in which certain terms or words have been used in this write-up. The researcher is aware that giving in the Christian context can be understood from various perspectives. For instance, it refers to devoting one’s expertise or time for God’s work, yet it would not be considered from this perspective. This is because it would be extremely difficulty quantifying one’s expertise or time into monetary value. In this sense, giving, in this context, refers to contributing financially or resource wise to the Church. Additionally, the Macedonia Church is used in this context to represents the churches in Phillippi, Berea and Thessalonica established by Apostle Paul during his missionary journeys (Melick Jr. R. Richard, 1989).
1.03 Statement of the Problem
Even though giving has been part of the religious practices of the Church since its inception, over the ages, a section of the laity has raised concern regarding the excessive demands for money by the Church (Turner, 1967; Beckmann, 1975 and Shaibu 2010 & 2018). It is common knowledge that humanity is in a tight financial situation especially with the advent of covid-19, which has partially worsened economic situations in the Church and world in general. The discontentment of some believers’ couple with the covid-19 as well as worsen economic situation draws one’s attention to the generosity exhibited by the Macedonian Christians as recorded in 2 Corinthians chapter 8 and 9. The current socioeconomic scenario in Ghana may not be identical to that of the Macedonian Church, yet poverty is a common denominator between the two nations. For instance, Philip (1962:288) describes the economic situation of the Macedonian Christians as ‘rock bottom poverty’. According to World Bank (2020) report, poverty is still a challenge in Ghana. Interestingly, Bruce (1971) claims that neither persecution nor poverty could deter the Macedonian Christians from exhibiting a worthy generosity. Per the act of the Macedonian Christians, one is tempted to believe that their giving was not in any way influenced or determined by worldly or material factor(s). It is against this backdrop that this paper seeks to critically assess lessons that the Ghanaian Church can learn from the generosity of the Macedonian Christians.
