Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 7 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
“Your face is going to stay that way!” The familiar warning to the child adept at making funny faces was not a new one for me. The phrase, “You reap what you sow.”, has been used as a sort of Christian Karma in cases of sin in or out of the church. “He will get his.”, may be true, but this is not what Paul seemed to write to these churches. This appears to a be a straight appeal for financial support from the churches to fill his needs. The church in Corinth had received a similar message. The churches in Macedonia and Philippi had been faithful partners in Paul’s ministry. Subsequently, their churches were more healthy and were largely spared from the ravages of false teaching. In this respect, they reaped what they had sown.
Today, people bristle at the thought that their church is appealing to their wallets. This attitude is not entirely biblical. In appealing to the giving nature of the followers of Jesus, the appeal is to the heart, not the pocketbook. Using this criteria, the health of a follower or a church can be gauged by looking at their attitude toward giving. Therefore, in a very real sense, the Christian Karmic principle is closer to the truth than once thought. In the Christian life…
You will indeed reap what you sow.
Pastor Brad Boyer
Cape Community Church