Titus Sent to Corinth
16I thank God, who put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. 17For Titus not only welcomed our appeal, but he is coming to you with much enthusiasm and on his own initiative. 18And we are sending along with him the brother who is praised by all the churches for his service to the gospel. 19What is more, he was chosen by the churches to accompany us as we carry the offering, which we administer in order to honor the Lord himself and to show our eagerness to help. 20We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. 21For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of men.
22In addition, we are sending with them our brother who has often proved to us in many ways that he is zealous, and now even more so because of his great confidence in you. 23As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you; as for our brothers, they are representatives of the churches and an honor to Christ. 24Therefore show these men the proof of your love and the reason for our pride in you, so that the churches can see it.
Dig Deeper
Part of human nature since the fall of man is to distrust one another. Left to our own devices, we tend to assume the worst about one another. When I was gathering up the money for the fund-raising coin competition at the high school at which I taught, I realized that chances were pretty low that anyone would have a problem with me collecting the money, counting it, and taking it to the bank. Even though I knew I wasn’t going to steal any money, and I felt that everyone trusted me, I thought it best to remain above suspicion. I had two other people with me at all times while collecting and counting the money. As we took the coins to the bank and got cash in return, I never held the money. The reason for all of this was that I wanted to remain above reproach for my own protection. I also wanted, however, to not put anyone in the position of being tempted to mistrust what was going on.
In organizing and calling for the Gentile churches to take up this collection for the Jerusalem Church, Paul knows that the best thing for all concerned was for him to not physically collect the money, and when he did take it to Jerusalem, he would take highly respected men with him so that no one would have doubts about Paul’s integrity. It appears that some of Paul’s opponents had accused him of trickery and embezzlement in the past (cf 2 Cor. 12:16), so he wants to avoid any possible appearance of that, both for his sake and theirs.
The first part of Paul’s plan to stay above reproach is to send Titus back to Corinth to gather the money that they had been collecting. Titus is commended by Paul, not so much for the person that he is, but for the work that God has done in him. God has transformed Titus’ heart, which is of ultimate importance to Paul because a transformed hearts is the hallmark of his Spirit-driven ministry. It is an important sign of being in Christ. Titus, then, would likely have just returned from Corinth and met Paul in Macedonia, and now Paul is asking him to turn around and go right back. Certainly Titus is becoming more familiar with the road to Corinth than he might have ever imagined. No doubt, Titus is driven to return to them for three reasons. The first is his loyalty to the Lord God. The second is his loyalty to Paul’s ministry and Paul himself. The third is his loyalty, concern and love for the Corinthians. He had so enjoyed his time with them that he apparently didn’t give a moment’s hesitation when Paul asked him to return to Corinth.
But, Titus is not going alone. There is more to Paul’s plan of perfectly perceived purity. Two other men will accompany Titus. Paul does something unusual for him in not including the name of these two men. Determining Paul’s reasons for not including their name and discovering the identity of these two anonymous brothers are impossible to know beyond conjecture so we will leave the conjecture to others as they will probably always be, a mystery. We can gain a few clues from the text, however, as to what was going on in this situation. The first brother was well known for his service to the gospel, which could mean that he was an evangelist. He was chosen specifically by the church for this task, which means, more than likely, that he was elected by the raising of hands during the assembly of the entire church. The second man (as evidenced by Paul referring to him as our brother that was being sent) was evidently, directly appointed by Paul for this task. They were entrusted with the task of safely transporting the collection just as the priests had been given the job to transport the offering from Babylonia to the Temple in Jerusalem (Ezra 8:24-30).
In verses 20 and 21, Paul clearly states the purpose for all of these precautions. He sought to avoid any criticism. Again, this is both for his benefit as well as to protect the hearts of other men. He wants to always be blameless in the sight of God and of other men. Paul is confident that he is blameless before God, but wants to take steps to make sure that is perceived as such before men. The word that is translated as “administer” in v. 20 literally says “ministered by us.” This change in translation obscures the point Paul is making. He says that this collection is part of his ministry, as he uses the same phrase in 2 Cor. 3:3 to describe the new covenant ministry of the Spirit. Paul’s point is that this collection is an indispensable part of the ministry of the Spirit to which he has been called. This collection is the evidence of the Spirit that has come through Paul’s ministry and into the lives of those to whom he has given the gospel. The reality of the Spirit is evidenced by Paul’s enthusiasm and their willingness to meet the needs of other Christians in response to God’s will.
What is so instructive for Christians today regarding Paul’s attitude in this situation is his willingness to take steps to be abo ve reproach. Many of us can think so highly of ourselves that we begin to think that we should be above reproach or suspicion. True, the Christian family should be characterized by trust and love but Paul knows that there will always be potential for temptation and questions to pop up. He humbly seeks to avoid these situations. What we often tend to do, however, is to get upset that we are being questioned or we resent the thought of taking steps to stay above reproach. Paul knew that by ensuring that there was no opportunity to question his actions, he is not only protecting himself, he is thinking of them by protecting their hearts from that temptation. The next time we are acting in a situation where our actions might be called into question, the best approach is the one Paul took. It is the humble road of taking precautions to protect yourself and benefit others rather than taking the self-focused road of claiming your right to not be questioned.
Paul’s desire for the Church in Corinth is that they accept Titus and the other two brothers with open arms. Earlier Paul argued that he did not need a letter of recommendation to or from the Church in Corinth, but has no problem providing one for Titus (although Titus didn’t really need one in Corinth either) and the two reliable brothers. These two men are, says Paul an honor to Christ. The Greek literally says “glory to Christ.” To value other believers as one who will be part of the glory of the Messiah when he returns to earth in all of His glory is part of the great task of God’s people (cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:10; 2 Cor. 3:18).
Paul calls them to show these men proof of your love by the way that they treat them. This is a great reminder for us that simply professing the gospel and saying that we love others is of little value if we don’t act on it. Paul had shown a great deal of confidence in the Corinthians, now it was time for them live up to that confidence and to welcome the three men coming to them, as well as by reaching out across ethnic and national lines and giving sacrificially to a group of Christians that most of them would never see or meet.
Devotional Thought
If someone were to examine your life what evidence of God’s transforming glory would they see? Does your life exhibit evidence of the things that you profess to be, or have you been reduced to mere words? What can you do today to make the transforming power of God’s glory evident to those around you?
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