Collection for the Church in Jerusalem

Biblical Texts

The collection is not treated in a single chapter. Instead, it appears in passages scattered across several of Paul's letters.

• Galatians 2:10: James, Cephas, and John in Jerusalem ask Paul and Barnabas "that we should remember the poor." Paul adds that this was "the same which I also was forward to do."
• 1 Corinthians 16:1–4: As he had directed the churches of Galatia, Paul instructs that on the first day of every week each person set aside a sum according to his income. When he arrives, he says, he will give letters to those whom the church approves and send them to carry the gift to Jerusalem.
• 2 Corinthians 8–9: This is the most extended treatment of the collection. Paul describes how the churches of Macedonia gave beyond their means even in deep poverty (8:1–5), and he sends Titus to complete the collection at Corinth. In this context appear the statements that Christ, "though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor" (8:9); that believers should supply one another's lack out of their abundance so that there may be equality (8:13–15); and that "he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully," for "God loveth a cheerful giver" (9:6–8).
• Romans 15:25–31: Paul is on his way to Jerusalem with the contribution gathered by the believers of Macedonia and Achaia. He reasons that since the Gentiles have shared in the spiritual things of the Jews, it is fitting for them to minister to the Jews in material things (15:27), and he asks for prayer that this service may be acceptable to the saints (15:31).
• Acts 24:17: Before the governor Felix, Paul says, "I came to bring alms to my nation, and offerings." This verse is commonly regarded as the reference to the collection in Acts.

Background

In 1 Corinthians 16 the Greek word used for the collection is logeia, meaning "collection." In 2 Corinthians 8–9 the same undertaking is also called "grace" (charis), "fellowship" or "sharing" (koinonia), and "service" or "ministry" (diakonia).

The texts do not explain why the Jerusalem church was poor. Acts 11:27–30 records that during a famine in the reign of the emperor Claudius, the church at Antioch sent relief by the hands of Barnabas and Saul. This episode, persecution, and similar factors have been proposed as background, but these remain conjectures. Many date the collection to the mid-50s, around the time of Paul's third missionary journey.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The collection is understood as more than simple charity; it is seen as a demonstration that the Gentile and Jewish churches form one body. Paul describes the Gentiles as spiritually indebted to the Jews. In 2 Corinthians 8:15 he quotes the account of the manna (Exodus 16:18), linking the principle of mutual sharing and balance to Israel's experience in the wilderness.

Interpretation and Issues

• Outcome: The texts do not say whether the collection was gladly received by the Jerusalem church. The account of Paul's arrival in Jerusalem in Acts 21 makes no mention of it. Some view the list of Paul's companions in Acts 20:4 as delegates sent by the various churches to deliver the collection, but the text does not state this explicitly.
• Principles of giving: The instruction to give regularly (on the first day of the week), according to one's means, and voluntarily is widely cited as the New Testament principle of giving. The tithe is not mentioned in these passages. Those who hold that the tithe remains binding read voluntary giving as something added on top of the tithe, whereas those who emphasize freewill giving treat these passages as the central basis for New Testament giving (tithing debate).
• "The first day of the week": Many churches cite 1 Corinthians 16:2 as the basis for gathering on the Lord's Day and for Sunday offerings. By contrast, Sabbath-keeping groups such as the Seventh-day Adventist Church point to the phrase "let every one of you lay by him in store" and read the verse as instructing each person to set money aside privately at home rather than as referring to a worship gathering (Sabbath and Sunday).