Right in the Right Way

Paul commended the Corinthians for their generous gift for the poor of Jerusalem. It was the right thing to do. Paul also explained how he planned to safeguard both their gift and his reputation, making sure it was delivered in the right way: “For we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord's sight but also in the sight of man.”

There are two potential errors when doing good and noble things “in the sight of man.”

• First, we can do them to gain recognition and praise. We’ve all seen people who do good things, but always with an eye on the crowd to see who is noticing. Jesus warned about this in Matthew 6.1-2: “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others.”
• The second error we can make in our acts of charity is to be so secretive about them that there is no method of accountability. Paul was concerned about having too much secrecy around the good and noble things done. He said that he was taking pains to administer the gift “in the sight of man.” Not only is giving to others noble, but also it is noble to make sure that others know that the gift is administered with the strictest controls possible to prevent misappropriation.

We cannot simply do what we think is right. We need to do it in the right way.