1st Corinthians 9:1-2
Today Paul is building on the same principles we talked about last week. All of these are in the gray areas in Christian living. We do find Christians divided on issues of freedom like…
Drinking alcoholic beverages;
Smoking or chewing tobacco;
Card playing;
Wearing makeup;
Dancing;
Playing and/or watching sports on Sunday;
Styles of music (I grew up hearing how evil rock music was);
Going to the theater;
Going to the movies
The practice of meditation;
Styles of dress;
Gambling;
Playing the lottery
Having Christmas trees; telling your children the story of Santa verses the birth of Christ
Celebrating Halloween;
Making Easter eggs; telling the story of a bunny verses Christ death, burial, and resurrection
worshiping on Sunday verses Saturday
and today we add a new one and that is the rights of the pastor
In regards to the gray areas of our faith or understanding of God’s will for our lives; Paul in this chapter is using himself as an illustration. It might seem as if Paul has went off on some tangent about the need of pastors being paid and that it is a biblical teaching, but I do not believe this is the context of his message. No doubt Paul says the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. (9:14)
This isn’t the first time we see this in the New Testament, even Jesus says in Matthew 10:10 that those who minister are to be cared for.
Why, Moses wrote in the book of Deuteronomy 25:4 “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” The point of this Old Testament regulation was to keep the ox from eating while it was working. Paul uses it as an illustration more than once to argue people who are productive in Christian work should not be denied its benefits—that is financial support.
Now I say all this to not mislead anyone with where I am going with this sermon. This expression of Paul’s policy for financial support is to prove his case of dying to ones liberty or freedom in Christ to give God the glory and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ without offending any weaker brother or sister in Christ or hindering the spread of the gospel. Paul in this chapter is proclaiming his rights as a follower of Christ, an apostle, a free man with no stranglehold of sin on his life and who is no longer bound by the law, yet he denies himself of these rights in order to achieve a higher goal.
Paul used himself as an illustration to teach them and us the mature use of our liberty in Jesus.
Now to look at our verses again we must not miss the obvious in our scriptures. Paul asks four rhetorical questions that would all be answered in the affirmative. The reason for this, Paul is asserting his apostolical mission and authority that comes with liberty in Christ and proclaims his validity through testimony of his success among those at the church of Corinth. Their conversions reassured Paul of his mission. They were the seal of his apostleship.
This is the verse that continued to play over and over in my mind. (Discipleship, discipleship, discipleship.) How are we doing in our discipleship? What is the seal of our apostleship? Every one of us should be able to answer Paul’s questions in the affirmative… wouldn’t you agree? Don’t we have the same freedom in Christ as they did? Have we not at least once seen Jesus at work not only in the church but in our personal lives? Have you seen any seals lately though that reassures you that God is still working through the church or working in and through your life?
You know as we study Paul, he is a great illustration for us today as he was for the Corinthians way back then. This is a guy who defiantly was on the wrong track and yet very zealous about his lifestyle. Even though Jesus turned him on the right road, he was still met with opposition from those outside of the church as well from those within the church. People questioned his apostleship, false brethren tried to sink his reputation and people questioned his character… can you imagine the discouragement.
How many of you have had some similar experiences as Paul? I can tell you as a pastor and as a Christian that I have and all of my pastor friends shares stories of how they are meet with unkindness, discouragement, and with lack of zeal and trust for the passion that God lays on their hearts.
Even though the church at Corinth was confirmation that Paul was doing God’s will, still there were some who seemed to need more evidence of Paul’s authority. How many of us today, need that? How many of us today, need more evidence of God’s call on your life before you can, answer that call?
Friends, I want to remind you that each one of us is evidence of someone else answering God’s call in their life. We are the evidence that God has used someone to bring us to know Jesus. We are the seal of someone’s faithfulness in answering God’s call in their life. Their faithful evangelism and discipline is what initially brought us to our saving faith and understanding of God’s power and His love for us.
Every one of us that has accepted God’s invitation to let Jesus into your heart has the right to proclaim your citizenship in heaven and be excited about it. But to possess that and do nothing with it is not a trait of a disciple. Just as Paul’s life was changed forever on the road to Damascus, our lives have been changed the day we become the seal for some disciple that God worked through. We can trust that if God would work through Paul, He will work through you and me. He wants to use us to change lives. He wants not only for us to live the difference, but to make a difference.
The reason Paul sacrificed his rights was because his focus was right. Paul focused on one thing and that was the ministry of Christ. What does that mean to me and you? I believe it means … Practicing what we preach.
Practicing what we preach; it has always been a challenge not only for pastors, but for all Christians. The charge of hypocrisy, of not being sincere and genuine, of not practicing what we preach, is a charge that continues to plague the church. Though Christians who don’t practice what they preach may indeed be genuine believers, sinners saved by grace, they are not usually effective servants of Jesus Christ. Though God can overlook sin in our life because of the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ which is imputed in our place, other people don’t do that. What makes a credible testimony of faith in Jesus Christ? When folks around us can see that we practice what we preach. Other people can’t see the cleansing from guilt that the blood of Jesus brings to the soul of all who trust in Him. What they can see are changes in the way we live which are a result of the work of the Holy Spirit. No one will be impressed if there are no changes to see, but a transformed life is a credible testimony to the truth and reality of the Christian Gospel.
People need to see that we practice what we preach. We have talked about a variety of things today, but we don’t want to forget the point of this whole passage. Paul tells the Corinthians of his willingness to serve, to show them that his commitment to Jesus Christ and his commitment to them is genuine. He not only talks about giving things up for the sake of the Gospel and the sake of other Christians, he actually does it. He practices what he preaches. Friends, we too should be able to tell people, "Look at my life, and you will see that my Christianity is not just a bunch of words. It is what I believe and how I live." We should be able to point to tangible things in our lives which demonstrate that we have indeed experienced God’s grace and are a different person because of it. Yes, it is important that we be willing to speak and use words to proclaim the truth about Jesus Christ, but unless we can show people that we practice what we preach, our words are going to be pretty empty.
How can we show people that our faith is real, that we are not hypocrites? Yes, it is important to avoid the negative actions that cause people to think that we are not sincere in our profession of faith. Because Christians are sinners saved by grace, there can indeed be liars, misers, drunks, and adulterers within the church of Jesus Christ. God forgives those sins. But liars, misers, drunks, and adulterers will always be thought of as hypocrites by the watching world. So we do need to avoid those things. But, more importantly, we need some positive attitudes and actions to show that we practice what we preach.
Friends, I encourage each of you to ponder this question today: How can people see that my faith in Jesus Christ is genuine? If a list of ten different things come to your mind right away, great. Praise God. You are experiencing the work of God in your life, and all I suggest you do is praise Him for that today. If, however, it is hard to think of even one thing which shows others that your faith is genuine, you have some things to work on. First, I encourage you to confess your sin to the Lord and receive the forgiveness He offers through Jesus. Then ask the Lord to help you put into practice a genuine Christianity, which demonstrates a love for the Lord and for other people. Friends, I have always liked the question that has appeared on posters and bumper stickers over the years: "If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?" I hope you can answer that with a resounding yes, there would be enough to put me away for life. If not, may God start to build that evidence in your life this week, as day by day we do a better job of practicing what we preach.
RESOURCES:
life application study bible
matthew henry concise commentary
sermon central.com
a number of sermons for which i’ve lost my references
