In last week's passage, Paul tried to convince the Corinthians that they needed to stop going to idol temples and eating idol meat there. The Corinthians-- at least some of them-- thought that doing this was okay. They viewed this question as an issue of knowledge, and as an issue of freedom. How was it an issue of knowledge?
(1) They knew that an idol is nothing. It's just a chunk of wood, or metal, or stone.
(2) They also knew that there is no God, except only One, the Father.
(3) They also knew what Paul had said about food, that what you eat makes no difference to God. They knew that you aren't any better off, whether you eat, or don't eat. Except, when Paul talked about that, he meant in connection with foods that had been "unclean" for Jews. Not idol meat.
They then took these three pieces of knowledge, swirled them together, and said, "We have the right-- the freedom-- to go to the temples of idols, and eat. We have the right to go to these birthday parties we are invited to, these business meetings, these family get togethers. It is our right.
And Paul last week tried to convince them that all of this was deceptive, and wrong. If, for you, there is one God, the Father, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, then that is incompatible with idolatry. And when you eye that temple, and find yourself wanting to enter, you have to remember that Christianity is not just about you. It's not about your rights, and your freedom. You are not the big deal. Everyone else is the big deal. And you dare not live in a way that causes your brother or sister to stumble-- the one for whom Jesus died.
So the question last week, was what is our starting point when we think about how we should live? Do we start with ourselves-- with our desires, with our rights, with our freedom? Do we start by thinking we are the big deal? Or do we start with God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, and our family in Christ?
With this, we reach 1 Corinthians 9. When we read this chapter, we have to resist the temptation to think that Paul has moved on in his argument. English Bibles give this a new chapter number; they give you white space and a new heading. But Paul continues to try to break through the Corinthian mindset on all of this-- he's just going to do it from a different angle.
I'm going to start this morning by simply reading chapter 9, in its entirety. And then, I'll offer a reflection on it. What I'm aiming for this morning is to capture the big picture, and not get caught up in the details. I'm doing it this way, because it's one gigantic argument, and I want to capture the force of it, and then help explain how it ties in to chapter 8. And if I break this up into tiny little pieces, we are going to miss the force of this, and completely miss why Paul wrote all this between chapters 8 and 10. (And if you want more detailed explanations of certain things, the footnotes will help a little.)
Starting in verse 1:
(1) Am I not free?
Am I not an apostle?
Is it not Jesus our Lord I have seen?
My work, are you not in the Lord?
(2) If to others I am not an apostle
but surely to you I am.
For the seal/mark of my apostleship, you are, in the Lord.
(3) My defense to the ones examining me is this :
(4) Don't we have the right to eat and to drink?
(5) Don't we have the right, a sister-- a wife-- to take along?,
as also the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Peter?
(6) Or do only I and Barnabas not have the right not to work?
(7) Who serves as a soldier at his own expense, ever?
Who plants a vineyard,
and its fruit he doesn't eat?
Who shepherds a flock,
and from the milk of the flock, he doesn't drink?
Not in accordance with a human [perspective] these things I say.
Or does not also the law these things say?
(9) For in the law of Moses it is written:
"You shall not muzzle a threshing ox."
Not about the oxen, it is a concern to God,
or for our sake, undoubtedly does he speak?
For, for our sake it is written, because he ought,
in hope, the one plowing to plow,
and the one threshing, in hope of a share.
(11) If we, to you the spiritual things we have sown, is it too great a thing if from you material/fleshly things, we reap?
(12) If others share of this right over you, do not we, even more?,
but we haven't made use of this right,
but all things we endure/resist,
in order that any hindrance we may not cause to the gospel concerning the Christ.
(13) Do you not know that the ones working the sacred things, the things from the temple, they eat?,
The ones to the altar attending, in the altar have a share.
(14) Thus also the Lord ordered the ones proclaiming the gospel, from the gospel to live.
(15) Now, I have not made use of any of these things.
Now, I didn't write these things,
in order that thus it may be with me.
For , [it is] better for me rather to die, than my reason for boasting, anyone to deprive me of.
For, if I proclaim the gospel, it isn't for me a reason for boasting.
For, a necessity is pressed upon me.
For, woe to me it is, if I don't proclaim the gospel.
For, if voluntarily, I do this, a reward I have.
Now, if unwillingly/reluctantly, a stewardship I have been entrusted with.
(18) Therefore, what is my reward?
That, preaching the gospel, free of charge I may offer the gospel,
for the purpose that I would not make full use of my right in the gospel.
(19) For, being free from all people, myself I have enslaved,
in order that the more I may/shall gain,
and I have become to the Jews as a Jew,
in order that the Jews I may/shall gain.
To the ones under the law , as under the law, not being myself under the law,
in order that the ones under the law I may/shall gain.
To the lawless, as lawless, not being lawless of/from God,
but conforming to the law of/from Christ,
in order that I may/shall gain the lawless.
(22) I became to the weak, weak,
in order that the weak I may/shall gain.
To all people, I have become all things,
in order that, surely, some I may/shall save.
(23) Now, all of this I do for the sake of the gospel,
in order that a partner of it I may/shall become.
(24) Do you not know that the ones running in the stadium,
on the one hand, all run,
on the other hand, one receives the prize?
In this way, run in order that you shall win/seize/possess.
(25) Now, everyone competing, in all things exercises self-control--
on the one hand, those ones , in order that a perishable crown they shall receive,
on the other hand, we, an imperishable one.
(26) Therefore, I in this way run,
not in an uncertain/unclear manner.
In this way, I box,
not as the air beating,
but I strike my body, and I enslave it,
lest somehow, preaching to others, I should myself become disqualified/worthless/discarded.
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Paul's main focus throughout these verses, is on himself. He's talking about how he approached his ministry to them, as their pastor, and apostle.
There is no job-- no work-- more picked apart in the world, than that of the pastor. A pastor is examined (verse 3), and picked apart, like no one else. We put them under the microscope. Everything is fair game: the way they look, and dress. Their mannerisms. Their skill in public speaking. In most churches, everyone knows exactly how much the pastor makes, to the penny. And everyone has their own ideas about whether that's a fair number or not, for someone who only works an hour a week.
We wonder if they are in their office during the week, and get bothered when they aren't. We wonder if they are out ministering to people outside of their office during the week, and get bothered when they spend too much time at the building. We think their car is too nice, or we are embarrassed because they are driving a beater, and it reflects poorly on what we so generously give them.
When a pastor hangs out with people, and talks to them about God, many of those people find themselves thinking unkind thoughts. They think, "It's his job to talk about God, and act like this spiritual stuff matters. He gets paid to do this."
When missionaries tell people about Jesus, some of those people wonder if they are doing this for the paycheck. Are these people trying to build up the numbers at a church, to fatten their own wallets? Do they need more sheep, because they need more wool? Because they need to stay warmer at night?
We, the church, are skeptical. We fight cynicism, and envy, and unkind thoughts. And we are the church.
You talk to non-Christians, and what do they think about pastors and missionaries? They hear the gospel, and maybe find themselves drawn to Jesus. They maybe attend church, out of curiosity, and interest. And then the offering plate gets passed, and they think, "Oh. This all makes sense now." They are evangelizing for lost wallets. That plate-- that salary, that paycheck-- will keep some people from Jesus.
Paul is an evangelist. God has given him the obligation of telling people the good news about Jesus. He can do this willingly, or unwillingly. But it's his job. It's his work.
Paul knows that evangelists run into all kinds of people. Some people know they are spiritually needy, and they are good soil, and they are ready to say yes. They repent from their sins; they give their allegiance to Jesus; they are saved. And the fact that this particular evangelist makes a living off of evangelism makes no difference to them. They hear the good news as good news. As the best news.
But others... are not quite so ready for the harvest. You talk to them about Jesus, and they think they've seen it all. They think they know how the world looks. Everyone is just out to make a buck, and those who can't work, preach.
Paul is determined to keep this from happening. Let's reread, starting from verse 18:
(18) Therefore, what is my reward? :
That, preaching the gospel, free of charge I may offer the gospel,
for the purpose that I would not make full use of my right in the gospel.
(19) For, being free from all people, myself I have enslaved,
in order that the more I may/shall gain,
Paul's reward, from serving as a pastor and evangelist without compensation, is that he gets to see more people come to Jesus. He "gains" more, than he otherwise would. He "saves" more (vs. 22), than he otherwise would.
If a pastor tried to talk to most of my co-workers about Jesus, they would very quickly run into a brick wall. Some fields are whiter, and more ready for harvest, than others. I could invite my co-workers over to play Rook, and sneak invite a pastor to join us (assuming pastors can play cards), and the most clueless person in the history of the world, would see the tension that would result. When people know this is your job, it can create a wall. It can make it hard for people to hear you.
And so what Paul and Barnabas have done, is removed that wall.
Now, when they do this, it comes with a terrible cost to themselves. All the other apostles went "home" at the end of the day to their wives. They got to relax.
Paul? Paul got out his leather, and thread, and started making tents.
How thin can any one person be stretched? How disciplined a life can you live, without falling apart?
A few years ago, I taught through Galatians in Sunday school. I picked the book selfishly, because I wanted to wrestle with James Dunn and the New Perspective on Paul, and I reached the point where I realized, the only way I'd come to grips on this was through trying to teach it. It was a really difficult series for me. Some weeks, Paul remained a locked book to me, and I couldn't figure him out. I'd spend hours wrestling with it. In the meantime, I have a wife and five kids, and a real, full-time, 50 hour a week job. It's one thing doing something like that in your free time, after the kids have gone down to bed. But when it started eating into Saturday mornings, and the stress of that, I started to feel really burnt out. It was too much, too hard. It was becoming more of a sacrifice, than I was willing to make.
What I did, was nothing like Paul. Doesn't even compare. Let's reread verses 18-19:
(18) Therefore, what is my reward?
That, preaching the gospel, free of charge I may offer the gospel,
for the purpose that I would not make full use of my right in the gospel.
(19) For, being free from all people, myself I have enslaved,
in order that the more I may/shall gain,
When Paul says he enslaved himself, so that he could be free from everyone, and for everyone, he's not exaggerating. A modern equivalent would be a street preacher who spends his days telling everyone who will listen about Jesus, only to deliver pizzas at night, and then deliver newspapers early in the morning. It's a rotten way to make a living. It's exhausting. It's slavery.
And Paul intentionally did this. Paul set up his entire life, to save as many people as possible. There was no cost to great.
Did he have to do it this way?
No. Paul is very clear about this. People who work, producing spiritual fruit, have the right to material compensation. Pastors and evangelists have the right to make a living off of this. And don't take from this chapter, that it's wrong for pastors to get paid. Don't expect them to work 90 hours a week, while you sit at home watching football, and they struggle to put food in their mouths. They have the right, to receive material compensation.
And this language about rights, is the key idea in this chapter. Paul is talking about his rights. Because Paul serves them, giving them spiritual things, Paul has the right to material things. This right is:
(1) It's biblical-- rooted in the Mosaic law. Oxen got to eat. Priests got to share in the offerings.
(2) It's done by every other apostle.
(3) Something Jesus commands (verse 14).
And Paul, specifically, has the right to ask the Corinthians for money. They, by right, should be supplying his need. He is their apostle.
But what we have seen, over and over again in Corinthians, is that church is not about my rights. It's not about me, at all. Everyone else is the big deal. And I will enslave myself, if it helps others. I will sacrifice. I will not do things my way, or get my way. You are the big deal. I'm nothing.
And so Paul brings this up-- not because he's trying to pry cash out of their wallets, he refuses to do this-- but because he has modeled, since the day he first led them to Christ, what Christianity is supposed to look like.
They grew up in their faith, seeing good examples. They have no horror stories to tell, about the things they were taught as teenagers. They have no horror stories to tell, about how selfishly their leadership worked among them. They had Paul. They have no excuses. No bad behavior or teaching to unlearn.
So how does this tie in to chapter 8? Some of the Corinthians were saying they had the right to eat idol food, in idol temples. They had the knowledge to know that an idol is nothing, and that food doesn't make you clean or unclean.
And all they could see was themselves. They were their own starting point, and their end point.
But church is not about me. My job, is to be willing to sacrifice whatever I have to, to build up my brothers and sisters in Christ. Church may look nothing like what I want. If I was the Man, I'd maybe want to change a lot of things.
But church is not about my rights. It's not about my freedom. It's not about me. It's about you.
And you should say the same thing. Church, and Christianity, is not about you. It's about everyone else.
One last thing. Paul was willing to do, whatever he could, to save some. Hear this. And look at your family, and friends, and coworkers, and think about them from this perspective. Everything Paul has said, we dare not hear as being about the church alone. Each of us should say, "I am not the big deal. You all are the big deal. And the lost are the big deal. And I will do whatever I have to do, and sacrifice whatever I have to sacrifice, to save some."
