In chapter 8 Paul told the Corinthians that they should not to eat in the pagan temples. (That was a common practice in Corinth. Eating in a temple was sort of like going to a restaurant today.) One thing Paul knows about the Corinthians is that many of them are questioning whether he is a real apostle or not. After reading Paul’s words on the issue of eating in the temples, many of the Corinthians probably said, “This may be your point of view, Paul, but we don’t think you have the authority to tell us what to do because we don’t believe that you’re really an apostle.”
Why are some of the Corinthians questioning Paul’s apostleship? It seems that one reason for their doubts is that, unlike the other apostles, Paul doesn’t accept material support from them. There was a time when he did accept patronage from other Christians (for example, Paul and his companions stayed in the home of a wealthy woman named Lydia while in Philippi, Acts 16:15), but he later abandoned that practice and started supporting himself by working as a tentmaker (cf. Acts 18:3). Paul wrote in his first letter to the Thessalonians, “Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you” (2:9). This was also Paul’s practice while he was in Corinth. He said back in 4:12, “We work hard with our own hands.” To the Corinthians, this was demeaning—both to Paul and to themselves. (If I refused support from this church and decided to work at McDonalds to support myself, some of you would probably see that as demeaning both myself and the church.) Because Paul worked instead of accepting support from the Corinthians, they say him as inferior to the other apostles. They were saying, “If Paul doesn’t accept our support, maybe it’s because he’s not entitled to it. Maybe he’s not an apostle like the others.”
I. PAUL’S DEFENSE: “I am a genuine apostle of Jesus Christ” (vv. 1-2)
Paul asks four questions in verse 1. Each of these questions demands a positive answer. The first two questions introduce the main topics of this chapter. The first question is, “Am I not free?” Of course he is free, and he will address this issue in verses 19-23. The second question is, “Am I not an apostle?” Of course he is an apostle. There were two requirements for apostleship: (1) you had to see Christ following His resurrection; and (2) you had to be given a special commission (job) from Him. Paul shows the Corinthians here that he fulfills these two basic requirements.
A. Paul had seen the Risen Lord.
The first reason why the Corinthians should not doubt Paul’s apostleship is because Paul had seen the Risen Lord. He asks, “Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” In chapter 15 Paul lists some of the appearances of Christ following His resurrection. In verse 8 he says, “And last of all he appeared to me also.” (In Acts 9 the ascended Jesus confronted Paul, formerly Saul, as he traveled to Damascus.) Paul believed that his experience on the Damascus road was more than a mere vision. For him it was a resurrection appearance.
B. Paul had established the church at Corinth.
The second reason why the Corinthians should not doubt Paul’s apostleship is because Paul had established the church at Corinth. He asks, “Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?” The Lord said of Paul in Acts 9:15, “This is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles.” Paul obeyed the Lord’s commission and took the message of Jesus Christ to the Corinthians (Gentiles).
He says in verse 2, “Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.” The word “seal” in this context refers to authentication. Some people (especially teens), when shopping for clothes, will check the tags for a certain name or logo. If it’s not a certain name-brand, they won’t buy it. The name or logo on the tag authenticates the article of clothing. It proves that it is the real thing, the genuine article. The Corinthians are Paul’s “seal.” Their changed lives prove that Paul is an apostle.
II. PAUL’S RIGHTS: “I deserve to be supported by you” (vv. 3-14)
Paul writes in verses 3-6, “This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. Don’t we have the right to food and drink? Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?” Paul lists three of his rights: (1) he has the right to have the Corinthians supply his daily needs (“food and drink”); (2) he has the right to have a wife (who would also be supported by the church); and (3) he has the right not to work at a trade in order to make ends meet.
Paul asks three more questions in verse 7: “Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk?” Each question expects a negative answer. No soldier serves “at his own expense.” (If the Canadian military didn’t pay its soldiers, recruitment would be very low.) Every vinedresser eats the grapes (cf. Deut. 20:6; Prov. 27:18). And every shepherd “drinks of the milk.” In everyday life one expects to be sustained by one’s labors. People usually don’t work for free. So Paul is saying that he should expect to be sustained by the church that owes its existence to him. (The church is often described as “produce,” 3:6 or a “flock” which fits well with the second and third illustrations.)
Next Paul says in verse 8, “Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing?” Paul’s point that those who labor should receive compensation is not based only on a human perspective. God’s law says the same thing. “For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain” (v. 9a). This quotation is found in Deuteronomy 25:4 (cf. 1 Tim. 5:18). It concerns the ancient agricultural practice of driving an ox drawing a threshing-sledge over the grain to release kernels from the stalk. Out of mercy for the laboring animal the Israelites were forbidden by God to muzzle the ox so that it might benefit from its labor. (Muzzling a working ox would be like a Burger King employee going to work hungry and making Whoppers all afternoon without taking a bite.) Paul then asks, “Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he?” (vv. 9b-10a). Paul is not saying that the law never had anything to do with oxen. Rather, he’s saying that God isn’t just concerned about animals. He gave this command so that it could be applied to other situations. That is what Paul is doing now. (Perhaps the word “also” should be inserted: “Surely he says this [also] for us.”) He states, “Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest” (v. 10b). If God is concerned with rewarding animals for their work, how much more must He be concerned for workers He has made in His own image?
Paul writes in verse 12, “If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.” Because of Paul’s “sowing” in Corinth (preaching the gospel), the Corinthians had “reaped” the benefits of the Spirit. Now Paul deserves to “reap” some material benefits from the Corinthians. But even though he has this right, Paul has decided not to accept any material support from them. When Paul is faced with the choice between his rights and the spread of the gospel, there is no choice at all; anything that would get in the way of someone hearing the gospel can be easily laid aside.
Paul adds two more illustrations in verse 13: “Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?” Both in the Jewish and pagan temples the priests who served in making the sacrifices shared in the sacrificial food itself. “In the same way,” says Paul, “the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel” (v. 14). Paul is referring to the saying of Jesus found in Luke 10:7: “The worker deserves his wages.”
III. PAUL’S RESTRAINT: “I have chosen to work for free for the sake of the gospel” (vv. 15-18)
Paul deserves material support from the Corinthians, “But,” he writes, “I have not used any of these rights” (v. 15a). In case they get the idea that Paul is now demanding these rights, he says, “And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast” (v. 15b). What is Paul’s boast? He is not boasting in what he does in contrast to what other have done (accept patronage). His boast is probably the remarkable things (including the salvation of many in Corinth) God has done through a tent-making preacher. Really, his boast is in the gospel itself.
It’s certainly not in his preaching that Paul boasts. He says in verse 16, “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” He says, “I am compelled to preach.” In other words, “I am under compulsion to preach.” To preach the gospel is not something he chose to do; it is something he must do. God had chosen this destiny for him from birth and had revealed it to him following his conversion (cf. Gal. 1:15-16). Preaching the gospel is something he “has to” do. He says, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” If he failed to fulfill his divinely appointed destiny, he would stand under divine judgment. He cannot boast in the task of proclaiming the good news of Christ to the Gentiles because that’s what he must to.
Paul writes in verse 17, “If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me.” Paul preaches involuntarily. He has to preach the gospel. He is a slave of Jesus Christ. He is not looking for a material reward. He asks in verse 18, “What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.” In one sense his “pay” is to receive “no pay”! Receiving nothing from others gives him total freedom from human impositions on his ministry. He is free to do what God wants him to do instead of what others expect him to do. (Expectations from a congregation are one of the greatest causes of stress for a pastor.)
APPLICATIONS
What does this passage say to us?
1. If our rights hinder the gospel (or hurt others), we should not demand them. Pastors often appeal to this passage to prove that they deserve fair compensation for their work. That’s true, of course. But that really isn’t Paul’s main point here. Paul is not demanding his rights in these verses; he is explaining why he has chosen to relinquish his rights. For Paul, to demand his rights meant harm to the spread of the gospel. Our rights should not consume us. We should value the gospel more than our rights. (This was what Paul said in chapter 8 on the issue of eating in the temples.)
2. Christians have the responsibility to support their pastor. Pastors should not have to be so preoccupied with providing for their basic needs that they cannot devote themselves wholeheartedly to their work. Christians should not think of their giving entitles them to make selfish demands on their pastor. (“I help pay your salary so you should do this!”) D. A. Carson has said, “The church does not pay its ministers; rather, it provides them with resources so that they are able to serve freely.”
3. Money must never become more important than people. The goal of evangelism should never be to bring more money into the church. (This is the error of many televangelists: the phone number on the television screen shouts, “I want your money!” That message speaks louder than the message they want people to hear. For some, “I want your money!” is their main message, but that’s a whole other subject!)
4. Every Christian should have an inner compulsion to do something for the Lord. This is especially true for those in full-time Christian work. If you are considering becoming a full-time Christian worker, a good test for you is to ask yourself this question: “Could I truly be happier doing anything else?” If you can answer, “Yes, you shouldn’t be a pastor, or missionary, etc. Without Paul’s sense of compulsion, it will be too easy to give up when the hard times come.
No only should full-time Christian workers have this inner compulsion to serve God. Every Christian should have it. God has gifted you in a unique way, and He expects you to use your gifts to serve Him.
INVITATION
By preaching the gospel “freely” (without accepting pay), Paul was able to illustrate the “free” nature of the gospel. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Eternal life is free. It is a gift from God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. John 3:16 says, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Will you turn from your sin and trust in Jesus to save you?
GIVING CREDIT WHERE CREDIT’S DUE
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version.
Blomberg, Craig. The NIV Application Commentary: 1 Corinthians. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.
Fee, Gordon D. The First Epistle to the Corinthians. New International Commentary on the New Testament, rev. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.
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