Wednesday,
July 15 –
It’s
the middle of the workweek and I think you’ll agree reading 1 Corinthians
takes perseverance. The story of what
the early church was like is entirely unromanticized as we discover the
problems that the Apostle Paul had to deal with. Today, our reading is in 1 Corinthians 9: 1 –
27. After you’ve read the Scripture, I’d
love to have you come back here so that we can walk through a bit more.
Every
once in a while, we must return to the issue of context. As chapter 9 begins, it begs us to remember
what Paul had just written – after all. He didn’t put the chapter divisions in,
which was added centuries later. In
chapter 8, Paul had been answering their question about whether it was ok to
eat the meat sold in the markets if that meat had been knowingly used in pagan
worship. He responded by saying what he
had previously mentioned – just because I can do it, doesn’t necessarily mean I
should do it. The chapter ends with an
appeal to recognize the higher priority of serving our brothers and sisters in
Christ over our personal desires: “Therefore,
if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother
stumble” (8:13).
Paul,
having made the point begins in chpt. 9 to argue the case for the freedom to
restrict freedom: “Am I not free? Am
I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in
the Lord?” (9:1). The
Corinthian church had been founded as a result of Paul’s Missionary ministry of
proclaiming the Gospel. The Church was a
mixture of both Jew and Gentile, and therefore the tensions within the church often
related to the Law and the Gospel. Many
loved Paul’s proclamation of the freedom they received in Christ. Yet, the freedom they had embraced was a
false freedom, based more on their individual desires than the building up of
the body of Christ for the sake of the Gospel.
Now Paul demonstrates that even He has sacrificed rights, as an Apostle,
to make sure the big picture stays in view.
He
begins: “If to others I am not an
apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the
Lord” ( 9:2). While he has the
position of the founding Apostle, some were calling him into question. This goes back to the beginning of the letter
and the divisions that came as cliques formed over Apollos, Peter, and Paul. Paul launched a defense of his practices. He answered those who judged and criticized
his methods for doing the work of the Ministry:
“This is my defense to those who
would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? Do we
not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and
the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who
have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a
soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its
fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? (9:3-7). Paul asked them to what he did in providing
for himself with food, drink (vs. 4).
Was Paul married? No, but he made
it clear that some of the Apostles were married, and they traveled as
families. Paul worked in Corinth,
alongside Aquila and Priscilla, to provide financial resources for the
ministry, but after the church became established, he also received funds from
the church. The precedent for receiving
funds from the church doesn’t come from the New Testament writings. It comes from the Old Testament Law, where the
Priests and workers at the Temple and Synagogue received the gifts and
offerings of the people to provide for their livelihood.
“ Do I say these things on
human authority? Does not the Law say the same? For it is written in the
Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it
for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake?
It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the
thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual
things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If
others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? Nevertheless, we
have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an
obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ” (9:8-12). The Roman world was filled with religious charlatans – much like
traveling side-shows – peddling for profit the various claims and charms in the
name of a god. Paul defended his role in
“sowing spiritual things,” and as the church began, he received the financial
support of those who wanted to see the Gospel advance. Paul did not take advantage of them, but he
did receive support from them...was it too much?
Paul
finalized his argument by appealing to the principle that the Lord Jesus laid
down (Matthew 10:8-10) and made a case for support for ministry: “In the same way, the Lord commanded that
those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel” (9:14). The church meets the needs of those doing
the work of the Ministry without charging for it. Accepting gifts and offerings is not the same
as charging a ticket to get in. Yet, in
finalizing this defense, Paul turns it on its head and makes a compelling case
for giving up his rights for the sake of the furthering of the Gospel. In a few verses, he explains that he has given
up most of the rights that were given to him so that no one could say “he’s
just in it for the money.”
“... Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure
anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.
Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get
their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the
sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who
proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. But I have
made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any
such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground
for boasting” (9:12-15). While Paul
had the right to get their support, he did not want it. Paul is free from their financial provisions
because he does not want to “put an obstacle in the way of the Gospel of
Christ” (9:12). The Gospel was free,
and by ignoring his rights, he was celebrating His freedom in Christ.
When I
felt called by God to enter into the ministry, I had a few people who pointed
out – “there’s no money in being a pastor.”
Obviously, they knew what they paid their Pastors. I remember saying, “I’m not doing it for the
money,” – which was a bit naïve since I didn’t know what to expect. When younger students have asked me about
going into ministry, I usually ask them lots of questions about motive,
expectations, and included in those expectations their own material needs. I then point out – “Is it such a desire that
you cannot imagine doing anything else?
Would you have something else you also would like to do?” If the answer is “No, I don’t want to do
anything else – it’s what I think God is calling me to do,” then I think they
have a chance at succeeding. Paul’s
words are crucial here: “For if I
preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid
upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my
own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with
a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching, I may
present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in
the gospel” (9:16-18). The difference could not be more
stark. The purpose of Paul’s ministry and
ministry, in general, can not be self-promotion. Those who do ministry need to guard against being
self-centered and ego-filled so that the proclamation of the Gospel alone becomes
the central message.
No one
should ever engage in ministry who has not digested the end of chapter 9. Here Paul lays out the charge to do the
things that lead to the Gospel at the center and the person proclaiming it on
the side: “For though I am free from
all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
To the Jews, I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the
law, I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that
I might win those under the law. To those outside the law, I became as
one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of
Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak, I became
weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that
by all means, I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel
that I may share with them in its blessings” (9:19-27). He gave up his identity, preferences, and
even practices, preferring humility and sacrifice over rights so that he might
reach any and all he encountered.
The purpose of leading, pastoring, teaching, proclaiming can never be the
selfishness of personal desires. It must
always be to do what is necessary to not get in the way of the message of God’s
grace and Christ’s redemption because of that Grace. Here the contrast is clear. Paul did not hang on to his rights – even though
he could have. Instead, he gave up his rights
for the sake of the Gospel, for the sake of the Church, for the sake of the believers
in Corinth.
Was it
easy? No. It never is.
I’m now at the tail end of almost five decades of ministry. I have thought about what it means to retire,
but I don’t have any intention of stopping the ministry and the proclamation of
the Gospel God called me to, 50 years ago.
There is one goal – to finish the race:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one
receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete
exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable
wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box
as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under
control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (9:24-27). Paul was challenged by the fear of God and
motivated to do things to be above reproach.
He did not do his work to get the applause of people, but to “run the
race” and finish it well. Did you
notice, Paul stopped saying “we” and ended his defense with an “I.” “I discipline my body and keep it under
control...lest I should be disqualified.” Is he talking about losing his salvation? No. He
is referring back to 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, and the rewards for finishing
well. He did not want to find out all he
had done was wood, hay, straw. The
temptations of the world are as real to those who do the work of the ministry
as it is for everyone. I know this,
without God’s faithfulness, his grace, and mercy, no one can do this job. As the great secular prophet, Yogi Berra was
fond of saying – “it ain’t over til its over.”
Peace
Comments