Listen for God’s word to you from 1 Corinthians 9…
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? 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.
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 lack the right to not work for a living?
Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 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.
Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast. For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.
Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Freedom
Perhaps more than any other chapter in 1 Corinthians, chapter 9 is filled with questions. Paul’s rhetorical questions fly forth at almost warp speed and drive what he wants to say to the Corinthian Christians in this section.
The first question Paul asks is: Am I not free?
The Corinthians are all about freedom, being free to do what they want to do. Paul talks a fair amount about freedom in his letters. This same word appears about 16 times in his correspondence. 6 of those appearances are in this letter.
People often ask me what I think about the Christian doctrine of “free will”. My answer is always: “I want Will to be as free as he possibly can be.”
Let’s face it: we all want freedom. The question is: how do we achieve it and what does that freedom look like for the Christian?
Jesus promises us freedom. He says in John 8:36, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
That’s what we want—real freedom—the kind of freedom God created us and redeemed us to experience.
Apostleship
Paul asks this all-important question in verse 1, but he does not answer it until verse 19, so let’s wait on his answer and take a look at the next question he asks: Am I not an apostle?
This question raises another one: what is an apostle? The word means “one who is sent”. It is used some 88 times in the New Testament. The word is used of Jesus’ first twelve disciples in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts. The book of Acts also refers to Barnabas and Paul as apostles even though they were not numbered among the Twelve. Paul also refers to Andronicus and Junia as apostles in his letter to the Church at Rome.
How does Paul define his qualifications as an apostle? He defines those qualifications by asking two further questions. The first one is: Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?
This seems to be the main qualification of an apostle in the New Testament, namely that he or she had seen the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
The second question Paul asks, in order to establish his apostleship is: Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?
Paul considered himself to be an apostle because he had a vision of Jesus on the road to Damascus, but secondly because of the churches he established and the people whose conversion was a result of his work in the Lord.
The Rights of an Apostle
Paul goes on to talk about the rights of an apostle in verses 3 through 6. Apparently, some in Corinth were questioning his rights as an apostle and, perhaps, even if he was an apostle at all. One of the parties Paul has identified in Corinth is “The Peter Party”. Peter was one of the Twelve. Paul was not. Perhaps on this basis some questioned whether Paul was an apostle at all.
But having established his apostleship based upon having seen the risen Jesus and having started the church in Corinth, Paul continues to ask a series of rhetorical questions to advance his argument.
He asks: Don’t we have the right to food and drink?
Paul insists that those who serve the church as apostles have a right to the support of the church, specifically in terms of having their basic needs met.
Next, Paul asks: 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?
It is interesting that Paul specifically mentions Cephas, another name for Peter. Perhaps the Corinthians were comparing Paul and Peter unfavorably.
Apparently, it was accepted practice in the early church that the apostles had the right to take their wives with them on their travels. As we have already seen, Paul does not have a wife at this time, but he is insisting that if he did, he would have the right to bring her on his travels and for both apostle and spouse to be supported by the churches.
Paul’s third rhetorical question in this section is: Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?
It is interesting that Paul mentions Barnabas. As I pointed out earlier, the book of Acts considers Barnabas to be an apostle, but neither he nor Paul were among the Twelve. Paul insists that both he and Barnabas are apostles, sent by the Lord, and that therefore they both have the right to be supported by the church.
Examples of People with Rights
Paul goes on, in verses 7 through 14, to give examples of other types of people who have rights. And Paul continues to ask rhetorical questions to make his point.
Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Every soldier is paid for their work.
Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Every farmer gets to eat some of his or her crop.
Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? Every shepherd gets to drink milk from their flock.
Then Paul points out that even the Hebrew Law supports his argument. Paul quotes Deuteronomy 25:4, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”
This may sound like a strange proof text for Paul’s point, but he is arguing in a typical rabbinic manner. He maintains that this text is not just about oxen but that it applies to human beings. Whoever plows and threshes should be able to share in the harvest. Paul has sown spiritual seed among the Corinthians therefore he should be able to reap a material harvest from them. Apparently, the Corinthians supported other missionaries. How much more should they support Paul who founded their church?
Paul’s final example is those who serve in the temple in Jerusalem. They get their food from the temple. Every Jew knew that according to Hebrew Scripture they had the responsibility to support those who worked in the temple. In fact, the temple workers got to eat the meat from the animal sacrifices.
In the same way, Paul says, those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. If Paul had not insisted on this so strongly, the Church might never have had paid clergy. Thank you, Paul!
Paul Gave Up His Rights
But here’s the thing… though Paul insisted on these rights for others, he himself never took advantage of these rights. He says, “I have not used any of these rights.” Why? Why in the world did Paul not take the financial support he was entitled to receive? He says he did it so as not to hinder the Gospel going forth. He did not want anyone to think he was simply in it for the money.
Paul may not have known about this teaching from Jesus, but if he had he would have agreed with it. In Mark 10:43-44 Jesus says, “Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.”
1500 years after Jesus and Paul, Martin Luther put it this way: “A Christian man is a most free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian man is a most dutiful servant of all, subject to all.” Paul lived out the truth embodied in that motto.
All Things to All People
In fact, Paul says, “I have become all things to all people.”
This can make it sound like Paul was hypocritical, like he was play-acting. This text makes it sound like he acted like a Jew in front of the Jews and like a Gentile in front of the Gentiles. Was Paul just play-acting? I don’t think so.
I had a member of my last church say to me one day: “You are a spiritual chameleon!” Now, that sounds bad, but she actually meant it in a good way. She went on to say, “You adapt yourself to whoever you are ministering to.” I hope that is true. To accompany others on their spiritual journey one must identify with them. Where there is no identification there can be no accompaniment.
That’s what I think Paul was doing. He was identifying with people. He wanted to do anything he could, without being false to Jesus, to build bridges to people, bridges that they could walk over to find faith in Christ. That’s what I hope I can do as well, in my own small way. Paul’s purpose, and I think ours, is to win others to Jesus Christ.
William Barclay has written,
To have mended one shattered life, to have restored one wanderer to the right way, to have healed one broken heart, to have brought one soul to Christ is not a thing whose reward can be measured in financial terms, but its joy is beyond all measurement.
Run Your Race to Win
Finally, we come to the application for all of us in this chapter. Paul asks his final rhetorical question in this passage: Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?
The obvious answer is “yes”. All runners in a race run, but only one gets the prize. Paul is identifying with the Corinthians by using this metaphor. The Isthmian games were held at Corinth. Those games were second only to the Olympic games. And the Isthmian games included a running race.
Now, here is the application for you and me. Paul says to us: Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Paul says, “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.” We all know this is true, especially when it comes to something like the Olympic games. The training of Olympic athletes is amazing. They spend years at it, whether they are runners, or boxers, or whatever sport.
And why do they do it? “They do it to get a crown that will not last.” The ancient Greeks trained hard to win a simple laurel wreath. Athletes today do it to get a gold, bronze, or silver medal, and perhaps very valuable corporate sponsorships.
But here’s the thing, Paul says that as Christians we go into training, and we run our race “to get a crown that will last forever”. Wow!
When I entered junior high school, I was a tad overweight. Sports and physical activity generally were not my favorite things in life. However, I had a physical education teacher who was truly inspiring. His name was Earl Toler.
Coach Toler gave extra points in physical education class if we did some jogging outside of class time and kept track of how many miles we ran. So, I started running a mile every morning before going to school.
I was always one of the last students to finish running the mile in class, something we had to do every Friday. But I will never forget one Friday when I ran the mile. I was coming into the home stretch, and I could hear Coach Toler yelling words of encouragement to me: “Great job Vaus! Magnificent effort! Keep going! You’re almost there!” And then I crossed the finish line, clocking in at just under eight minutes for the first time in my life. Coach praised me as though I had just won an Olympic gold medal.
Paul challenges each of us to run the race of life to win. The only person we are competing against is ourselves. And the only way we lose is if we sit down and give up.
So, I echo the Apostle Paul and challenge you today: run your race to win. If you keep on running through to the finish line, one day you will hear the voice of the greatest coach ever, yelling words of encouragement: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:23)
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