Sermon Discussion Questions:
1. Read through 1 Cor 9:1-23 together, then take a few minutes to all quietly read it to yourself. Now, share what questions you have or what insights you gleaned from your reading.
2. If Paul denied taking money from the Corinthians, why does he spend so much time defending his right to be paid?
3. Have you been able to think of any rights you are entitled to, that you can go without in order to make the gospel more clear to others around you?
True maturity is revealed in the presence of immaturity. If dad sees his child beginning to throw a temper tantrum because she is losing the board game, he condescends to her level, explains how the board game works, reminds her of what good sportsmanship looks like, and encourages her. He probably will hold himself back from scoring all the points he could score, lest he discourage her too much. The father’s maturity is revealed in contrast with his daughter’s immaturity.
But if the daughter wins, and the dad throws a temper tantrum? Or, if the dad plays against the child with the same intensity he would use while playing against an adult? Well, we all know that even though that dad is bigger, stronger, and smarter than the immature child…he is the one who is really immature. He may be big in body, but his childish in soul.
So too, in the Corinthian church we see a group of people who, in some ways, have more experience and knowledge in the Christian faith than their “weaker” brothers and sisters—and in that sense, they are more “mature.” Yet, their response to the immaturity of their weaker brothers reveals a glaring lack of maturity in themselves.
Just to refresh us from last week, the disagreement between these two camps in the church is over eating food offered to idols. The strong believe that eating food offered to idols is permissible and insist that it is their “right” to do so, but a minority of the church feel like it is wrong because of their past “association with idols” (1 Cor 8:7). Paul agrees with the majority that eating food offered to idols is permissible (1 Cor 8:4-6; cf. 1 Cor 10:23-26; Rom 14:14), but he condemns the arrogance that results from their “knowledge” and the disregard they show to those with a weak conscience. So, Paul puts himself forward as a model of maturity:
1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2 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.
3 This is my defense to those who would examine me. 4 Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 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? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7 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?
8 Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9 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? 10 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. 11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? 12 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. 13 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? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
15 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. 16 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! 17 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. 18 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. 19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 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. 21 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. 22 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. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
- 1 Cor 9:1-23
Paul is a man who is beset by many weaknesses. Earlier, he told the Corinthians: “To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless,” (1 Cor 4:11).
Life was hard for Paul; he struggled to make ends meet. Sometimes, he went without food (2 Cor 11:27), his clothes were ragged and threadbare (Rom 8:35), and he was homeless. Yet, here we learn that he refuses to take the Corinthians’ money. Now, refusing to take money isn’t a universal practice of Paul; he takes money from the church in Macedonia (2 Cor 11:29), he writes to the Romans to support him on his missionary expedition to Spain (Rom 15:22-24); and at the end of this very letter, Paul is going to ask the Corinthians to support him (1 Cor 16:6)! But while he was first planting the church in Corinth, he didn’t take their money. Why?
A Right Defended, Defined, Denied
A Right Defended
1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 2 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. This is my defense to those who would examine me. (1 Cor 9:1-3)
So, what is Paul talking about here? He has just told the Corinthians to be willing to set aside their liberty for the sake of others, and then says, Am not I free? Am I not an apostle? So, Paul is wanting to demonstrate to the Corinthians that he too is familiar with having a right, a liberty that he willingly foregoes for the sake of the gospel. And not only does he have rights, but he has apostolic rights. Paul is an apostle, so he should be top dog, right? He should be entitled to the most lavish and exquisite of liberties, right? That’s how the world thinks about authority; the higher up you are, the cushier it becomes. But that isn’t how Jesus defines authority for us: for Jesus, the higher up you go, the greater of a servant you must become, the more willing to set aside your rights (Mark 10:42-45). But, the Corinthians appear to have ingested the pill of worldliness when it comes to thinking about leadership and so Paul’s refusal to take money from them has actually led some to doubt his status as an apostle (see 2 Cor 10-12).
So, Paul provides a “defense to those who would examine” him (1 Cor 9:3), those who question whether or not Paul is a real apostle (1 Cor 9:2). But the fact that Paul has to defend himself for why he isn’t taking advantage of all of his liberties to the Corinthians reveals how sorely the Corinthian church is in need of a course correction in thinking about their own rights. And perhaps we need a similar course correction too.
“Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 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? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?” (1 Cor 9:4-6).
It might sound like Paul is listing three separate rights: (1) eating and drinking, (2) marriage, and (3) being paid for their ministry. But since Paul goes on to talk only about payment in the following verses, all three of these are likely connected with Paul’s right to be paid for his ministry. Paul’s lack of finances affects his ability to eat regularly (Phil 4:11-12) and to pursue marriage (you cannot raise a family if you are struggling to eat yourself).
Now, Paul is going to demonstrate that the reason he is going without isn’t because he lacks a right to it. Sometimes you go without because you are not entitled to the right. I am not a member of the royal family, so no one thinks it incredibly sacrificial or strange of me to forego staying in the Buckingham Palace. I don’t have that right. And though Paul isn’t taking money from the Corinthians, he is entitled to it, has a right to receive compensation for his labor. And Paul is going to really hammer this home through six different arguments across verses 7-14. But just for time’s sake, we are going to look at just two of the arguments he makes, two which are important enough to Paul that he will repeat them again to Timothy, as we will see later.
A Right Defined
- The Law
Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? 9 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? 10 Does he not certainly speak for our sake? (1 Cor 9:8-10a).
Paul quotes Deuteronomy 25:4 about not muzzling oxen while they worked. You were to let the oxen graze as they labored. If you muzzle them, you may get a fraction more grain, but you will be cruel to your animal who is doing all the real work and exhaust them faster. Paul interprets this as an instruction for gospel-laborers, arguing from the lesser to the greater. If God cares about how we treat our beasts of burden (Prov 12:10), how much more so should we care about people, and especially those who are ministers of the gospel? As they labor, don’t forbid them from receiving the sustenance they need to continue laboring lest they become exhausted and collapse. If you read anything about “burnout” for pastors or missionaries, one of the most consistent factors that contribute to that is being poorly paid. It is discouraging if your wife or children have grown embittered toward the mission field or church because they can’t afford basic necessities, or because they never see dad because he has to work two jobs to make ends meet.
- Jesus’ Command
“In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel,” (1 Cor 9:14). Here, Paul recalls Jesus’ teaching to his disciples when he sends them out to proclaim the kingdom: “Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. 5 Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house!’ 6 And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages,” (Luke 10:4-7; Matt 10:9-10).
Paul, in his letter to the young pastor, Timothy, repeats these two arguments for why pastors should be paid: “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” (1 Tim 5:17-18). The “honor” here obviously is referring to financial payment (see Rom 13:7); it was a word used to describe the salary paid to doctors in Paul’s day, and we see a vestige of that verbiage still today when we pay speakers an “honorarium.” So, Paul clearly thinks that elders who rule well and preach and teach should be paid fairly for their work.
Now, Paul is saying all of this only to lead to his final point that he is willingly denying payment, but I want to just briefly encourage our church.
Think of the gospel like a diamond. The gospel is the announcement of God’s gracious offer in Jesus Christ to sinful man. Sinners who put their faith in Jesus, receive His atoning work for their sins, are made right with God, and are spared of their judgment their sins deserved. And anyone today who puts their faith in Jesus can receive that. And when you do put your faith in Jesus and receive that, your life is than transformed and marked by repentance, love, and good deeds. This all entailed in that diamond of the gospel.
But a diamond left to itself can easily be lost. Now think of the church as a ring that the diamond is set in that presents and protects the gospel. The New Testament teaches that the gospel is made visible in the Body of Christ, the local church, and the gospel is protected in the church. The church is God’s institution on earth that is given the keys of the kingdom, the authority to declare true and false doctrine or true and false professions of faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the preaching of God’s Word. Preaching can certainly happen outside of the church, but it is primarily centralized in the local church where elder-qualified men who are called and recognized by the congregation preach the whole counsel of God’s Word so that God’s people grow in their faith and discipleship, are matured, raised up, and then themselves become ambassadors of the gospel in their life, perhaps becoming elders themselves, church planters, and missionaries. This is how the Great Commission is fulfilled, through local churches preaching the gospel, making disciples, baptizing them, and teaching them all Jesus commanded, who then go on to create other churches and on and on it goes. And my point in bringing all this up is that one way you play a part in that great mission is through your faithful tithes and offerings, through supporting the work of the ministry.
Quinault, you are faithful in your generosity and your tithes. Every year that I have been your pastor, we have ended every year with a surplus in our budget. And because of that, you have been able to pay my salary, we have been able to hire on Aaron as our associate pastor, as well as Christy Ng as our administrative assistant, we have been able to increase our financial support to the missionaries we support, we have been able to generously use our benevolence fund for needs inside and outside of the church, we have been able to carry out some very needed renovations to our building, and fund new ministries. And all I want to say, is Praise God, church! What a joy to see your faithfulness in your giving. And, continue in your faithfulness! We would love to be even more generous in our benevolence, in our financial support to ministries like You Medical and Grace Kitchen, more generous in our giving towards our missionaries and towards the cooperative program that funds thousands of missionaries around the world. We would love to start new ministries and, Lord willing, in time add additional staff pastors onto our budget.
A Right Denied
“But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision.” (1 Cor 9:15a)
For the length of Paul’s entire argument in chapter nine, he has spent most of it defending and defining the right of a minister of the gospel to be paid by the church he serves. But he then pivots and says that while he has every right to receive payment, he has not utilized it, nor is he writing this in order to secure money. As clear as it is from the Bible, Paul nevertheless refuses to take money from the Corinthians. Why? Paul seems to give us two reasons.
One, is his ground for boasting, “For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting,” (1 Cor 9:15b). That’s fairly dramatic. What on earth does Paul mean by that? Isn’t boasting bad? Earlier, Paul told the Corinthians: “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord,” (1 Cor 1:31). Is Paul being hypocritical here? No, Paul explicitly says that boasting can be legitimate, if it is “in the Lord.” In other words, if your boasting magnifies the Lord, not you. Paul knows that by limiting himself to not accept payment from the Corinthians, it requires him to lean even more seriously on the Lord. And it makes his life very difficult. Yet, for Paul this is actually a reward: “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,” (1 Cor 9:18).
Which brings us to the second reason Paul doesn’t take advantage of his right to be paid. “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,” (1 Cor 9:12). Other people have taken financial support from the Corinthians, but Paul does not because he fears that it will be an obstacle to the gospel of Christ. Perhaps Paul knew that the Corinthians could not afford to pay him. But, since they have been paying others and Paul commands them to set aside money for the church in Jerusalem and missionary work in chapter sixteen (see also 2 Cor 8-9), this likely isn’t the issue. More likely, there is something in the Corinthians’ perspective about money and leadership that Paul knew was off. He knew that if he took money from them, it would actually make the gospel less clear to them.
So the two reasons, are really one. Paul wants to boast in the Lord, wants to make much of God, wants the gospel to be crystal clear to the Corinthians, so he endures anything—like, sometimes going hungry, not having a family, and having to work a day job alongside his apostolic work.
So, we now return to why Paul is laying out this argument in the first place. The Corinthians need a model of maturity. Real maturity is revealed in the presence of immaturity. The “strong” who feel entitled to take advantage of their “right” to eat food offered to idols, even at the expense of the conscience of the immature, “weak” Christian, are revealing themselves to be the immature ones. Maturity is revealed in a willingness to set aside your own rights for the sake of the immature. And so Paul is showing them: Corinthians, you were to immature for me to utilize all of my God-given rights that I was entitled to—and it has cost me!—yet, I was willing to endure whatever it took to keep any obstacle between you and the gospel.
Application
So, what can we learn from this today? We learn that that Christian maturity requires more than asking “What am I entitled to? What do I deserve?” Those are the same questions the world asks. If you look at your budget, your schedule, your possessions, your future aspirations, and ask yourself: “What am I entitled to?” You will find a very thin life, built on the rind of self-centeredness. And if you have lived that way, you know how unsatisfying it is. Let me present to you a better picture, the kind of life you want to live:
19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 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. 21 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. 22 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. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1 Cor 9:19-23)
Here are two questions we can ask instead:
“How will this affect the “weak” around me?” Stumbling blocks to avoid.
“Will this make the gospel easier or harder to believe?” Obstacles to avoid.
What “right” are you currently not taking advantage of for the sake of the gospel?
