1 Corinthians 9; Deuteronomy 25:4
You can be seated. Please turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. We’ll be reading verses 1 through 27. While you’re making your way there, just a couple of thoughts. Number one, preaching through the Bible, we get whatever is up next. I think I told you all a few weeks ago about dad being at a church and they all picked on him for a weekend at a leader’s retreat. And next thing up in the Sermon on the Mount was, why do you not take the log out of, why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye when you have a log in your own? And that went over really well. We’ve had some doozies lately, right?
Meat offered to idols, members of the church going to prostitutes, all the rest. Today we have a continuation of last week where Paul says, in some cases, you surrender your liberties or your rights for the sake of the weaker brother. And so he’s going to continue that. The context is pay the preacher, pay the apostle. But he says, I labored among you for free for the sake of the gospel. see why he does that. But Paul is going to surrender his rights, not not the meat to idols thing, but his right as an apostle to earn a living from the support of the church.
And so that is sort of the big picture today. But all these interesting subjects come up and it’s Corinthian. So there’s going to be a bunch more. So when you ask preacher, when are you going to cover this? When it comes up is always the answer. So here we go.
The apostle Paul says in verse one, am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 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.
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? Do I say these things on human authority?
Does 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? was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope, and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing 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. 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 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, for I am writing these things to secure any such provision, for I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. 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 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.
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 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 people, I lost my place here. 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 and its blessings. 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. May the Lord add his blessing to the reading of his holy scripture. Several years back, there was a headline in the Babylon Bee, you know, the satirical website, Christian satirical newspaper website.
And the headline went like this, congregation questions pastor’s lavish lifestyle upon purchase of a 98 Corolla. A quorum of church members at Ridgewood Church voted 56 to 3 in favor of formally reprimanding teaching pastor Stuart Coles for reckless and irresponsible spending upon the discovery that he had splurged on an as-is 1998 Toyota Corolla he spotted on Craigslist.
Hey, it gets better. Reporters were able to catch up to one of Ridgewood’s deacons Wednesday at a local golf resort as he got out of his Cadillac. We’re not saying it’s necessarily a sin for a pastor to make money, but it’s definitely unwise to flaunt your wealth like that, the deacon said, as he took a few practice swings with his new Callaways. Those are nice golf clubs, I suppose.
We openly call upon Pastor Coles to repent of his lavish, prodigal lifestyle. This is the Babylon Bee, but it’s probably pretty serious in some churches. According to the church’s disclosed financial information, Coles pulls in a cool $42,000 per year, plus a lucrative $500 continuing education fund. Congregation members began to question his opulent lifestyle in April when he was spotted eating at Denny’s with his wife for their fourth wedding anniversary.
But the scandal didn’t fully break until he was seen rolling up in the gaudy $1,500 vehicle complete with sunroof, cassette deck, FM radio, air conditioning, and a full three out of four automatic windows functioning properly. That goes on from there.
A couple of you I know have been in ministry. Some of you have been on deacon or elder boards, and you know how it can go. The preacher pulls up in a car, Somebody says, well, would you look at that? Or they could say, well, would you look at that? It depends on which way they say it. If you drive an old car with a big dent in it, what will they say? You would think he had some dignity for the church.
He is our representative. But two weeks ago, you just cut his salary because you don’t like him. It’s usually how it goes. That’s not the way it is here. Or he gets a nicer car, and what do they say? Well. We must be paying him too much or something like that. I’ve always been taught you spare the week and you scandalize the hypocrite. Several years ago, I got a newer vehicle and somebody really got in a lot about it. And I said, well, I had to get it to pull my new boat. That took care of that. I did not get a new boat. That is still on the wish list.
But we are to spare the week and scandalize the hypocrite. paying the preacher, paying the apostle, paying a minister. That’s a big topic, a hot topic. And I think in light of what Paul will say here, yes, we can learn some principles. Yes, perhaps we can have the right attitude. All of this is in the context of the apostle Paul saying, I am an apostle and I’m defending my apostleship. As an apostle, I have rights.
But I’m choosing not to use them. I’m choosing to love. I’m choosing to give up my liberties. Just as I asked you not to eat meat offered to idols because of the weaker brothers, I am choosing for the sake of the gospel not to exercise my apostolic rights and take a living. Remember, Paul is tent making with Priscilla and Aquila. Often we will speak of a minister who does not make his wages from the ministry. He’s a tent maker. He does this or that, but preaches on the side.
So what we want to think about today is what the Apostle will say towards the end of this passage. He says, for though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all that I might win more of them. So he’s willing to give up a liberty, which is apostolic support, in order to love others that they may come to the gospel. He’s just asked them not to eat meat offered to idols if it scandalizes weaker brethren. So, though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all that I might win more of them. I have become all things to all people that by all means I might save some. What’s his motivation? I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I may share with them in its blessings. He has the long look. He has the, I want to be with as many people in heaven as I can.
And so if it’s scandalous in the Corinthian church to take a paycheck, he’s going to keep making tents. So we want to think about, six things from this passage Paul is going to present. He’s going to present his freedom, his apostleship, his rights. He’s going to present some examples, a principle. We’re going to see his way and then his stewardship. And hopefully these will be like popcorn and just quick pops.
First of all, verse one tells us about Paul’s freedom. He asked the question, it’s one of those rhetorical questions, and he asked this, Am I not free? Now, the way he phrases it, what’s he expecting the answer to the rhetorical question, which you’re not supposed to answer, but what’s he expecting it to be? Yes, Paul, you are free. Right. What he’s saying is we’re just like you.
You know, every preacher at the family dinner, guess what he gets to do? Say the blessing. And I always say priesthood of all believers, people, you can do it, too. What else do we, you know, we think preachers are weird. Did y’all think about that with your school teachers? If you ever saw your teacher out of the classroom, like at Walmart or at Harris Teeter, you’re like, Whoa, you’re a real person, right? Sometimes it’s that way with ministers.
Yes, we have to eat. We have to drink. No, we can’t go around naked. We have to have clothes. We have to get from here to there just like everybody else. And so when Paul asked the question, am I not free? He’s in a sense saying, I’m just like you. I can say the blessing just as well as you. I need to pray for daily bread and receive it. How does God provide daily bread?
Generally, for ministers, for apostles, it’s through the support of the church. So is Paul not free? Is he not able to, in this case, expect the Corinthians to pay him for his labors? Is he not free to say, I don’t want to tent make, I’d rather labor in the gospel? And the answer is, of course, yes, he is free to do that. So there’s Paul’s freedom.
Second, we want to think about Paul’s apostleship. Verses one through three ask several questions.
Am I not an apostle? Some people in the church don’t think he is. Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? To be an apostle, you had to be an eyewitness to the resurrection. Paul was not one of those early disciples, was he? He was not there at the resurrection, but on the Damascus road who appeared to Jesus. But the apostle Paul, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You persecute the church, you persecute Jesus. So am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? And then it gets rather personal. Are you not my workmanship in the Lord?
His labor among the Corinthians for a year and a half now, he’s, across the sea at Ephesus. But he’s reminding them, you are a believer in Jesus as the result of me being sent by Christ, me being faithful to preach and teach and disciple and the spirit of God growing. Remember, Paul planted, Apollos watered. but God gave the growth. Are you not my workmanship in the Lord? And then he goes on to say, if to others, I am not an apostle, at least I am to you.
Churches split. They don’t like what Paul’s saying in letters. How do you get by without doing something authoritative? Did God really say? Is the apostle really an apostle? And so they just trash talk Paul. And so half the church follows his apostleship, the other half doesn’t. He says, but at least I am to you for you are the seal of my apostleship. It is proof, isn’t it? when people are growing in grace, that the ministry of the word is doing its work. And so Paul’s apostleship ship, uh, is from the Lord.
And he says, this is my defense, uh, for those who would examine me sometime later, Paul’s going to say, uh, well, I think he’s already said it and we looked at it. I’m going to come visit you. Do you want me to come with a stick or come in gentleness? And apparently some still want him to come with a stick. So he is going to defend himself when he gets there. Examine me.
What happens when people don’t like the word of God? What happens when people don’t like their apostle in those days or their ministry in these days? Well, Paul tells Timothy rather well, they got itching ears and they gather to themselves teachers that will say what they want to hear.
And apparently that’s about half of what’s going on at Corinth. They’ve got these traveling teachers. Sophists, they call them the word for wisdom. They come in and they peddle their their wisdom. It’s not the Bible. It’s not the word of God. And some people are like, yes, let’s eat that up. It’s good stuff. Best life now, all the rest. And so the itching ear teachers will say and do anything.
But Paul won’t scratch their itches, but he will preach the word. And so half the church prefers the traveling sophist and the other half prefers Paul because he seems to be of the Lord. And so there’s Paul’s apostleship. How about Paul’s rights? Paul’s freedom, Paul’s apostleship, now his rights. In verses four to six, do we not, he’s speaking of himself and Barnabas, do we not have the right to eat and drink?
And what do you think the expected answer is? Of course you do. You like Froot Loops too, right? 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? So Cephas is Peter, pretty well known. He had a wife. Some of the other brothers of the Lord, like James and Jude, Jesus’ half brothers, had wives. And so in the big picture context here, the apostles needed to earn their money through the gospel. They also, you know, had to buy goods and sundries for their wives and take care of their families.
And so he says, 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 others? Or is it only Barnabas and I that have no right to refrain from working? Here he’s speaking of the tent making thing. They’re tent making when the church could probably generously support them. And you can throw in for funny sake, just to modernize it. Do we not have the right to a 98 Corolla? Right? Do we not have the right to have hopes and dreams or retirement account?
Some of you I know have lived through some of the past years here, and I mean way past years, where people who worked for a living for big corporations and had salaries and benefits didn’t think the pastor needed the same. And they would have these knock down drag out fights over it’s costing too much to have the pastor. yet they had good health insurance, they had good pensions, they had all the good things. And so these things become very practical this time of year as pastor appreciation stretch. And so I always try to put something in the Alamance News, always try to think through some of the issues that are out there, and always try to remind people the things you have, pastors, you know, have the right to as well. But you know, so many times in church meetings, well, do we really have to buy the pastor health insurance?
Heard that as a kid. Well, the wife works or they’re going to get an inheritance. or they don’t need it, there’s the missionary barrel. So what Paul is saying is we also have the right to eat and drink. We have the right to be married. We have the right to have a family. Yes, we have the right to a Corolla or a 401k or something like that. Paul uses in this passage seven times the word right. And what he means is when God calls him to do the work of the gospel, he has a right, which also means the people of God have a duty. to take care of their apostles. And so he uses that word right. Ministers pray for daily bread, and you all have the privilege of providing it. And so it’s a wonderful thing.
I still take a paycheck to the bank, no direct deposit, but I still drive it over. And I try to ride in silence and thank the Lord. Some of you know, I went two and a half years between churches, and two and a half years is a really long time. Now, the Lord took care of our family. We had people generous to us over that time, but two and a half years is a very long time to be unemployed or underemployed. And I can’t imagine if it were in this economy. This was quite a while ago. The economy was much better.
But we ought to thank the Lord every time we drive to the bank. We ought to thank the Lord every time we see social security zapped in, or maybe the annuity that we purchased a while ago is kicking in. We ought to be thankful that God has given us these things, whatever our calling is in life.
So Paul’s freedom, Paul’s apostleship, Paul’s rights. Let’s look quickly at his examples. He gives in verses seven through 10 and 13, he gives agricultural examples. And then a temple example. So he is preaching in Corinth to a large agricultural port city. Remember the Corinthian Isthmus, did I say that right?
The little sliver of land. They eventually cut a canal through where the boats with agricultural goods could go through. But Corinth was where they would roll up the boats loaded with grain and other goods. They would roll them across on logs, this couple mile isthmus, put it back in the sea and it saved a long over the sea journey around the isthmus. So many of the people in the congregation at Corinth may have an agriculture background, but then the temple background would appeal to the Jewish section of the congregation. And then, of course, the Roman army. Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Well, right now, I think with government furlough, probably all our soldiers. But generally, who serves as a soldier at his own expense?
Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Well, maybe those people that have a squirrel problem. So you can answer all these, couldn’t you? Who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? And then you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. The plowman should plow in hope, and the thresher should thresh in hope of sharing in the crop.
And then 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. We live in a capitalistic world, and we expect to work and have a reward. We expect to put our money in the bank and gain interest. We expect to buy a house and for it to accrue some value, some equity, and on and on we could go. We expect that when we put our shoulder to the plow, that the spreading of the earth, the planting of the seed, the rains, and the blessing will bring a harvest and we get to enjoy some of it.
And so Paul’s examples are things that really, they need no explanation. They are self-evident. And they are clear. So he speaks of his freedom, his apostleship. He speaks of his rights. He gives those examples. But what’s his principle? What’s his biblical principle? Well, it’s in verses 8 through 12 and also verse 14. He says, do I not say these things on human authority? Is Paul just making this up?
I read a true headline last night. This was not in the Babylon Bee. I think it was on Ministry Watch. They look at public ministries and track their airplane usage and whatever. But it said, billionaire televangelist sells his Miami condo for like $13 million. I mean, just the headline tells you everything you need to know. So is he saying on human authority, you know, we got to you got to pay us, you know, so your seed will send you the cloth.
You know, I can’t fly. I can’t fly commercial. The demon tube. Right. And that Kenneth Copeland. So there’s a lot of human authority out there that says, you know, send send it in, baby. You know, we got Rolls Royces to drive. We got, you know, G8 Gulf Streams. We got to fly those things. We can’t fly with, you know, it’s ministry, you know.
So he’s not saying these on human authority. He says this on the basis of the law, for it is written in the law of Moses, do not muzzle an ox when he treads out the grain. You get the idea of a grain crushing thing. They didn’t have New Holland and John Deere and all the rest. So they had to put an ox on the stone to tread out the grain and crush it. And if they muzzled the ox, he would not get to eat. But if they took the muzzle off, he might graze here and there. Now, what are our grazing principles for humans? Leave a little extra. Don’t mow your fields and rake it all up, but leave a little extra for Ruth. Remember Ruth and Boaz? Leave a little extra. And the same principle is there.
Let the animal eat. And so Paul is going to apply this to the minister, to the apostle. Is it for oxen that God is concerned? And the answer, of course, is yes. The Old Testament law is for oxen. Don’t be so greedy that you collect all your grain. Let the ox pick up a little. But it is written, verse 10 says, for our sake. The plowman should plow in hope. The thresher should thresh in hope in sharing the crop. And so verse 11, he applies this principle to his apostleship and to the church today. If we have sown spiritual things among you, Is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share in this rightful claim, apparently all the others do, do we not even more? And he concludes by saying, in the same way the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
But we should probably also add, you don’t need a $13 million condo down in Miami. Probably shouldn’t stay in one either. So Paul’s freedom, Paul’s apostleship, Paul’s rights, Paul’s examples, Paul’s principle, now Paul’s way. In verses 12 and 15, he says, if others share in this rightful claim on you, do we not even more have that right? Then he says, nevertheless, we have not made use of this right. So Paul’s way is for the sake of the gospel, for the sake of the weaker brethren or the unity of the church. He endures anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of Christ.
You know, the other day, the other week, the Powerball thing got up pretty high. Yeah, I know y’all saw that. Don’t lie. And you know, you start thinking, you know, it used to be we thought about Ed McMahon knocking on our door with the big check. You know, what would you do with it? And here’s the test.
Would you still preach the gospel as a minister? Would you still labor even if you didn’t need a paycheck? And Paul’s answer is yes. If Ed McMahon came to his door, though, that’s not the question he’s posing. Or if he won the, you know, the Corinthian lotto. He would preach the gospel. It’s not about the money. It’s not about the salary. It’s about the gospel of Jesus.
And what does he know about the gospel? Well, he knows what it is, what it is to be a sinner. He knows what it is to be a persecutor. He knows what it is to be a God hater, a Christian hater, and to receive mercy. And so why would he not have a heart that beats? for preaching the gospel, even if he has to work at night as a tent maker and by day as an evangelist. That’s how much his heart is in it.
That is Paul’s way. I have made no use of the rights. And then he says, nor am I writing to secure any of such provisions. I would rather die, he says. than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. So what is Paul’s way? His way is the way of love. He’s going to love others before he exercises his liberties.
And there’s two things going on in the church. There’s the patrons of the church, maybe the wealthy donors, and then there’s the sophists, the traveling teachers who are preaching for grain, grain, gain, got agriculture on the mind. The sophists preaching for gain will gladly take their money, That’s what they do. And what happens when the money dries up? They go to another town and begin to pick up money. But what’s the issue with the patron? Generally, when you have a patron, what do you owe them?
Your allegiance. And so there’s a tough thing going on here for Paul, and he’s removing any hindrance for the sake of the gospel. He’s willing to tent make, but he’s also willing to minister. And then we want to end with Paul’s stewardship. Verse 16, 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’m still entrusted with a stewardship. His heart lives and beats to preach the gospel. The other stuff are just details. The eating and the drinking and the clothing and the paycheck or the not or the tent making. Those are just the details.
And wouldn’t that be great if every minister had that attitude? I’m afraid in America, ministry has become a white collar job. It’s become a thing. I noticed the other day in one of our sister denominations, the pastor had been hiding from the congregation his earnings, and it was something like 400,000.
Now I take it. He’s got kids in college, all the rest. But that’s sort of an ungodly thing. And so what’s Paul saying here? I have a stewardship and that is the gospel. The other stuff is just the sidelines. He’s entrusted with the gospel. He must preach the gospel and woe to him if he doesn’t. And so what is our stewardship as ministers? What is our stewardship as the church? You leave the money stuff aside and you say our stewardship is the gospel of Jesus. We must take the gospel out into the world. And why is that so important to us?
Because time is short. God is a God of wrath. God is a God of justice. But God is also a God of love. And we must go into the world and we must tell of Jesus who emptied himself. We think Paul’s great here saying, I’ll preach for free. What about Jesus? I’ll leave everything behind in heaven. We’re told he emptied himself. He took on the form of a human servant. He even went to the horrible and suffering death of the cross. And that is the spirit I think we see in the Apostle Paul. And whoever we are and whatever our calling is, we ought to see ourself as simply gospel messengers.
I think of Nate Saint, the missionary pilot. He was one of the five who was killed with Jim Elliott and others down in Ecuador. He couldn’t become a pilot in the United States military. And he noticed though that these pilots were willing to go and die for the sake of the gospel. So he became a missionary, a jungle pilot.
And he says, if people are willing to be expendable for the military, for the country, why not be expendable for the Lord? Isn’t that the attitude of Jesus? And God willing, that will be our attitude as well. Let’s look to God now in prayer. Lord, we thank you for the chance to think on what it means to love others, what it means to limit our liberty, and what it means to do whatever it takes so that the gospel is clearly heard. Lord, we realize what we have in Jesus. Others have no idea what they have apart from Him. And so let it be that we will go, and we will tell that good news, and the other things will fall into place. Hear us and help us now, we pray in Christ’s great name, amen.