Giving up His Rights  -  1 Corinthians 9

Good Day!

Let’s think about this man named Paul—one Paul of Tarsus—Hebrew name, Saul. As he was teaching and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, it wasn’t just the converts who were being changed, Paul himself was morphing into someone of great character; in truth, he was becoming more like Christ.  Remember when first we encountered Paul back in the book of Acts, he was on a rampage, a one-man crusade to wipe out as many followers of “The Way” as he could.  A self-righteous Jew, with the prestige of Roman citizenry attached to his valuable pedigree and sought after Jewish scholarship, Paul was irrevocably changing.

The man we find here in 1 Corinthians 9 is radically different from those early days.  If there were any boasting to be done, it would be in the name of the Lord.  Paul lived as a servant of Jesus Christ, fully surrendered to him alone, and because of that he was willing to subjugate his own rights for the good of the gospel.  Take a look:

¹Am 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? ²Even 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.

 ³This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. ⁴Don't we have the right to food and drink? ⁵Don'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 ⁶Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?

 ⁷Who 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? ⁸Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law say the same thing? ⁹For 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? ¹⁰Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? 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. ¹¹If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? ¹²If 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. ¹³Don'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? ¹⁴In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.

 ¹⁵But 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. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast. ¹⁶Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. ¹⁸What 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.

 ¹⁹Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.  1 Corinthians 9.1-19

When last we saw Paul, he was making the point that we ought be careful with our Christian liberty, lest our freedom should cause a weaker brother to stumble.  Here we see Paul substantiate his position as an apostle of Jesus Christ—someone who had been called by God AND who had seen the resurrected Lord.  Yet, even so, Paul was willing to forego his right of material support rather than have the name of Jesus be tarnished because of others who bilked money out of folks, using the gospel to do so.  He would rather support himself with his tent-making trade than being associated with those types.

May I draw your attention back to my opening paragraph, in which I said:

       “Paul himself was morphing into someone of great character;

in truth, he was becoming more like Christ.”

I was wondering if you and I are growing in character . . . if we are growing into an individual of great character . . . really, are we becoming more like Christ?  For instance, would you react more favorably to a difficult situation today than you would have five years ago?  Let’s take a moment to consider our own character~ Are you and I more likely to be described as:

         compassionate, honest, faithful, and brave? 

Or described as: cold-hearted, complacent, negligent, and cowardly?  Or some other grouping of character qualities?

There is no doubt as we follow in Paul’s footsteps from Jerusalem and into Mediterranean lands that he was growing into a more Christ-like person…one evidence is that he was willing to give up his rights on behalf of others.  How about you?  How about me?  What is the evidence in our lives?

Something to think about...

Christine