SERIES: Christ is the Answer When the Church is in Crisis
He Practiced What He Preached
SCRIPTURE: 1 Corinthians 9:1‑18
Introduction: The topic of our text today is one I do not relish. It deals in part with the question of whether pastors should be paid. This topic, however, is really only used by the Apostle Paul as an illustration of a broader theme which he began in chapter 8 and continues through chapter 10, namely the theme of Christian liberty and the need to limit that liberty by love for one another.
If you were here last week you will recall that in chapter 8 Paul was dealing with the difficult issue of doubtful things, ethical questions regarding which the Scriptures have not laid down black and white rules. Should a person eat meat that has been sacrificed to idols, or, to address a more modern parallel, should a Christian drink wine or smoke cigars or gamble? To the difficult grey areas in the Christian life Paul applied doctrine, namely the truth that there is freedom for the believer and each one should let his conscience be his guide.
At the same time, we should limit our freedom whenever it might cause a weaker Christian to stumble. We also noted that we need divine wisdom to discern when a brother is really in danger of stumbling as opposed to when he just likes to take potshots at other Christians. In the last verse of chapter 8 Paul shared his own heart attitude: “Therefore,” he said, “if food causes my brother to stumble, I will never eat meat again, that I might not cause my brother to stumble.”
That was chapter 8. Now in chapter 9 Paul speaks more personally. He recognizes that it’s one thing to tell other people how to live sacrificially and it’s quite another to practice the same. So, he takes the issue of ministerial remuneration and uses that to show how he personally was willing to give up a key freedom for the sake of others and for the Gospel’s sake.
Please stand as we read 1 Corinthians 9:1‑18:
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? 2 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.
3 This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. 4 Don’t we have the right to food and drink? 5 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? 6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?
7 Who 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? 8 Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9 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? 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?
13But 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 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.
In the first three verses of the chapter we see that …
Paul’s freedom in Christ is challenged. (1‑3)
There were in the church at Corinth those who opposed Paul at every turn. They were of the Apollos Party or the Peter Party or perhaps even of the super‑spiritual “Jesus Party,” and they looked for every possible way of assailing his integrity and challenging his authority. The Apostle just couldn’t please these people. If he visited his churches too often, he was accused of meddling. If he didn’t visit them often enough, he was accused of not caring. If he accepted money, they accused him of greed. If he refused to accept anything, they said it was because he knew his teaching wasn’t worth much. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn’t, if you’ll excuse my French.
Have you ever felt that way? Are there people in your life whom you just can’t seem to please? Perhaps a boss or a teacher or a parent or even a spouse? I have had a few parishioners like that. Not in this church, of course. Try as I might to do things in a way they would like, they still would find fault. I think we can all take comfort in the fact that God’s choice servant, Paul, went through the same sort of experiences.
Well, how did he handle such difficulties? First, he refused to compromise his principles for these people. Secondly, he sought to live in such a way that he didn’t give any unnecessary offense to anyone. In other words, he refused to fuel the fire of their discontent. And thirdly, he went right on living and doing what God had called him to do. We can learn this important lesson from Paul at this point: Never let complainers and nitpickers chase you out of doing God’s will for your life!
Apparently, Paul’s detractors were challenging his freedom and authority. Perhaps they were saying something like this: “That ugly little Jew who used to murder Christians is a phony. He talks about freedom in Christ, but he doesn’t know what freedom is all about. He claims to be an apostle, but he’s not. If he were an apostle he would be exercising his rights as an apostle. Besides, Peter made it clear that one of the pre‑requisites of apostleship was that a man had to have seen Jesus Christ (Acts 1:21-22), and Paul wasn’t even a Christian until after Christ died.”
To all of these allegations, Paul responds in verse 1: “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” Sure I am, sure I have! Maybe I didn’t see Him before his death and resurrection, but the risen Christ appeared to me on the Damascus Road. Besides, you believers in Corinth are the proof of my apostleship. Who started your church anyway? Who laid the foundation upon which Apollos and others have built?”
Paul’s freedom in Christ is asserted and defended. (4‑14)
In verse 3 he says, “This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me,” and then he proceeds to deliver a statement of his rights in the form of a number of rhetorical questions.
The assertion of his rights. First, he asserts that he has the right to be personally supported by the churches. “Don’t we have the right to food and drink?” In other words, he is claiming the privilege of physical sustenance at the expense of the churches he had founded and ministered to.
Secondly, he asserts the right to have his family supported as well. “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?” Now, the fact is that Paul didn’t have a family, being possibly a widower, but he was jealous of his right to have a family and to have the church support them as well, if he chose to do so.
Notice that this wife is not viewed as an associate pastor, Children’s Ministry Director, church organist, or Women’s Missionary Society chairperson, which some pastor’s wives are forced into being. Rather she is one who is “taken along,” her primary function being taking care of her own family. In fact, I think this text supports the paying of Christian workers enough so that their wives don’t have to work. But she must be a believer.
Paul isn’t asking for any special consideration here—all the apostles, including James and John and Peter, were married, and their families were supported by the churches. Should he be put in a class by himself and not be allowed to take a wife on his missionary journeys?
The third right he asserts is the right to refrain from secular employment. Verse 6 reads, “Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?” Other apostles didn’t hold down full‑time jobs in addition to their ministries, so why should Paul have to? The answer is that he shouldn’t have to. Those who labor hard in the interests of the souls of men have every right to be spared from the additional weariness of secular employment.
Having stated what he believes his rights as a minister are, Paul next offers a defense of those rights in verses 7‑14.
The defense of his rights (7‑14). First, he claims that …
1. The right to remuneration is customary in all walks of life. (7) “Who 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?” Soldiers get their food, shelter and even a little spending money from the army of which they are a part. Farmers may have a difficult job, but at least they never starve, because they can always eat their own produce. And if there’s any problem the shepherd will never have, it’s rickets, for at least he’s got milk from his own flocks.
All three of these illustrations are designed to convey the fact that every laborer has the right to live off of his labors. And the same applies to ministers of the gospel.
2. The right to remuneration is biblical. (8‑10) The Bible of that day was, of course, the OT, and Paul appeals to the book of Deuteronomy to prove his point. He says in verse 8, “ Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses,” and then he proceeds to quote Deut. 25:4: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Now frankly, speaking as a minister, I don’t find that a very flattering quotation. I would think Paul could have found a better passage to prove his point about paying ministers than, “Do not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.”
Some commentators have actually accused Paul of some pretty radical allegorizing here, suggesting that he must have been hard up for an argument to take a statement about oxen and apply it to ministers. But notice that he follows the quotation with a question: “Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he?” God is always concerned about oxen and birds and turtles and frogs, but not in this passage. In this passage the subject is not oxen but people.
Now we don’t have to take Paul’s word about this. Let’s go back to Deut. 25:4 and see for ourselves. In fact, start back at 23:19 and glance through chapter 25 and tell me what you discover. The subject is protection for the weak. As you read through these chapters you notice that every single topic relates to people whose rights must be protected. There isn’t one word about animals except this one verse stuck right in the middle about oxen. It seems obvious that the writer of Deuteronomy is quoting a well‑known proverb to the effect that a laboring man is worthy of his hire, which is exactly what Paul says it means. So the Apostle isn’t allegorizing the OT at all, but rather interpreting it exactly as it was originally intended.
3. The right to remuneration is logical. (11-12) Notice in verse 11-12: “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?” The form of his argument in verse 11 is an argument from the greater to the lesser. What is greater: spiritual things or material things? The obvious answer is “spiritual things,” because they are more important and certainly longer lasting. “If then,” says Paul, “we had a spiritual ministry in you, shouldn’t we reap at least material things from you? You’re still coming out ahead.” Then he adds in verse 12 the thought that if others like Apollos are exercising rights over them, doesn’t that even further confirm Paul’s rights?
4. The right to remuneration is historical. (13) That is, it can be traced way back to the OT priesthood. Look at verse 13: “Don’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?” Priests and their helpers have always lived on the proceeds of the temple. During the past several weeks in my quiet time I have read the Book of Leviticus and have been once again impressed by the care with which God provided for the temporal needs of the priests. A specified portion of every sacrifice went to them and their families. Even in pagan Corinth the priests, as we saw last week, took the best cuts of meat from the animal sacrifices and kept them for themselves or sold them in the marketplace. So Paul’s right to remuneration has a very solid historical basis.
The final proof Paul offers of his right to be paid for his ministry is that …
5. The right to remuneration is ordained by Christ. (14) Verse 14 reads, “In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.“ What could carry more weight than a command from Jesus Christ? When He sent His twelve disciples out to minister, one of the instructions He gave them was this: “Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts, or a bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support.”
Well, we have come to the conclusion of Paul’s defense of his rights. I would say he has done a pretty good job of proving that pastors should be paid for the work they do. However, the real thrustof our text today is that despite this clear right and privilege to be supported by the churches, Paul was willing to give up that right.
Paul’s freedom in Christ is surrendered voluntarily. (12b, 15‑18)
Look back at verse 12: “If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?” Again in verse 15 he adds, “But I have not used any of these rights.” In other words, Paul refused to accept any money from the Corinthian church, voluntarily limiting his liberty.
Could anyone possibly fault Paul at this point? Yes, unfortunately, some in the Corinthian congregation were poised to impugn his integrity, even in respect to what he has just written. They were about to accuse him of bringing up this whole issue of ministerial pay with the express purposeof getting the church to feel sorry for him and then give him a huge love offering to make up for what he had missed in the past. “Absolutely false,” Paul cries in verse 15. “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. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast.” Well, if the reason for the surrender of his rights was not so that he could mop up later, what was his reason? Actually there were three reasons.
To avoid any hindrance to the Gospel (12b). Paul felt that if he accepted money at Corinth, with their particular mixture of carnal and proud members, the end result might be damage to the cause of Christ. So, while he accepted funds from other churches and under other circumstances, at Corinth he refused to do so. This reminds us of the important fact that in the grey area of Christian ethics, the circumstances are of utmost importance. Certain rights that could be exercised without harm in Europe or in Southern California may have to be given up if you live in the Bible belt. And a freedom that had to be surrendered 20 years ago may not have to be today. Of course, at any time and in any location, we must take care that the issue at hand is really a grey issue and not just a carnal practice that has become acceptable because everyone is doing it.
A second reason why Paul was willing to surrender his rights was …
To avoid any appearance of hypocrisy. (15) In verse 15 the Apostle says, “I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast.” In other words, Paul would rather be dead than have anyone think he preached and taught for money. He was not a prophet for hire, as Balaam was, nor was he in the ministry to get rich, as so many seem to be today. When Paul bid farewell to the Ephesian elders he said, “I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” (Acts 18:33‑35)
The third reason he gives is …
To avoid losing his reward. (16‑18) “Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for 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 use of my rights in preaching it.”
Now this is not an easy section to understand, but let me try to make it as clear as I can. Paul is saying that he can take no credit for preaching the Gospel because he really had no choice in the matter. God met him one day on the road to Damascus and ordered him to preach. Now technically Paul could have said “no,” but to him that really wasn’t an option. He saw himself as a conscript in God’s army. I am told there were two choices for a sailor who was pressed into service in His Majesty’s navy in the 18th century: either serve or be executed. Those were similar to Paul’s choices, as he saw the matter: “Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel.”
Now if God had simply presented some options to Paul and he had voluntarily chosen to preach, he would have earned a reward for making such a noble choice. That’s what verse 17 says. But since his service was “against his will,” meaning that his will played no part in the choice itself, he neither deserved nor expected reward. A slave never expected to be rewarded for doing just what his master told him to do.
Is there then, no reward due to Paul? Yes, there is. But it is not for doing what God told him to do, but rather for doing what he didn’t have to do, namely voluntarily surrender his rights to remuneration. “What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the Gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the Gospel.” With great happiness and satisfaction Paul forsook his liberty, refused to take advantage of his rights, all in order to make a contribution of his very own to the work of Christ.
You know, I think there are a lot of Christians who expect to be rewarded by God for doing the bare minimum that God expects of every Christian. They go to church most every Sunday, give a portion of their income, refrain from swearing and pandering and philandering, and don’t cheat on their income taxes. And they think somehow that God is up in Heaven smiling down on them with enormous favor, ready to pour out heaps of rewards for service above and beyond the call of duty.
I think we’re kidding ourselves. Rewards in Scripture are promised not to those who merely do what they are commanded to do, but for those who bring others to Christ, for those who love His appearing, for those who endure testing, for elders who are faithful to their responsibilities as leaders in the church, and for those who invest the talents God gave them and reproduce through their investment.
Conclusion: Paul’s situation as an apostle, an itinerant missionary, and a church planter was unique, and it would be a mistake to interpret our text today as a demand or even as an encouragement to all ministers to follow his example to the letter. However, he is holding up the decision to voluntarily surrender one’s rights, if doing so will enhance one’s effectiveness for Christ, as an attitude worthy of imitation.
And I think, in addition, this passage should be a warning to all who are in ministry to be very careful not to allow a love for money and material things to hinder that ministry. And that can happen. I once asked a very popular Bible teacher to come and preach at our church in Wichita because I knew he was going to be in town for a Saturday night banquet. He wrote back and said he would preach on Sunday morning, but the honorarium would have to be an amount that was about five times what we normally paid a guest speaker, plus motel, food, and any other expenses he might incur. And I was aware that he was already being paid even more for the banquet than he was asking from us.
I wrote back and told him that I had never seen such a crass approach to ministry as he exhibited, and told him that we didn’t need his ministry no matter how popular he was. I said it a little nicer than that, but the message got through because the day he got my letter, he called long distance and protested that I must have misunderstood his motive. He claimed he was merely acting on the advice of another Christian leader who had urged him to weed out the many requests he received by pricing some of them out of the market. I exhorted him to cease and desist and to accept is speaking engagements on the basis of the ministry he could have rather than the money he would receive. He thanked me for having the courage to confront him and offered to come for nothing. We paid him our normal honorarium, but I believe he learned a difficult lesson.
The thrust of our passage today is, of course, that a freedom surrendered can sometimes be a greater blessing than a freedom exercised. I trust that all of us will find encouragement from Paul’s example to practice what we preach.
Now I think I have just a few moments yet this morning, and I’d like to use them to share with you a helpful list of seven words, all of which begin with an “E” to help us make personal decisions in the grey area, the arena of doubtful things:
Excess: “All things are lawful, but I will not be mastered by anything.” (1 Cor. 6:12)
Expediency: “All things are lawful, but not all things are expedient.” (1 Cor. 6:12)
Emulation: “The one who says he abides in him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” (1 John 2:6)
Example: “Show yourself an example of those who believe.” (1 Tim. 4:12)
Evangelism: Are we conducting ourselves “with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity?” (Col. 4:5)
Edification: “All things are lawful, but not all things edify.” (1 Cor. 10:23)
Exaltation: “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Cor. 10:31)
DATE: June 2, 1985
Tags:
Freedom
Pastoral remuneration
Criticism
Doubtful things