1 Corinthians 9
9
Paul does not exercise his right to be paid
1And in relation to all these questions let that be your first thought. Do not think only of the freedom that your faith and knowledge give you. Remember that knowledge may make a man self-sufficient and self-important. It is love that builds. I for instance am free — I am an apostle. I have seen the Lord Jesus myself. 2-5At Corinth, at any rate, my apostleship is unquestioned, because I have there a very certain witness to, and evidence of, the authenticity of my credentials; you yourselves are my credentials. I am the founder of your faith, your church. I repeat then that I have all the rights of this position. 6I have the right to live on the gospel, yes, and to support a wife, if I so choose, on the gospel, to take her with me, as do the other apostles, and our Lord’s brethren in the flesh, and Cephas also. 7-8The vinedresser, the shepherd, the soldier earn their living by what they do. We have the same right ourselves. 9“Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn.” (Deut. 25:4) These ideas are not my own — they are laid down in scripture. 10Moses’ words have a spiritual meaning, they refer to us and our faith. Do you think that anything in that law merely refers to cattle, and has not some moral or spiritual significance? This text means the law of supply whereby the worker lives through his work and is glad and hopeful thereby, partakes in the blessing he bestows. 11And such rights have I, they are mine according to the scriptures — I have a right to be paid by you, and to exercise authority over you. 12Others already do this, but I have more right than anyone, since it is I who am the founder of your spiritual good fortunes, and that includes also material well-being. But I have never exercised this right, my own idea has been that the gospel of Christ should not bind any burden upon men, however small, that is to say, so far as I was concerned. 13And yet you know that the priests who serve the altars and sacrifices make a living out of it, 14and similarly the Lord expressly declared that those who teach the gospel should live by it. 15But you know that I do not exercise the right and never have.
The reason for his unwillingness to receive pay
And why not? Well, that is my affair! At any rate, I am not writing this now preparatory to claiming any compensation in the future. Far from it — I would rather anything than that my special reason for satisfaction and self-congratulation should be taken away. What is that? you ask. 16The gospel? Oh no, that does not affect me in a personal sense — I have to preach the gospel, woe unto me, if I preach it not. 17If I enjoy it, and do it willingly, I am well paid. If it is distressful to me, still I have my stewardship to fulfil, and must be faithful to it. 18But what is my special reward, what is the peculiar compensation which accrues to me out of the pains I take in spreading this teaching? Why, just the doing it for nothing, — preaching the gospel at no man’s charges — that is my special privilege. In other words, the privilege and the right which I most relish and cling to most earnestly, is just this — to make no use of my rights and privileges!
What it means to be all things to all men
19And I declare I carry that principle through all that I do. I absolutely neglect my own point of view. 20Other people’s opinions, other people’s beliefs and creeds and traditions, other people’s weaknesses — these all become my own. The freer I am myself, the more I seem to become the slave of others! And though this is past a joke, yet I do it willingly, because thereby I win people. At one time the Jewish tradition and the law are everything to me — that is because I am with Jews. 21And now they are nothing to me — because I am with Gentiles. Oh yes, the law is something to me, the divine law, Christ’s laws I mean, but not the law of the Jews. 22But with the weak I become weak myself — all things to all men in fact, if only I can win a few. 23And why do I do all this? Why do I take everybody else’s point of view except my own? For the sake of the Gospel, because I wish to have a share in it myself — on just the same principle as the athlete trains for a contest. 24He sacrifices everything to the one end, if he can only carry off those much coveted laurels. 25And so a man must sacrifice himself, his own prejudices and predilections, and self-esteem, if he is to gain that immortal chaplet. 26That is the secret of my life. I do not hit out at random, but I go to work in a scientific manner, like one who trains for a boxing match. My blows are well and cunningly directed. 27They are aimed at myself, my physical being, my physical ego; otherwise what guarantee is there that I shall be saved myself, even though I have preached to others.
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Translated in 1916, published in 1937.
1 Corinthians 9
9
1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven't I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren't you the results of my work in the Lord? 2Even if I'm not an apostle to others, at least I am one to you. The proof of my being an apostle of the Lord is you!
3Here is my reply to those who question me about this: 4Don't we have the right to be provided with food and drink? 5Don't we have a right to be accompanied by a Christian wife, like the rest of the apostles, the Lord's brothers, and Peter? 6Is it only Barnabas and myself who have to work to support ourselves?#9:6. The original is given in terms of a double negative. The suggestion is that only Paul and Barnabas are not given the privilege of not having to work. 7Which soldier ever had to pay his own salary? Who plants a vineyard and doesn't get to eat its fruits? Who feeds a flock and doesn't consume its milk?
8Am I just speaking from a human point of view? Doesn't the law say the same thing? 9In the law of Moses it's written, “Don't muzzle the ox when it's threshing out the grain.”#9:9. Quoting Deuteronomy 25:4. Was God just thinking about oxen? 10Wasn't he directing this at us? Surely this was written for us—for anyone who plows should plow in hope and anyone who threshes should hope to share in the harvest. 11If we sowed what is spiritual with you, does it really matter if we reap some material benefit? 12If others exercise this right over you, don't we deserve it even more? Even so we did not exercise this right. On the contrary we would rather put up with anything than hold back the gospel of Christ.
13Don't you know that those who work in temples receive their meals from temple offerings, and those who serve at the altar receive their portion of the sacrifice on the altar? 14In just the same way the Lord ordered that those who announce the good news should live from supporters of the good news. 15But I have not made use of any of these provisions, and I'm not writing about this to suggest it should be done in my case. I'd rather die than to have anyone take away my pride in not having received any benefit.
16I have nothing to boast about in sharing the good news because it's something I feel compelled to do. In fact it's dreadful for me if I don't share the good news! 17If I'm doing this work because of my own choice, then I have a reward. But if it wasn't my choice, and an obligation was placed on me, 18then what reward do I have? It's the opportunity to share the good news without charging for it, not demanding my rights as a worker for the good news.
19Even though I am free and serve no one, I have placed myself in service to everyone so that I might gain more. 20To the Jews I behave like a Jew so that I might win Jews. To those who are under the law I behave as someone under the law (even though I am not obligated under the law), so that I might win those under the law. 21To those who don't operate according to the law,#9:21. Meaning those who are not Jews, who do not observe the law of Moses. I behave like them (though not disregarding God's law, but operating under the law of Christ), so that I might gain those who don't observe the law.
22To those who are weak,#9:22. Probably referring to the “weaker believer” issue mentioned in 8:7 and on. I share in their weakness so that I may win the weak. I have ended up being “everyman” to everyone so that by using every possible means I might win some! 23I do all this for the sake of the good news so that I too may share in its blessings!
24Wouldn't you agree that there are many runners in a race, but only one gets the prize? So run your best, so you may win! 25Every competitor who participates in the games maintains a strict training discipline. Of course they do so to win a crown that doesn't last. But our crowns will last forever!
26That's why I run straight in the right direction. I fight accurately, not punching the air. 27I also treat my body severely to bring it under my control, for I don't want somehow to be disqualified after sharing the good news with everybody else.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com