The Gospel Free of Charge (1 Corinthians 9:1-18)

1 Corinthians 9:1–18 ESV

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.

Introduction: Once there was a little old man. His eyes blinked and his hands trembled; when he ate he clattered the silverware distressingly, missed his mouth with the spoon as often as not, and dribbled a bit of his food on the tablecloth. Now he lived with his married son, having nowhere else to live, and his son’s wife didn’t like the arrangement.

“I can’t have this,” she said. “It interferes with my right to happiness.” So she and her husband took the old man gently but firmly by the arm and led him to the corner of the kitchen. There they set him on a stool and gave him his food in an earthenware bowl. From then on he always ate in the corner, blinking at the table with wistful eyes.

One day his hands trembled rather more than usual, and the earthenware bowl fell and broke. “If you are a pig,” said the daughter-in-law, “you must eat out of a trough.” So they made him a little wooden trough and he got his meals in that.

These people had a four-year-old son of whom they were very fond. One evening the young man noticed his boy playing intently with some bits of wood and asked what he was doing. “I’m making a trough,” he said, smiling up for approval, “to feed you and Mamma out of when I get big.”

It is the priority of the gospel and its implications for Christian attitudes towards one’s rights (and the well-being of oneself and others) that turns out to be a key to how one should handle the issue of food offered to idols

In Chapter 12 & 14 Paul talks about the issue the church was having with spiritual gifts. In Chapter 13 it seems that he deals with a completely different subject. But in fact Paul drives home the solution to the spiritual gifts issue in chapter 13. The very same approach is used in this text. In chapters 8 & 10 Paul addresses the issue of Food Sacrificed to Idols. In Chapter 9 he seems to move to a completely new topic namely his right as an apostle to receive compensation for gospel ministry a right he is determined to not exercise. Yet like chapter 13 chapter 9 is key to understanding how they were to navigate the issue of food sacrificed to ideals.

What do we learn from this.

We are going to focus more on the principle rather than the practice.

Eating food offered to idols doesn’t in and of itself commend us to God or condemn us before God.

This is a gray area - it is an area not forbidden by scriptures or commended by the scriptures.

Example of this principle

My freedom in Christ must be checked with my responsibility to the body of Christ.

1 Corinthians 8:13 (ESV)

13 if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

Love limits Christian liberty.

Paul is addressing the issue related to meet sacrificed to idles.

He is showing us that we are often ask the wrong question.

The question is not “Can I” - The real question I ought to ask is “Should I”?

So Paul provides an example of how he self restricts his rights so as to benefit the brothers.

Paul uses a classic form of argumentation known as deliberative rhetoric)

Paul reminds us of his right.

To make this case, he begins by explaining why he has rights in the first place. He is free. He is an apostle. He has seen the risen Jesus and established the Corinthian church (9:1). Even if others were to dispute Paul’s apostleship, the Corinthians cannot, because their very existence is evidence of it (v 2). So if anyone has the right to financial support—to receiving food and drink (v 4), to being allowed to travel with a wife like the other apostles do (v 5) and to refraining from paid work so that they can preach the gospel full time (v 6)—it is Paul.

1 Corinthians 9:4 (ESV)

4 Do we not have the right to eat and drink?

1 Corinthians 9:5 (ESV)

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?

Paul’s apostolic position secures for him certain rights.

He has a right to financial compensation from his gospel labor.

1 cor 9 11

1 Corinthians 9:11 ESV

11 If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?

1 Corinthians 9:14 ESV

14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

As it relates to the gray areas of life it is important to remember this...

Just because I can doesn’t mean I should.

My right is not the only consideration in the choices I make. I must also consider my responsibility to my brothers.

In the local church the primary consideration is we not me.

1 Corinthians 9:12 (ESV)

12 ...Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right,

1 Corinthians 9:15 (ESV)

15 But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision...

1 Corinthians 9:18 (ESV)

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.

Love for others is more important than your right to eat whatever you want or earn whatever you think you deserve.

Love for the brothers often calls us to concede our rights and take up our responsibilities.

Is it possible that you are so focused on your freedom in Christ that you have not fully considered your responsibility to the body of Christ?

Where are you tempted to place me ahead of we?

Are you willing to miss out in order to keep your brother from messing up?