Identifying and Laying Aside Our Rights For the Gospel

Introduction

Reader: Bethany Risen

Tension

Thank you Bethany. Well we are continuing in our series hitting the high points of various letters from the New Testament called “Epistles”. Today we have worked our way to chapter 9, but this chapter is really seated in a much larger section that starts at the beginning of chapter 8 and then goes all the way to the first verse of chapter 11.

In this section, Paul is addressing both a direct question that the Church in Corinth sent him and the principle that this question brings up.

The question is what are we to do about eating meat. And this is not a question of vegetarianism. Their concern was that the meat that was available to them in the city of Corinth was typically associated to some degree with idol worship.

Like many other pagan cities, religious practices were woven into many if not most elements of public life. This would include the marketplace where individuals would purchase goods, specifically here meat, that the farmer and/or butcher had involved in their pagan rituals to some extent before they sold it in the market.

And the question that was posed to Paul was: Does a Christian have a need to stay away from eating that meat because some or all of it was involved in a pagan practice of some sort? In other words, if the meat was dedicated to an idol, and I eat it, am I somehow participating in idolatry and then dishonoring Jesus.

This was probably another source of contention in the Church, as some of them were firm in their belief that eating the meat was participating in idolatry and others thought that was silly because they liked a good steak and they were not offering the sacrifices or praying the prayers to those Idols.

So among the other things, they wrote to Paul to settle the matter. And he says:

1 Corinthians 8:1–3 (ESV)

1 Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. 2 If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. 3 But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.

Remember what we said last week, we are secure in our foundation in Christs so that any discussion, disagreement or debate that we have with one another is not to just prove them wrong but to “build one another up in love.” They seem to be arguing over these things with a human “knowledge” that was aimed at just proving the other person to be wrong so they could be right. This is not the attitude of a follower of Christ.

So to answer their question, Paul begins by laying down this principle: Knowledge puffs up but love builds up. It is as if Paul is saying to all of them, “No matter where you land on this question...You are wrong, not because the other person is right but because neither of you are entering into this debate with a heart aimed at building each other up.

In fact, lets do a little exercise. I am going to say the first half of that statement and you counter with the last half. So I will say “Knowledge puffs up” and you counter with “love builds up”

This is a major theme of the book of 1 Corinthians. We don’t argue with our brother or sister in Christ to have our view be proven right - that is being puffed up. No we only enter into disagreements, discussions or debates in order to learn together how to to help us both become more right with God.

To grow in our “right-with-God-ness” or our “righteousness”. We need to grow and we are called together to help our brothers and sisters in Christ to grow and because we rest in sure foundation of Jesus Christ, we should better equipped to debate differing ideas than anyone else on earth.

That is the principle that Paul wants them, and us, to know. Then he goes on to apply that principle to this issue of eating meat, coming to the conclusion in verse 8 that:

8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.

If we were just talking about something between you and God then it doesn’t matter…but none of us live on an island…some of us sometimes want to, but in the end we are all a part of a community and that means that we cannot only consider what an action means between us and God.

8 Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. 9 But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.

So Paul recognizes that for those who have been regenerated in Jesus Christ, the question of eating or drinking does not mean anything in and of itself - but how you choose to exercise your “right” in this, says more in the end than what you choose to eat or drink.

This is the overarching principle that Paul fleshes out for us in Chapter 9. It is framed around the question of eating meat dedicated to idols, but in a broader sense it is about how a Christian should exercise their “rights” in the Church and the community.

So if you haven’t yet, let me encourage you to open your Bibles to 1 Cor 9, page 956 in the Bibles in the chairs and we will dive into this principle together.

But first I will pray.

Truth

So chapter 8 ends with Paul saying:

1 Corinthians 8:13 (ESV)

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

This is quite a statement by Paul. (Especially for “meat-itarians” like me) Because the natural reaction of each one of us is to protect and assert our rights, not to willingly give them up. And there are a lot of ways in which this could be misunderstood, so Paul clearly lays out for the Corinthians what he is not saying, and what he is.

The first thing that he establishes is the truth that...

We all have God-given rights to manage (1 Corinthians 9:1-18)

Paul is not saying that the act of becoming a Christian means that you don’t have any rights any more. In fact, he is saying exactly the opposite of that. So much so that he spends the next 14 verses using himself as an example of the many rights that he has been given by God to steward or manage.

Not just a right to eat or drink but the rights of an apostle, the right to marry someone and minister alongside his wife. He never did this, but he is clear that he has a “God-given right” to do so. He also establishes his right to profit financially from his ministry work. Using the example of a soldiers, a farmer or shepherd he too has the God given right to share in the harvest of his work.

He says:

1 Corinthians 9:4–11 (ESV)

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?

And he doesn’t leave them with just human examples for he reminds them of how the Old Testament law even speaks of the rights of spiritual leaders to gain materially for their service.

1 Corinthians 9:13–14 (ESV)

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.

In other words, Paul maybe more than anyone else, had every logical. practical and biblical right to profit for his work among the Corinthians. But he chose not to. He refused really. Saying back in verse 12

1 Corinthians 9:12 (ESV)

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.

Paul did not say this to guilt them into paying him; that was not his point. Instead, he wanted them to see that he permitted nothing to get in the way of his Gospel message—not even his “right” to make a living from the ministry God had given him.

For him, reaching them with the Good News of Jesus was the priority, and if it took laying aside his right to make a living - he was glad to do it.

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.

Notice again what Paul is not saying. He is not saying that he has given up all his rights. He is just not “making full use of his right in the gospel”. So for the sake of the Gospel, he can choose to manage his rights in such a way that he ends up laying them down for the spiritual needs of others.

So our second theme for the week is...

We may lay aside our rights, for the sake of the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Paul continues to use himself as an example. He says;

1 Corinthians 9:19–23 (ESV)

19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as 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.

21 To those outside the law 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.

If Paul’s instruction to lay aside our rights makes you uncomfortable, then this word “servant” will probably be much further than you want to go. Bethany read from the New Living Translation where it renders this word “slave” which is a more literal translation of the word. The word is δουλόω (douloo), and it means to “enslave, make subservient, be under obligation”. It is basically the pinnacle example of laying aside your rights and very much the opposite of the word “free”.

Practically, this is how this works. If Paul is hanging out with his a Jewish crowd, he doesn’t flaunt his freedom in Christ by ignoring or condemning their loyalties to the old traditions and customs. He has a “right” to, because he is no longer bound by the rituals of the Old Testament Law. Instead he is beholden to the “law of Christ”. But for the sake of the Gospel, when he is with the Jews he behaves much like a Jew in order to have an open door to communicate the Gospel to the Jews.

In the same way, but the opposite direction, when he is with “non-Jews” or those outside the law, he doesn’t start in on their need to consider all the merits of the Jewish laws. He simply walks in the freedom that he has been given in Christ and then he shares the Gospel with them, knowing that the law of Christ will take effect later.

What is so brilliant here is that Paul does not give either side a chance say “Paul says we are right”. He is not taking one side or the other. He actually considers both of these positions as “weak”.

1 Corinthians 9:22–23 (ESV)

22 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.

Paul is saying that there is nothing to be gained in either to legalism of the Jews or the liberalism of the Gentiles. They are both “weak” positions because neither of them on the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ alone. So Paul says I will humble myself, lay aside my rights in either of these weak directions in order to share with them the strength that is found only in Jesus Christ alone. He says:

23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

That is the correct focus for us when it comes to our rights. That is what building someone up is all about. It is not about being puffed up and fighting for our “rights” it is humbly accepting our calling to be ambassadors for the Gospel and doing whatever we can to help other see that is what is “right”.

If you are here this morning and you consider yourself a follower of Jesus Christ then let me invite you to stop and consider this verse again. How much of your life, Christian, could have this written as a banner over it? How many times have you humbled yourself to become “all things” to “all different kinds of people” for the sake of the Gospel?

Maybe your opportunity comes as you enter the cafeteria at school or at your job. Who do you choose to have lunch with, and why? How would it change that experience if you walked into that room and said silently in your our mind: 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, ....and then look around the room a little, while you complete that thought with...that I may share with them in its blessings.

If not the cafeteria then maybe the bleachers at your kids sporting events, or your family reunions or with your hunting buddies as you get ready to head out to your deer stands. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Or maybe it is in the community somewhere like at the grocery store when yousee someone and are tempted to take a different aisle to avoid that awkward conversation with that certain person... 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Or maybe it is here at Friendship Church. Do you come into this place hoping to talk to those people that you know you get along with the best? Or are you here to build one another up in our shared knowledge of the Gospel. We have something close to the cafeteria opportunity this afternoon.

You have the right to sit with whoever you want…but how could you build up others in that time?

23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

No one said doing this would be easy. Being a servant is hard. It’s a little risky. It’ll humble you. But if the Gospel is true, then we must be willing to lay aside our rights to share it with those God brings into our path.

But we won’t come to this naturally, it’s a supernatural work that God does in and through us. And it takes time to develop. So in our last theme for the morning we see that is:

We must exercise discipline and discernment in managing our rights. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

Because laying aside our “rights” and choosing to become a “slave” in order to share the Gospel is not a natural or easy choice, Paul gives the Corinthians a couple of illustrations to help them see how to develop the practice.

He says:

1 Corinthians 9:24–27 (ESV)

24 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. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

I have done a lot of running in my life, but I am not a runner. I could never see the sense of just running without chasing a ball of some sort. But it doesn’t matter if you are thinking of foot races, which was huge in Paul’s day and in Corinth, or any other athletic event. The big idea is that a commitment to any sport is a commitment to train and develop your skill and push your body to the next level.

True athletes make sacrifices for their sport. They sacrifice time that they could be doing some thing else. The sacrifice food, food that they want to eat but they choose not to in order to keep their body ready for their event. They sacrifice energy, energy they could be spending in all kinds of different directions is sweated out in the training process. They sacrifice mental storage banks as they study to learn the teams plays, perfecting the right form, seeking out the best equipment and more.

And Paul is using this an a human example, an achievement that can at best only lead to a trophy that will sit on a mantle to collect dust until someday it just turns it dust. But sacrificing your rights to be disciplined in the way of the Gospel has eternal rewards!

Gospel Application

Paul’s teaching on this idea of “laying aside one’s rights” is not just something that he personally was passionate about or was uniquely designed to do. He calls every Christian to this, for one reason. The most important reason really.

This is precisely what Jesus did. Jesus is fully God with all the rights and honor that go with that..and yet...He laid aside those “rights” to become a servant for us.

This puts Paul’s teaching on “becoming weak to save the weak” on a whole different scale. Paul was just making a few minor adjustments to his behaviors but Jesus dropped from His power and glory in heaven to put on the weakness of a flesh-and-blood human down here on earth.

One who was born in a stable, rejected by His hometown, abandoned by His closest friends, brutally humiliated, tortured, and murdered on a cross—all so He could take the penalty for our sins and rise again. He was the greatest example of a servant; He humbled Himself to the lowest lows so that you and I could be saved and raised to the highest highs. And Jesus willingly chose to do this because of his love for us.

And I could stop right here, but because of who we are and the times we are living in I have to teach into something that I never thought I would have to. Because right now there are very misguided people in our culture who are using Jesus’ example of laying down his rights as an endorsement for Godless ideologies like Marxism and socialism. Saying twisted things like, “If you really want to be like Jesus then you would not fight for your rights, but lay them down like He did.”

And while that can be a true statement, it is not true in any and all situations. Jesus did lay aside his rights, but it was NOT to appease the power-lust of the reigning empire of his day. He was clear on that. In John 19 verse 10 the Roman governor...

John 19:10–11a (ESV)

10 [So] Pilate said to him, “You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above.

This is not about you Pilate. You are not writing this story, you are just one lone character in my Father’s story. You have not been given ultimate authority over my life - only to play your part as my Father has designed. As Jesus said earlier in the same Gospel:

John 10:17–18 (ESV)

17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Jesus laid down his life in obedience to the charge of His Father, not in submission to the demands of the state.

We are called to lay aside our rights for the spiritual wellfare of another individual, out of our love for that person and in hopes that they would be built up in Christ. That is nothing like the the misguided choice give your “God - given rights” over to one who would take it by force and use it for evil.

Giving into to evil ideologies like Marxism and Socialism would not be an act of love for your neighbor. It would be a cowardly act of treason against the God who gave you those rights to use them for the purposes of His glory.

Landing

This is why I tried to be very careful today to emphasize the Bibles clear teaching that

We all have God-given rights to manage 1 Corinthians 9:1-18

We have to start by affirming this, but then we can consider how God might want us to manage these rights that He has given us. We could never choose to lay aside rights that were not ours in the first place, but...

We may lay aside our rights, for the sake of the Gospel 1 Corinthians 9:19-23

And God is honored when we do. Because we wouldn’t naturally do it, so if we see an opportunity to build up by laying aside our rights then God must be supernaturally working in and through us. Still we must be careful that

We [must] exercise discipline and discernment in managing our rights. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

God only gives good gifts, so any “right” he has given us is good and we should enjoy those rights to His glory…unless the situation calls for laying them aside to build up another in the Gospel. And we should resist any authority that would work to limit or steal those rights from us by influence, manipulation or force.

Hopefully this will bring a lot of good discussion to our Table talk groups and let me encourage you to stick around for those and for the fellowship dinner afterwards.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

Let’s pray.