The Discipline of Sacrifice

Sunday, May 25, 2025

Start with Application Testimony

[Give people an opportunity to share a testimony from last week’s exhortation]

Last week’s exhortation: Make a shift this week to pursue understanding and not just information, choosing love over being “knowledgeable”.

INTRO

We are going verse-by-verse, in a topical study through I & II Corinthians

Current Topic: Becoming Mature - The personal discipline of becoming like Jesus

In 1 Corinthians 10 we learned that first steps of maturity are to stop desiring evil things, to take the path that leads away from temptation, and to prioritize what is beneficial.

In 1 Corinthians 8 we learned that love is the way to true understanding, that real maturity is marked by the ability to wisely apply—not just possess—knowledge, and that the clearest measure of our maturity is how we love others.

Now in 1 Corinthians 9 we will learn that we all have God-given rights, but our greater purpose in Christ calls us to lay them down when necessary for the sake of love, unity, and the gospel.

READ

1 Corinthians 9 CSB

1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? 2 If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, because you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. 3 My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? 5 Don’t we have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife like the other apostles, the Lord’s brothers, and Cephas? 6 Or do only Barnabas and I have no right to refrain from working? 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock? 8 Am I saying this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the law also say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain. Is God really concerned about oxen? 10 Isn’t he really saying it for our sake? Yes, this is written for our sake, because he who plows ought to plow in hope, and he who threshes should thresh in hope of sharing the crop. 11 If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it too much if we reap material benefits from you? 12 If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don’t we even more? Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right; instead, we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ. 13 Don’t you know that those who perform the temple services eat the food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the offerings of the altar? 14 In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel. 15 For my part I have used none of these rights, nor have I written these things that they may be applied in my case. For it would be better for me to die than for anyone to deprive me of my boast! 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am compelled to preach—and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, I am entrusted with a commission. 18 What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my rights in the gospel. 19 Although I am free from all and not anyone’s slave, I have made myself a slave to everyone, in order to win more people. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews; to those under the law, like one under the law—though I myself am not under the law—to win those under the law. 21 To those who are without the law, like one without the law—though I am not without God’s law but under the law of Christ—to win those without the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, in order to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so that I may by every possible means save some. 23 Now I do all this because of the gospel, so that I may share in the blessings. 24 Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize. 25 Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown. 26 So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. 27 Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

EXAMINE

#1 | We all have God-given rights

Paul makes a strong case for his own personal rights.

1 Corinthians 9:2,12,14 “...you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord… If others have this right to receive benefits from you, don’t we even more?… the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should earn their living by the gospel.”

There was no doubt that the church was spiritually obligated to financially provide for those who ministered.

This extends to everyone. We all have rights that are undeniable.

1 Corinthians 9:9–10 “For it is written in the law of Moses, Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out grain. Is God really concerned about oxen? 10 Isn’t he really saying it for our sake? Yes, this is written for our sake...”

The fact that we all have certain God-given rights is reinforced throughout scripture. There is no question about that.

#2 | Our rights are secondary to our greater purpose in Christ

We are called to benefit others and not primarily ourselves.

1 Corinthians 9:16–18 “For if I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am compelled to preach—and woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, I have a reward, but if unwillingly, I am entrusted with a commission. 18 What then is my reward? To preach the gospel and offer it free of charge and not make full use of my rights in the gospel.”

Paul knew that when he prioritized serving others, he was most aligned with God’s purpose in His life.

Holding too tightly to our personal rights conflicts with the message of the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 9:12 “...we have not made use of this right; instead, we endure everything so that we will not hinder the gospel of Christ.”

The most effective way to preach the Gospel is by being like Jesus (John 17:21) and when we put ourselves first, we are not acting like Him at all (Philippians 2:5-7) - we are living in a way that directly conflicts with the narrative of the Gospel message.

#3 | We must train ourselves to lay down our rights when needed

The first step in this training is to desire the greater reward of the Gospel.

1 Corinthians 9:23 “Now I do all this because of the gospel, so that I may share in the blessings.”

An eternal joy that blesses you and everyone else, is better than a temporary joy that only blesses you. Mature people believe this. Immature people do not.

The second step is to practice delayed gratification.

1 Corinthians 9:24–25 “Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize. 25 Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. They do it to receive a perishable crown, but we an imperishable crown.”

Always choosing what makes you happy now, ruins your chances to be healthy later.

Being mature means giving up good things, not just obviously bad things, in order to reach higher goals. Just like in sports, spiritual success is a matter of personal discipline.

REFLECT

Let’s take a moment to pray

Ask the Holy Spirit to highlight and draw our attention to what He wants us to see and understand today

APPLY

Process the passage together with these questions:

[Allow the conversation to go where people take it - we want people to feel the liberty to explore the topics of the passage that stand out to them. Select the questions from below that you think are right for the conversation, or add your own. Questions should be focused, yet open-ended. Wherever the conversation goes, help your group “land the plane” on the core idea of the lesson when you wrap up.]

Why do you think Paul emphasizes his rights so clearly before laying them down?

How can holding onto a right become a spiritual obstacle?

What does it look like to “preach the gospel free of charge” in our lives today?

Can you think of a time when someone laid down a right and it impacted you?

What are some practical ways to grow in self-discipline?

Where we want to “land the plane”

God has given each of us certain rights, and they matter - but they are not ultimate. Our calling in Christ is greater than our comfort, and His mission is more important than our preferences. Like Paul, we are called to lay down even what is rightfully ours so that nothing gets in the way of the Gospel. A mature faith doesn’t cling to rights but runs with discipline toward the eternal reward that blesses both us and those we serve.

Exhortation for the Week

Ask the Lord to reveal which rights you’re holding onto that hinder His calling on your life - then start letting them go.

FOOTNOTES

Paul was competing well himself and had called many to join him (the word preached is kēryxas, the noun form of which signified a herald who summoned contestants to a race), but that did not guarantee him a victorious finish. He held out the possibility that even he could be disqualified for the prize. The single Greek word translated by that phrase (adokimos) literally means “unapproved.” In other contexts it was applied to the unsaved (e.g., Rom. 1:28; Titus 1:16). Here Paul was not addressing the issue of salvation, nor for that matter was even the prize specifically in mind. Rather, he seemed concerned with continuance in the race. Like the brother who had indulged in immorality (1 Cor. 5:1–5), Paul’s life could be cut short by the disciplinary disapproval of God. God had disciplined in the past (10:6–10), was disciplining in the present (11:30–32), and would discipline in the immediate future (5:5). Paul was concerned that some might not be able to say with him one day, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race” (2 Tim. 4:7), but would find themselves cut off in the midst of the contest by the disciplinary action of God. David K. Lowery, “1 Corinthians,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 525.