For the Gospel

1 Corinthians 9:15–18 AV

But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void. For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me. What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel.

The ninth chapter of 1 Corinthians begins with Paul defending his rights as an apostle. Was he not free like other believers? Was he not allowed to enjoy the fruits of his labor? Could he not take a wife with him as he traveled to preach the gospel? Contrary to the opinion of some, this discussion didn’t come up out of the blue, as they say, but was a continuation of the previous chapter, where the question of rights came up in relation to eating meat sacrificed to idols. As I’ve said before, chapter 8 was really more about rights than meat.

Of course, the apostles have rights. One of those rights is the right to be paid for their labor. Just because they and other preachers labor in spiritual things does not mean that they shouldn’t profit from their work. Paul demonstrated this by citing several examples — soldiers, vine growers, shepherds, and oxen treading the grain. His illustrations come from the book of Deuteronomy. But someone might object, “All of Paul’s examples have to do with material labors, not spiritual labors. How do we know that the same principle applies to the ministry of the gospel?” So, Paul dealt with this in verse 13. He reminded his readers that the priests of the Old Testament, whose labor was clearly spiritual in nature, partook of the sacrifices of the altar. Therefore, the conclusion given in verse 14 is inescapable: Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

The irony here is that Paul had not taken a paycheck for his ministry in Corinth. Acts 18:3 says that because he was of the same craft [as Aquila and Priscilla], he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers. Neither had he received money from the Thessalonians or the Ephesians (1 Thess. 2:9; Acts 20:34).

This takes us to today’s text, which raises two very important questions. First, since Jesus commanded his disciples to receive payment for their ministry, did Paul really have the right to refuse it? And second, wasn’t Paul kind of out of line to boast of the way that he had conducted his ministry?

This evening we’ll answer these questions as we work through verses 15 through 18.

Paul’s Ministry

Verse 15 begins with an explanation of Paul’s ministry. He wrote, But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void.

Here we learn three things about Paul. First, he made it very clearly that he had chosen not to exercise his right to be paid for his ministry. The pronoun I at the beginning of this verse is emphatic and could be translated, “But I myself used none of these rights.” He was referring particularly to his ministry in Corinth, since, as we saw last time, he did accept money from other churches, including the Philippian congregation. He evaluated each situation according to its own merits. In his second letter to the Corinthians he suggested a possible reason for refusing payment: he was afraid that he would be misunderstood (cf. 2 Cor. 11:7–12).

The second thing we learn about Paul is this: he did not write to the Corinthians with the hope of receiving payment from them for past services. Perhaps he added this because he thought someone in the church might think that he wanted money. In any case, he wanted to clarify his intentions. He wasn’t looking for money. His concern was the principle.

But the most interesting thing that we learn about Paul in this verse is what comes at the end of it. He says that he would rather die — starve to death from not being paid — than allow any man to deprive him of his right to boast. This was important to him. It was so important that in the original there’s a huge, unmistakable break in the syntax. It’s as if Paul started to write one thing, but was so overwhelmed with the importance of what he wanted to convey that he ended up writing something else. I hate to say it because I am not a fan of the New Revised Standard Version, but of the dozens of translations that I own, the NRSV does the best job of bringing this out. It says, “Indeed, I would rather die than that — no one will deprive me of my ground of boasting!” The Good News Bible is second.

The one thing you can’t miss, regardless of the translation you use, is that Paul wanted to boast. But how could he boast? Isn’t he the same apostle who told the Galatians, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world (Gal. 6:14). In fact, didn’t he address this very issue earlier in 1 Corinthians? The thirty-first verse of chapter 1 says, That, according as it is written [in Jeremiah 9, for example], He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Yet, Paul not only boasted, but he refused to give up his boasting. In 2 Corinthians 11:10 he wrote, As the truth of Christ is in me, no man shall stop me of this boasting in the regions of Achaia.

To put this in perspective, we need to understand what Paul boasted about. If we only had verse 15, we might think that he boasted about the fact that he chose not to exercise his right to be paid. He could say, “Unlike the other apostles and preachers, I work with my hands to avoid being a financial burden to the church. I am making a huge sacrifice, and they’re not.” But that’s not the point at all. It’s not why Paul was so excited that he couldn’t finish his thought. He wasn’t the least bit interested in self-promotion.

To the contrary, he explained why he boasted in verse 18. He boasted for the gospel. He boasted that the good news of Jesus Christ was proclaimed free of charge. To him that was the most important thing in the world. And now, given the fact that he had made so much of this in his ministry, to have asked the Corinthians for financial compensation would have given occasion for others to deprive him of his boasting. They could point to his inconsistency and call him a hypocrite, an unstable man whose word cannot be trusted. That, for Paul, would have been worse than death!

Paul’s priorities are super-evident in this evening’s text. What are yours? Is one the support of the gospel ministry? How important is that to you? Is another your own witness for Jesus Christ? When we look at Paul’s priorities, we can’t help but reflect on our own. We have to ask ourselves if our highest priority really is the pursuit of God’s glory and the enjoyment of him in worship and service. Do these things get us so excited that it’s sometimes hard to finish a sentence?

Paul’s Reasons

In verses 16 and 17, Paul gave a list of reasons to help us understand his thinking. Note that the word for occurs three times — twice in verse 16, and once at the beginning of verse 17. Paul wrote, For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.

Admittedly, these two verses can be a little confusing. Paul boasted, but he says that he has nothing to boast of. He preached of necessity and therefore without a reward, yet verse 18 says that he had a reward. So, exactly what does all of this mean?

The first reason given in Paul’s list is this: For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of. I believe this takes us back to the first part of the previous verse. Paul had not exercised his right to be paid, but that in and of itself was no reason to boast.

Why? Look at Paul’s second reason: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! Paul couldn’t boast about not receiving payment for his ministry because he had done only what the Lord required him to do, and nothing more.

See here how heavily the necessity of preaching the gospel weighed upon the apostle. Not only did he agree with Jeremiah that the preaching of the gospel is like a burning fire shut up in his bones (Jer. 20:9) and Amos, who said, The Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy? (Amos 3:8), but he went so far as to pronounce a woe upon himself if he failed to preach the message of everlasting life. This shows that the question of payment is ultimately irrelevant to the task. Paul had to preach whether he was paid or not. Otherwise, he would experience woe or great misery.

Paul’s third reason explains why necessity excludes boasting. Verse 17 presents two possibilities. If Paul preached willingly, he had a reward; but if he preached unwillingly, his obedience would suggest that he had been entrusted with a stewardship. But which was it? The mention of necessity in verse 16 favors the latter. Paul had been given a stewardship to preach the gospel. Yet, verse 18 mentions a reward, which seems to favor the former. So, did Paul preach willingly or unwillingly?

The obvious answer is that both are true. He preached willingly in the sense that he preached without regard for remuneration. Nothing held him back from doing what the Lord had commanded him to do, and because he had not accepted any money from the Corinthians he was beholden to no man. Thus, he had a reward, which according to verse 18, was the unhindered dissemination of the gospel. But he also preached unwillingly in the sense that the Lord had given him a very solemn charge to herald the good news. The fact that he carried out his duty, especially without an expectation of payment, confirms that he had, in fact, been appointed as a steward of the mysteries of God.

How can it be both? Let me illustrate this in another way. A medical doctor may believe that he’s called to practice his craft. Even so, he will usually charge his patients for consultation and treatment. Just like people who work in other fields of labor, he has a right to profit from his work. But some of his patients may be so poor that they can’t afford to pay him. He’ll still help them, showing them the same compassion that he would show to anyone else. He’ll be just as conscientious because the work is the same whether he gets paid or not. Yet, when he cares for the poor, he does so willingly, not expecting anything in return, but also of necessity, as a sacred trust committed to his care.

Did Paul receive a reward for his ministry? If by reward we mean a handful of cash, the answer is no. But he was rewarded. In fact, what he took away from his ministry is far greater than all the money in the world. Look what he wrote in verse 18: What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in the gospel. Paul’s reward was the free publication of the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.

What reward do you seek when you engage in kingdom service? Recognition? Honor? Or do you do it merely to help advance the cause of the gospel? Let me remind you what Jesus said: But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33).

Clearly, Paul was not out of line when he boasted of his ministry because he did not exalt himself but the gospel.

But the other question we asked at the beginning of today’s message remains. Did Paul have the right to refuse payment for preaching? We ask this in light of the fact that Jesus very clearly commanded the seventy that he sent out to remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give. The reason for this is that the laborer is worthy of his wages (Luke 10:7). We also ask it in light of Paul’s insistence that every man, including the apostles, has a right to profit from his labors, whether his labors are in the physical world or of a spiritual nature.

There can be no doubt that the general principle for preachers is that they should be compensated for their work. Did Paul abuse that right by not accepting payment? Of course not. In fact, he wrote at the end of verse 18 that he refused to accept the church’s money so as not to abuse his right.

Think of it this way. With every ministry that the church engages in, we have to ask the same question, viz., what is the best and most efficient way to get it done? Most of the time this requires paying the preacher. Preachers have to eat. They have a wife and children to provide for. Unless they’re independently wealthy, which is rarely the case, the church has to take up the cost. A preacher who has starved to death or been thrown out of his house for non-payment of rent and utilities isn’t any good to anybody. That’s the go-to principle. As Paul says, it is a right. But sometimes other considerations require a different approach. Paul was able to make a living by tentmaking, and he didn’t want any reason whatsoever to get in the way of his ministry. So he chose to exercise his right by not accepting compensation.

The key thing is to get the gospel out. What is the best way to do this? That’s what we need to ask ourselves. Amen.