Proper Care For The Gospel Preacher - 9:1-14
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Introduction
Introduction
Here at Grace Church we have a particular method of preaching.
We preach through books of the Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse.
This means that sometimes, in the course of a book, we come across things that can be a little awkward.
Today is one of those days.
While we were gone, Daryl did a great job of teaching through chapter 8.
In chapter 8 Paul begins a new section of the book.
This section is chapters 8-10.
Unity In The Exercise Of Christian Liberty Chs. 8-11:1
In chapter 8 Paul presents the truth of Christian liberty.
He then talks about the voluntary limitation of our liberty or freedom.
Here in chapter 9 he is going to give a personal illustration of that truth.
To that end, he is going to explain a Biblical principle and then explain what he has voluntarily chosen to do in regards to that principle.
The truth happens to be the physical compensation of a pastor.
So, lest anyone think I am being self-serving in dealing with this topic, I want us to understand that we are dealing with it because it is the next section of the book.
I need prayer.
PRAY
Many times in my life I have learned that there is a right way and a wrong way to care for things.
Grass - fertilizer.
There is such a thing as too much.
Truck - chalk. Scratches.
Took a buffer to get it out.
In this section Paul is presenting that there is a right way and a wrong way to care for a pastor.
What happens in this section is Paul gives a principle, he issues guidance in following the principle, and he discusses the outcome when the principle is followed.
Principle:
A local church must physically compensate a pastor for the spiritual work he performs.
Guidance:
Proper care for the gospel preacher requires three considerations.
Outcome:
When proper care is provided the local body flourishes.
If we want this outcome, we need to obey the principle and follow the guidance.
Consideration #1…
1. The Call Of The Preacher vv. 1-2
1. The Call Of The Preacher vv. 1-2
Calling is an interesting thing.
Many have an idea of how they want God to call them or who they want God to call.
God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
How do we know that?
Gideon - mighty man of valor.
Abraham - friend of God who lied.
Jonah - prophet who ran.
God is glorified by calling into His service people who are imperfect.
Paul said he was the least!
He called himself unworthy!
Yet, God placed him into the ministry.
What does it mean for a preacher to be called?
Paul makes 2 points in regards to this question.
Point #1…
a. A call examined v. 1
a. A call examined v. 1
1 Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?
These questions are rhetorical, yet they invite the Corinthians believers to examine Paul’s claim.
Most translations arrange the order so that Paul’s first question deals with freedom.
Having just discussed freedom in Christ, Paul asks the Corinthians about his own freedom.
He is not excluded from freedom in Christ!
The voluntary limitation of one’s freedom does not remove that freedom.
Paul is going to talk about how he has limited his freedom, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have it.
He is an apostle.
This is someone commissioned for a task or responsibility by Christ.
There is a technical aspect to this as well as a calling aspect.
In a technical sense, there are no apostles today.
To be an apostle, you had to have seen Christ physically or be commissioned by one who had.
As far as calling goes, we have been given gifts and tasks by Christ.
Next week marks 11 years that my family and I have served here.
We were called by God to Grace Church.
God made that very clear to us and to the church before we ever came.
He has confirmed that call repeatedly through the years.
Paul had seen Christ. He had been taught by Christ.
He was an apostle, called by God to serve the Church.
A pastor of a local church has not seen Christ in the flesh, however, he has seen Christ in His Word.
The evidence of the pastors life should be of time spent with Christ.
Does the pastor spend time with Jesus?
Can you see the fruit of that in his life?
The Corinthian believers were Paul’s work in the Lord.
The call of God can be seen in the Spiritual growth of those to whom the pastor ministers.
Paul expands on this idea in the next verse.
Paul bases the responsibility of the church to care for the pastor on the call of God.
A call is something given by Christ and confirmed by others.
Christ calls whom He wills.
The issue in the Corinthian church was that people were doubting Paul’s calling as an apostle!
Paul invites their examination. He has been called.
That brings us to point #2…
b. A call evidenced v. 2
b. A call evidenced v. 2
Paul knew he had been called because God was working through him in the lives of the Corinthians.
Look at v. 2.
2 If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
Seal – σφραγίς (sphragis) seal. indication ⇔ seal n. — a confirmation, proof, or authentication of a status; understood as if a literal seal (a resinous fastener for securing and authenticating documents). Noun, predicate nominative, singular, feminine.
Seal – σφραγίς (sphragis)
A seal was used to authenticate documents.
They authenticated the ministry of Paul.
The Spiritual fruit produced in the lives of the Corinthians was the evidence of Paul’s calling.
The evidence of a pastor’s call from God is what God is doing through his ministry in the lives of believers.
Notice.
Not number of attenders.
Not number of conversions.
Not number of baptisms.
Not how many visits, phone calls, or anything else.
The measure of a ministry is the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers!
Any other measure of a ministry is a man-made construct and has no place in the church.
Now. How does a pastor minister to a congregation?
2 Timothy 4:2
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
A pastor who does not preach the Word is no pastor at all.
If someone is called, there must be evidence of the call.
Those called by God bear fruit.
The call of the preacher is confirmed by three realities.
Preach the Word.
Does he preach the Word?
Personal fruit.
Is there fruit in his life?
People growing.
Do those who sit under his teaching grow?
That is consideration #1, the call of the preacher.
Consideration #2…
2. The Common Practice vv. 3-7
2. The Common Practice vv. 3-7
Paul invites examination as we have seen.
However, examination requires an opportunity for defense.
Here we get into Paul’s two-fold defense.
The first part is the common practice, the second part we will get to shortly.
The first part of Paul’s defense comes in the form of 4 questions.
These questions fall into three categories.
Category #1…
a. The universal principle vv. 3-4
a. The universal principle vv. 3-4
3 My defense to those who examine me is this:
What this tells us is Paul is being questioned by some in Corinth.
They thought he wasn’t entitled to pay because he had chosen, voluntarily, to work.
Paul’s reason wasn’t that the Corinthian church couldn’t afford to pay him, it was because others had taken advantage of them and he didn’t want there to be any hindrances to the gospel.
Paul is being questioned, what is his defense?
4 Do we have no right to eat and drink?
This is a universal principle. Everyone needs to eat and drink.
How do we get food and drink?
We work for it.
2 Thessalonians 3:10 says this.
2 Thessalonians 3:10
10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.
Here’s the principle.
If you work, you should be able to earn enough for food and drink.
Paul says that the apostles have this as a right.
Scripture presents this as something a pastor should be able to expect.
Galatians 6:6 says this.
Galatians 6:6
6 Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches.
There needs to be physical provision for the pastor.
For a church to fail to provide physically for their pastor is to be disobedient.
A pastor’s pay must cover his physical needs.
Grace church does this.
Our needs are supplied.
Please remember, I am preaching this message because that’s where Paul goes in the text.
Category #1. The universal principle.
Category #2…
b. The spiritual practice vv. 5-6
b. The spiritual practice vv. 5-6
Look at v. 5.
5 Do we have no right to take along a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?
This word “right” could also be translated “authority” or “privilege.”
Apparently Peter, the brothers of Jesus, and other apostles took their wives and possibly families with them as they ministered.
Remember that Peter was considered something special by a certain group in Corinth.
The principle Paul is presenting is that the physical provision for a pastor should include care for his family as well.
The pastor should be paid enough to care for his needs and the needs of his family.
Look at v. 6.
6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working?
This verse tells us that a pastor should be paid enough so that he does not have to work a second job.
One of the things that is particularly interesting here is that Paul doesn’t give conditions.
The size of the congregation, the size of the pastor’s family, none of that is mentioned.
If a church is going to call a pastor, they need to make sure they can meet the needs of the pastor and his family.
Now, we are going to see that Paul voluntarily took on an outside job.
That, Paul explains, is an exercise of his freedom in Christ.
It must not be a requirement of the position.
The common practice within the church, within a ministry context, was to pay the minister.
A gospel preacher must be paid.
A pastor’s physical compensation is the responsibility of the church.
This is what Paul is making abundantly clear.
He goes on to make some comparisons.
Category #1. The universal principle.
Category #2. The spiritual practice.
Category #3…
c. The secular practice v. 7
c. The secular practice v. 7
Look at v. 7.
7 Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?
Paul again asks a series of questions designed to get the people thinking and to lead them to a conclusion.
Using secular examples, Paul enforces the point that one who labors in spiritual matters is to paid just like any other laborer.
Who goes to war at his own expense? No one!
1 Timothy 6:12
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
A pastor is a spiritual warrior on the front-lines of the battle!
He needs to be paid as a warrior.
Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? No one!
Christ is described in John 15 as the vine, and we are the branches.
As a pastor works in God’s vineyard, he is to be paid for his work.
Who tends a flock and doesn’t drink the milk? No one!
1 Peter 5:2-3
2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly;
3 nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock;
Peter commands elders to shepherd the flock of God.
As the pastor serves as God’s under-shepherd, he is to be paid.
If we pay people to go to war, if a vineyard owner eats the grapes, and if a shepherd receives milk from the flock; should not someone who ministers to the eternal souls of people be paid as well?
That is Paul’s argument here.
The common practice is to pay a worker for their labor.
A pastor is a laborer, he ought to be paid.
The pastor who works faithfully is to be paid faithfully.
I know of a pastor at one church where the board felt that it was their job to keep him humble by paying him little.
His wife got a job to help cover expenses, when the church found out they cut the pastors pay the amount the wife made.
That is a violation of Scripture.
Three considerations.
1 - The call of the preacher.
those called by God are to be paid by those they serve.
2 - The common practice
throughout church history, pastor’s have been paid.
Consideration #3…
3. The Command Of God vv. 8-14
3. The Command Of God vv. 8-14
It is interesting that Paul reserves this argument for last.
To me, this is the strongest argument he has, yet it is not what he talks about first.
Paul is building a case.
A case for why pastors should be paid.
What’s interesting is that Paul builds this case only to then explain how he has chosen not to be paid.
We’ll get to that next week.
In Sunday school we have been talking about the difference between commands and principles.
A command is to be obeyed.
A principle is to be applied and will be applied differently for different people.
This is a command.
Paul first tells us what the command is, then he helps us apply it.
So first…
a. The command stated vv. 8-10
a. The command stated vv. 8-10
8 Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also?
Paul is not saying these things by human wisdom.
This is not just his opinion.
The law, the Torah, says the same thing.
9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about?
This is a direct quotation of Deuteronomy 25:4.
This is where Paul compares pastors to oxen.
Enter all your favorite stubborn ox jokes.
The point is that only a really stingy master would prevent an ox from eating while it treads the grain.
God’s command about oxen doesn’t just apply to animals.
If God cares this much for animals, how much more for those made in His image called to minister to those He has redeemed by the precious blood of Christ!?
10 Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope.
Is this about oxen or gospel ministers?
Paul’s conclusion is that God’s care for pastors far exceeds His concern for oxen. Why?
So that as we do the work of ministry we do it in the hope.
Hope – ἐλπίς (elpis) hope; expectation. hope (feeling) n. — the general feeling that some desire will be fulfilled. Noun (prepositional object), dative, singular, feminine.
Hope – ἐλπίς (elpis)
Biblical hope is a confident expectation.
A pastor ministers in the confident expectation that his needs and the needs of his family will be met!
Paul presents this as a command.
God, in the law, requires this.
God commands pastoral compensation.
Why? Because the pastor is working.
Anyone who works needs to be paid for that work.
This is a principle that is applied in both the secular and sacred worlds.
Having stated the command, Paul applies it.
Here we have…
b. The command explained vv. 11-14
b. The command explained vv. 11-14
11 If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things?
This explains a little bit of the oddity of pastoral work.
As a pastor, my responsibility is to care for you spiritually.
I do this through the preaching and teaching of God’s Word.
That’s what Biblical sowing and planting is said to be.
Paul describes that as sowing.
The reaping, for a pastor, is the physical care he receives from the church.
I think this is also a condition.
If a pastor is not sowing spiritual seed into the life of the congregation, meaning he is not preaching and teaching the Word of God, he shouldn’t be paid.
I say that, recognizing that I myself am a pastor.
I have a responsibility to feed you with the Word.
If I neglect that responsibility, I am not entitled to physical compensation.
12 If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ.
Here Paul hints at where he is taking this discussion.
The Corinthians church had supported other ministers.
Paul, as the founder of the church, should have been cared for by them.
However, in an effort to promote the gospel, he didn’t exercise his right.
This is the connection to ch. 8.
Paul was exercising his freedom in Christ to refuse payment.
That didn’t mean they Corinthian church had no responsibility to pay a pastor.
It meant that Paul, as a gospel preacher, could choose to not be paid.
Paul’s point is that, in general, men should earn a living from the work they do even if that is spiritual work.
This point is made elsewhere in Scripture.
We already mentioned Gal. 6:6. Look with me at 1 Timothy 5:17-18.
1 Timothy 5:17-18
17 Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.
18 For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
The double honor Paul calls for here is material provision as well as the respect due the position.
Those who carefully teach the Word and the beliefs and practices of the church are to be paid.
Again Deut. 25:4 is quoted along with a quotation from Christ Himself.
The one who labors in spiritual things earns the right to physical compensation.
Now. I don’t want to let v. 12 go without addressing the phrase, the gospel of Christ.
Paul was willing to refuse compensation from the Corinthians because he didn’t want to create any roadblocks for the gospel.
Why is the gospel so important?
What is the gospel?
The word gospel means “good news.”
What is the good news of Christ?
First, the bad news.
All have sinned.
We have fallen short.
God has a perfect standard we can never attain!
The penalty for our sin is death.
Eternal separation from God.
That’s the bad news.
We can do nothing to save ourselves.
This bad news is what makes the good news so good.
We were helpless and hopeless when God sent Jesus Christ to live a perfect sinless life and die on the Cross for our sin!
All we have to do to be saved and spend eternity with God in heaven is believe that Jesus died on the Cross for our sin, that He was buried, and that He rose again.
This is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is the most important message you will ever hear.
Alright. Verse 13.
13 Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar?
Paul explains the point he has made through an illustration taken from the Mosaic covenant.
Those who ministered in the temple were provided for from the offerings.
Paul’s argument is that this same principle should apply to gospel preachers.
They minister in holy things. They serve in a spiritual capacity.
Paul takes this and gives us the application in v. 14.
14 Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.
Again, there is a condition here.
To live from the gospel, someone must be a gospel preacher.
There are those in the world who claim to be pastors, but they do not teach the gospel, they do not preach the Word.
Those are unfaithful shepherds.
Those are people desiring the fleece the flock.
They are to be rejected.
But.
The one who faithfully preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ, the one who teaches the Word of God, is worthy of double honor.
This is the command of God.
This is not optional for the church.
This is not something we can take or leave.
The sovereign Lord of the universe has commanded this!
Paying the pastor is a matter of obedience.
This is not something to take lightly.
It is not something to be ignored.
God takes seriously the church’s care for the pastor.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Okay.
So what?
Why does all this matter?
We live in a society that misunderstands how churches and pastors function.
A pastor is never to take advantage of the church.
The church is never to take advantage of the pastor.
The pastor is to care for the church and likewise the church for the pastor.
When this relationship is as it should be, everyone benefits, is cared for, and grows.
When this relationship is off, everyone suffers.
Every believer in a local church needs to be giving to the needs of that church.
Every pastor needs to faithfully teach the Word of God for the growth of the local body.
As we fulfill our responsibility the church will grow.
Is there a commitment God would have you make?
Before we close in prayer we will have a few moments of silence so that you can write down what the Lord would have you work on.
COMMITMENT:
___________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Let’s PRAY.