All Things to All People

Reading:  1 Corinthians 9:15-23
    
    Paul’s willingness to forgo pay for his preaching not only shows that we can give up rights, but also that we can do so without being forced to.  He discusses here a “ground for boasting”(v. 15, 16), meaning a special gift or service he offers God beyond what is required.  “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!  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”(1 Cor 9:16-17).  Paul has been divinely called to preach and feels little choice in this; it is a stewardship he has been given.  So what can he offer God?  What can he boast in?  How can he pursue a voluntary 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”(1 Cor 9:18).  

    But this is part of Paul’s whole worldview, not an isolated case.  “For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them”(1 Cor 9:19).  Do not pass by the staggering implications of “I have made myself a servant to all.”  Paul has freedom that he gives up so that he can serve people and reach them with the gospel.  To Jews, he emphasizes his Jewish roots, knowledge of the Law, and genealogical credentials.  To Gentiles, he reasons with them, speaks their language, and quotes their poets.   “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”(1 Cor 9:22).  Paul becomes a social chameleon, finding common ground with all people, so that he can win people to Jesus.

    Americans are told to be “true to ourselves” and constantly express ourselves.  When our opinions and approaches are offensive, we believe that is other people’s problem.  Paul, transformed by the Spirit of Christ, willingly gives up his right to self-expression so that he can most effectively reach people.  This way of others-focused, self-minimizing service is the way of Christ.

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One Thing to Think About:  Am I all things to all men? 

One Thing to Pray For:  A passion for winning lost souls to Jesus
 

Don’t Block the Gospel

Reading:  1 Corinthians 9:8-14
    
    Paul is establishing the principle that “those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel”(1 Cor 9:14).  He appeals to the Law of Moses:  “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?  Does he not certainly speak for our sake?”(1 Cor 9:9-10).  This obscure provision tells farmers not to keep their oxen from eating the crop they are treading.  Paul insists that this is not strictly about oxen, but people:   “because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop”(1 Cor 9:10).  So preachers.  “If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?”(1 Cor 9:11).  It is perfectly appropriate for those who work to provide spiritual food for us receive physical food from us.  He also argues that the Levitical priests eat from the very sacrifices they offer for the people (1 Cor 9:13-14).

    Yet Paul’s whole point is that he has not used this right of his:  “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”(1 Cor 9:12).  While sometimes Paul receives pay for his preaching, he refuses to take the Corinthians’ money.  This is not because it would be wrong, but because it would “put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.”  Perhaps it would lead to accusations of impropriety in Paul.  Perhaps it would make him look like the sophists and philosophers of his day.  Whatever the precise meaning, Paul models giving up a perfectly legitimate right—as he is asking the Corinthians to do with food offered to idols.

    Throughout this letter, Paul has argued that whether something is lawful is not the only consideration in whether we should do it.  Is it helpful?  Does it master us?  Is it our purpose?  Does it cause a weak brother to sin?  And here, does it “put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ”?  My rights are not worth blocking the gospel from its intended targets and effects.  Paul would “endure anything” rather than do that!  Don’t block the gospel!

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One Thing to Think About:  Am I making it easier for those around me to obey the gospel? 

One Thing to Pray For:  The humility to give up good things to bless others
 

The Right to Eat and Drink

Reading:  1 Corinthians 9:1-7
    
    While Paul may appear to have changed the subject here, he is actually building a case for forgoing rights (as in 8:13).  He will argue that as an apostle, he has a number of rights (v. 4, 5, 6) that he gives up to advance the gospel.  “Am I not free?  Am I not an apostle?  Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?  Are you not my workmanship in the Lord?”(1 Cor 9:1).  Paul is an apostle with impressive credentials that deserve respect.  He has rights.

    He then speaks of himself and Barnabas together.  “Do we not have a right to eat and drink?  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?  Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working?”(1 Cor 9:4-6).  “A right to eat and drink” means that Paul can receive pay for his preaching to sustain his physical needs.  He also has a right to bring a wife with him and to “refrain from working” so that he can focus on preaching, relying on churches to meet his needs.  It is not wrong for Paul to expect to get his living from those he works to help—just as a soldier, vinedresser, or shepherd would (v. 7).  

    Paul’s teaching reminds us that it is appropriate for Christians to financially support men who preach the gospel (1 Cor 9:14).  It is important for Christians to remember the needs such men have to “eat and drink” and that we “share in all good things with him who teaches”(Gal 6:6).  The fact that preachers may receive pay does not mean that they are all charlatans and moneygrubbers.  Meanwhile, it is equally important for preachers to remember that they are “(refraining) from working for a living”—that others are sacrificing and giving of their labors to support them.  Humility and gratitude should characterize both sides.

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One Thing to Think About:  How do I really feel about the idea of giving up my rights? 

One Thing to Pray For:  Gratitude for those who preach the gospel—and those who support them
 

When Rights Go Wrong

Reading:  1 Corinthians 8:7-13
    
    Paul has established that since idols are not a real thing (1 Cor 8:4), eating food offered to them is not an issue.  But that’s not the final word on the topic.  “However, not all possess this knowledge.  But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled”(1 Cor 8:7).  Some Christians—probably former idol-worshipers—struggle with still thinking that this is wrong.  This is no small thing; it causes them to feel “defiled”(v. 7), wounds their conscience (v. 12), and causes them to “stumble”(v. 13, 9).

     Paul zooms out from the situation:  “Food will not commend us to God.  We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do.  But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak”(1 Cor 8:8-9).  Are my food choices worth causing my brother to sin and violate his conscience?  By stumbling, Paul means more than someone not liking what we eat:  “For if anyone who sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols?”(1 Cor 8:10).  Someone who sees me doing something they believe is wrong will be encouraged to do the wrong thing themselves.   So Paul concludes, “if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble”(1 Cor 8:13).  Paul would rather forgo his right than exercise it to the detriment of his brother.

    Americans are rights-focused people.  “I have a right to…” is, in our time, a de facto justification for any behavior.  As Christians, we have rights, including the right to eat certain things without fear of God’s judgment.  But the fact that we can do something doesn’t mean that we should.  How do my rights affect the real people around me—with their hard pasts, weak consciences, and personal struggles?  Am I willing to give up my legitimate rights to bless others?  

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One Thing to Think About:  Have I thought about how my choices affect others—especially family, brothers in Christ, and close friends? 

One Thing to Pray For:  Awareness of the impact of my choices on others
 

Knowledge Puffs Up, Love Builds Up

Reading:  1 Corinthians 8:1-6
    
    In the next three chapters, Paul will address “food offered to idols”(1 Cor 8:1).  This is meat from animals sacrificed to pagan gods, which was then sold in the meat market in cities like Corinth.  Should Christians eat this?  “Now concerning food offered to idols:  we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’  This ‘knowledge’ puffs up, but love builds up”(1 Cor 8:1).  There is clearly a division of opinion on this topic in Corinth, which seems to center on people who describe what “we know” and others whose conscience is weak and feel unable to partake (v. 9).  Paul stresses that knowledge does not always solve problems between people.  For one, knowledge can lead to us thinking more of ourselves than is warranted:  “If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know”(1 Cor 8:2).  Knowledge can puff up, but love builds up.

    There are some things that we know that can aid in the discussion.  “We know that ‘an idol has no real existence,’ and that ‘there is no God but one’”(1 Cor 8:4).  Despite the abundance of pagan “gods,” “for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist”(1 Cor 8:6).  In other words, Zeus and Poseidon may wear the name “god,” but they are not real.  Yet just because we know that doesn’t mean that our conscience is prepared to dismiss their worshipers, temples, and sacrifices as innocuous.  There is more to this issue than knowledge.

    Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.  Knowledge can lead me to disdain others who don’t know what I know (v. 7).  Many topics have an essential truth component, yet cannot be fully understood without addressing our hearts.  How will my actions affect others?  How do I apply this truth in love?  If I am not prepared to live with love toward my brother, all my knowledge does me (and him) no good.  

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One Thing to Think About:  Can I love my brother even when I disagree with him?

One Thing to Pray For:  Willingness to allow both knowledge and love to inform my judgment