1 Corinthians 9:1

Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Christ Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am for you... Have we not power to eat and drink? Have we not power to lead about a sister or wife? As well as the other apostles? And as the brethren of the Lord and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working?

Paul had every right to be supported by the ministry—and laid it down for the sake of the gospel.

Love Restricts Liberty

It has been a few weeks since we've been in 1 Corinthians, but you may remember that as we finished chapter 8, we were dealing with liberty in Christ and the importance of not stumbling others with the use of such liberty. People are sometimes stumbled by things we consider rather trivial. We look at it and wonder, "How in the world do you see this as a problem? Don't you know we're free in Christ?"

Paul makes the point that the stronger believer—the person who understands his liberty in Christ better—ought to bear with the weaknesses of the weaker brother or sister. Sometimes we're tempted to say, "You just need to grow up; you just need to be more mature." But that's not what Paul says. He says the stronger believer needs to bear with the weaknesses of those that are less strong.

We saw this driven home in chapter 8, verse 9: "But take heed, lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those that are weak." Paul's view was that love should restrict liberty for the sake of others. In other words, we have the freedom to restrict our freedom. We live in a culture founded on the idea of liberty—"give me liberty or give me death"—and we carry that into our faith, holding tightly to our freedom in Christ. But Paul says we are free to restrict our freedom.

Paul Answers Like a Lawyer

As we come to chapter 9, Paul really emphasizes that point. Being an expert lawyer, he anticipates the question his readers would raise: "You're telling us to restrict our liberty—well, what liberties have you restricted, Paul? How does this practically play out in your life?" And like any good lawyer—and an expert in Jewish law—Paul answers the long way, the Jewish way, by asking more questions. In the first fifteen verses, he asks about fourteen rhetorical questions. The ultimate emphasis is that we have freedom to restrict our freedom for the sake of others, with love as the common denominator.

He begins in verse 1: "Am I not an apostle? Am I not free?" The church at Corinth was very into their liberty, even taking liberties against God's clear commands. Paul says, "Do I not have liberty? Am I not an apostle?"

What Is an Apostle?

There were those in Corinth questioning Paul's apostleship. It's important to consider what an apostle is as Paul uses the term. The Greek word apostolos can be translated "delegate" or "messenger"—one sent with a message. In that sense, any modern missionary is an apostle. But Ephesians 2:20 makes clear there was a group of apostles who were foundational leaders of the church, upon which the church is built, Christ Jesus being the chief cornerstone.

So when Paul uses the term here, it means something more specific. The apostles had two important things in common: first, they were eyewitnesses of the risen Lord, and second, they were directly commissioned by Him. Some teach a third characteristic—a unique inspiration of the Holy Spirit—which may or may not be true. I don't hold a cessationist viewpoint that says the gifts of the Spirit were only for the first-century apostles. I believe the gifts of the Spirit are for all the body of Christ to do the work of the ministry—and we'll study that in more detail when we reach chapter 12. Because of the authority given them by the Lord, the words the apostles wrote became Scripture in large part.

The Seal of His Apostleship

Paul reminds the Corinthians why he was an apostle. First: "Have I not seen Christ Jesus our Lord?" He saw the risen Lord on at least three occasions. In Acts 9, Paul was on the road to Damascus to persecute the church when he was knocked down by a bright, shining light and heard a voice: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" He said, "Who are you, Lord?" And the voice said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting."

Then he goes further: "Are not you my work in the Lord? If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you, for the seal of my apostleship are you in the Lord." The very church of Corinth was the seal of Paul's apostleship. Their existence proved he was commissioned by Christ with the message of the gospel. They would not have been a church had it not been for the ministry and witness of Paul the apostle.

Two Rights of a Minister

In verse 3, Paul says, "My answer to them that do examine me is this." There's some question among commentators whether verse 3 points back to the previous two verses or forward to the next several. The King James and New King James seem to introduce what follows; the ESV and New Living Translation seem to point back. I don't think it's a big deal which you choose; the point Paul is making is clear.

In verses 4 through 6, Paul identifies two rights he has as a Christian minister and apostle. The first is the right of personal support: "Have we not power to eat and drink?" Do I not have the right to be maintained by the church? The word "power" in verses 4, 5, and 6 is the Greek word exousia, meaning jurisdiction or right.

The second is the right of family support. "Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife?" Do I not have the right to marry a Christian woman, have her minister alongside me, and be supported by the work? Paul's basic contention was that the work of the ministry, like any other work, is one a person should be supported by. I believe this supports the principle of paying pastors, evangelists, missionaries, and other Christian workers enough to support themselves and their families. The other apostles were mostly married and carried their wives with them, supported by the work—as did the brothers of Jesus (Joseph and Mary had other children after Christ's birth, at least James and Jude). Paul asks sarcastically in verse 6, "Is it just Barnabas and I that don't have this right?"

Five Reasons for the Right

In verses 7 and following, Paul shows that these are reasonable rights, giving five reasons.

First, in verse 7, it is the custom in the world that any worker is supported by his work. He uses three illustrations—the soldier, the farmer, and the shepherd. Soldiers don't fight by day and work a civilian job by night to pay their bills; they're taken care of by those they serve. The farmer eats first of his harvest. And the shepherd is supported by the very flock he tends.

Second, beginning in verse 8, it is commanded in God's law. Paul quotes Deuteronomy 25:4: "Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treads out the grain." Does God take care only of oxen? In Job 38:41 God provides for the ravens; in Psalm 147:9 He provides for the beasts of the field. Jesus said in Matthew 6:26, "Behold the birds of the air... your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?" The ox that worked the field ate the grain that fell—that was its payment. If men working for men should be paid, surely men working for God should be paid. "If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much that we should reap material things from you?"

John MacArthur says the Lord's servants are to be supported well, as Paul calls for in 1 Timothy 5:17—"double honor." There should not be a double standard, a lower one, for preachers, missionaries, and Christian ministers. We should pay them as generously as is feasible and leave the stewardship of that money to them. Now, I don't want you to misunderstand, as if at the beginning of the year I'm saying you need to give more to support people more. That's not the case—we're simply going through the Scriptures faithfully, line by line. In fact, this church supports the work very well; no need has gone unmet here at Calvary Chapel of Escondido. But in some circles, ministers take a vow of poverty to serve God, and I don't think that's well supported in Scripture. Still, we should be wise stewards: Paul says "if we have sown into you spiritual things," so we should primarily give to those who are sowing spiritually into us, and when someone proves a wise and worthy servant, give to them happily, generously, and trustingly.

Third, in verse 12, it was done for others. "If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather?" Apparently other ministers among the Corinthians were supported in this fashion. Paul asks, can we not receive support in the same manner?

Fourth, in verse 13, it is in keeping with the Old Testament priestly pattern. "Do you not know that they which minister about holy things live of those things of the temple?" One tribe, the Levites, was set apart as priests, and the rest of Israel supported them. The Levites received no formal inheritance but were provided for by the other tribes.

Fifth, and most important, in verse 14, it is in keeping with Christ's teaching: "Even so has the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." In Matthew 10, Jesus sent His disciples out: "freely you have received, freely give... for a workman is worthy of his hire." He says the same in Luke 10:7: "the labor is worthy of his hire."

He Laid the Right Down

Paul says, "I have every right to these rights." But why make this point? Remember the context: I have freedom to forego my rights. Look at the end of verse 12: "Nevertheless we have not used this power, but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ." And verse 15: "But I have not used any of these things... for it were better for me to die than that any man should take away my glorying."

If ever there was a right you'd say Paul was entitled to, this is it. He lays the groundwork perfectly—it's the custom of the world, commanded by God, done for others, in line with the Old Testament pattern, and commanded by Christ—and yet he says, "For the sake of others, I have laid down my rights." Now consider the things we cling to in our Christian walk and say, "I have rights." I guarantee we don't have the same foundation for those rights that Paul had for this one—and yet for the sake of others he willingly laid it down.

Why He Refused It

Paul gives a good foundational principle, especially for pioneering works. He was going into places where the gospel had never gone—often to Gentiles with no background in the Old Testament—and he never wanted them to associate the preaching of the gospel with something they were buying. Remember Matthew 10: "freely you have received, freely give." He never wanted the gospel hindered so that people might say, "We just paid him for this," like the charmers and magicians of the day who sold their teachings and snake oil and said, "You can only have this if you buy it."

So in pioneering works today, those planting churches where none existed are often bivocational—tentmakers, as Paul was in Corinth in Acts 18. Paul did not neglect the support of churches; while serving in Corinth, the churches of Macedonia—Berea, Philippi, Thessalonica—sent him support and took care of his needs. But he also worked his trade so that, until a foundation was established, the people he ministered to could never say, "We paid you for this." He never wanted that line blurred, because he wanted the gospel to prosper.

The More Excellent Way

We too must ask: what liberties are we holding onto, whether we have good scriptural support for them or not? What are we hammering home—"I have rights to this"—that for the sake of love and the growth of others we would do better to lay aside and say, "Lord, for Your name's sake and the kingdom's sake, I'm going to set this aside"? In reality, it is the loving thing to do, even if we think we have every support in the world for the liberty we're taking.

As we'll see in chapter 12, after Paul speaks of the gifts he says, "I show you a more excellent way"—the way of love. As we considered in chapter 8, there is a thin path between the pitfalls of license and legalism called the way of love. That is the way Jesus always traveled, the example we have in Paul, and what we must seek after.

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus," Paul says in Philippians 2. Though He is God, enthroned in heaven, He thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation—so that you and I might receive salvation. It's an important lesson for us, especially in a culture that emphasizes liberty and rights like no other.

Closing Prayer

Father, truly we need the power of Your Spirit to walk in this fashion. And so we ask that You would fill us and empower us, Lord, that we would be those who could say, "Imitate me as I imitate Christ." As we stand at the beginning of 2011, we ask that You would shine brightly through Your church. Enable us to be witnesses in our words and in our actions, wherever we go. And Lord, would You quicken our spirit, so that when we are tempted in our flesh to say "I have rights," we would recognize Your love and be willing to lay those rights down for the sake of the kingdom and for the growth of those who are perhaps weaker in their faith or understanding than we. For we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.