The Word Made Fresh
1Am I not free? And am I not an apostle? And haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord? Then you are my contribution to the Lord. 2I’m an apostle to you even if I’m not an apostle to others, and you are my seal of apostleship in the Lord.
3This is my defense to those who would question me. 4Don’t we have a right to eat and drink? 5Don’t we have the right to bring a believing wife along with us as other apostles and Cephas do? 6Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to not work for a living? 7Who pays a soldier for his service? Who is not allowed to eat the fruit of a vineyard he himself planted? Who shepherds a flock, but doesn’t get any milk?
8I’m not just saying this on my own authority – the law also says this. 9The law of Moses states, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading the grain.” Is God referring only to oxen, 10or is he speaking on our behalf? Of course, it is on our behalf because anyone who plows, plows in hope; and whoever threshes does so in hope of receiving some of the grain. 11If we have sown among you anything that is spiritually good, is it too much to ask if we can receive material compensation? 12If others have a right to claim this from you, do we not even more?
But of course, we have not taken advantage of this right. We’ll endure anything to keep from putting an obstacle in the way of the spread of the gospel of Christ. 13Don’t those who are employed in the service of the temple receive their food from the temple? Don’t those who serve at the altar receive a share of what is sacrificed there? 14So those whom the Lord commanded to preach the gospel ought to be able to make their living doing just that.
15But I haven’t demanded any of these rights, and I’m not writing to you to get you to apply this rule in my case. I would rather die than do that – I won’t give up my right to boast! 16But if I preach the gospel, I have no grounds for boasting because I have an obligation, and woe to me if I don’t preach the gospel. 17If I did this because I want to I should be rewarded, but it isn’t because I want to do it – I have been entrusted with a mission. 18So, what is my reward? Only this: in my preaching I make the gospel free of charge so that I cannot claim any compensation.
19As far as everyone is concerned, I am a free man; but I have made myself a servant to all so that I might win over more of them. 20To the Jews I presented myself as a Jew in order to win over some of them. To those bound by the law I became as one who is bound by the law even though I am not; but in that way I hope to win over some of them, too. 21To those are apart from the law I became as one who is apart from the law, even though I am not free from God’s law because I am under Christ, so that I might win over some of those who are apart from the law. 22I have become weak for the sake of those who are weak, so that I might win some of them. I have become all things to all people so that I might save some of them. 23But I do this for the sake of the gospel so that I can share in its rewards.
24You know, of course, that in a race the runners compete against one another, but only one of them gets the prize. So, run in such a way that you might win it! 25Atheletes practice self-control in everything to win a wreath that will perish. But we do what we do to receive a wreath that is permanent. 26I don’t run for no reason. I don’t box just to beat the air. 27I punish my body and make it my servant so that after preaching to others I won’t be disqualified.
Commentary
1-2: Paul is getting ready to approach the issue from another direction. First he establishes his own credibility: He is a free man and an apostle who has seen Jesus (not in person, perhaps, but Acts records that Jesus did appear to him several times) and by whose witness the Corinthians became believers.
3-7: Next he asserts his rights as a free man who is an apostle: he has the right to eat and drink whatever he pleases. He has the right to marry (provided she is a believer also). He (and Barnabas) has the right to be paid for their work as apostles. After all, the Corinthian Christians are the “vineyard” he has planted.
8-14: The Law of Moses says an ox should not be muzzled when it treads the grain; it should be allowed to eat while it treads (Deuteronomy 25:4). This humane treatment of dumb animals ought to be accorded to him as well, don’t you think? He deserves material benefit for the spiritual good he has sown. Verse 12 implies that they have in fact paid others for similar work. That is as it should be, he says; “those whom the Lord commanded to preach the gospel ought to be able to make their living doing just that” — a verse priests and preachers depend on, by the way.
15-18: Paul refuses to charge for his services, though, because he sees himself as being obligated by the LORD to do so. He therefore will refuse any compensation, making a joke that to accept payment would deprive him of bragging rights.
19-23: His method instead is to be a servant to those to whom he is witnessing, whether they are Jews, or Gentiles who submit to Jewish law, or Gentiles who do not. He becomes weak (that is, refrains from eating food sacrificed to idols) for the sake of those who are weak (who think it is a sin to eat such food). In all this he refrains from pleasing himself so that he might more effectively represent the gospel.
24-27: He compares himself to an athlete who exercises extreme self-discipline in order to compete effectively.
Takeaway
Doing good may not pay well, but do good anyway.