Study 9 ("Reach out to people")
1 Cor 9:1-18 is Paul’s defence of his apostleship to a
difficult church. He insists from commonsense (v.7-8), Scripture (v.8-10),
natural justice(v.11-12) and Jewish custom (v.13) that he is totally entitled
to material support from the Corinthians. However, he refuses to exercise this
right, and takes pains to ensure that mentioning his right is not misunderstood
as an attempt to exercise it. He is concerned for the purity of the gospel,
which must not be sullied by greed on the part of the preacher. He will never
be put in a position where his integrity is compromised by accusations of
personal gain by his preaching (v.15). He will “boast” that he can present the
gospel free of charge. Here we made a note that boasting is not necessarily a
bad thing. Boasting that takes glory away from God and directs it to ourselves
is wrong (1 Co 1:29), but boasting about one’s weaknesses to glorify God’s
provision (1 ), God’s people (2 Co 1:14), and our ministry enabled by God (Ro
15:17ff) is right.
In contrast to preaching the gospel of his own will (v.17)
in a way that merits a reward, Paul says that, his commission to preach given by the Lord compels
him to preach. He is not preaching “voluntarily”, only “simply discharging the
trust committed to (him)”, out of “necessity” (v.16). He does not merit a reward for doing his job. He
says that in contrast (“What then is my reward?”, v.18) to other rewards, his reward is to be able to offer the gospel
free of charge (v.18), and to glory in his weakness in doing so, for he has not
insisted on what others would have taken for granted.
So the first principle of Scriptural evangelism from tonight’s
study is: The integrity of the gospel must not be compromised by a personal agenda
(e.g. collecting converts as projects, converting rich Christians to get funds).
1 Cor 9:22 (“I have become all things to all people so that
by all possible means I might save some”) is exegetically difficult. It is
easily abused to give the idea that “the end justifies the means” (i.e.” I can
do just about everything as long as I make converts”). In context, Paul
qualifies it with the preceding verses and explains the rationale for this
statement conclusion in v.23. The verse is better understood when compared with the near
parallel in v.19, so that “I have become all things” is set alongside “I have
made myself a slave to everyone”. Paul qualifies this by saying that he adapts
his interaction with Jews and Gentiles
so that he is not bound by the prescriptions of the Mosaic law, although he is
happy to follow it when practically necessary (Ac 116:3, Ac 21:23ff). He also qualifies it by saying that, even as one who is ‘strong’,
he is prepared to concede to the scruples of the ‘weak’. (c.f. Rom 14:1 “Accept
the one whose faith is weak,
without quarrelling over disputable matters.” and Rom 15:1 “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings
of the weak and not to please
ourselves.”.) Here the “weak” might include people who are vegetarian, or who
have odd cultural beliefs, or something not clearly identified as sinful by Scripture.
The second principle of Scriptural evangelism is that
sharing the gospel demands self-sacrifice – a willingness not to insist on one’s
personal preferences or personal scruples, but to be open-hearted in our approach
to all people. We should not let unimportant uissues Our motivation for doing
all this is to “share in the blessings” of the gospel (v.23).
I still think that Paul is saying, at verses 15 to 18, that he is both doing it out of necessity and also voluntarily. He is saying that even though the message of the Gospel has been thrust on his shoulders to preach, he also wishes to state that he is not doing so unwillingly but willingly. This is why he refuses his due right to some material reward - so that he may have another reward in the form of boasting of his voluntariness in his preaching so that he can win more for Christ. ~selwyn
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that Paul is motivated by more than obligation, since other passages of scripture, and even v.23 indicates this. But I think that in this particular passage he is making the point that the ultimate reason for his preaching has nothing to do with his personal desire. That would be the thrust of what he is saying in v.16-15 ("necessity is laid upon me", "Woe to me if I do not preach". "I am...entrusted with stewardship". So, to recapitulate his argument:
Delete1. I have every right to receive material support from you from my preaching (v. 3-14)
2. I have not made use of this right so that there is no obstacle to the gospel (v.12b, 15).
3. By mentioning my rights I don't expect to get them from you (v.15b)
4. I would rather die (and stop preaching) than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting that I have not exercised my right (v.15c)
5. Because if I preach, I am only doing what I am obliged to do. This is not ground for boasting (v.16).
6. Because voluntary preaching should be rewarded, but obligatory preaching is not (v.17)
7. What reward can I get then? The ability to boast that I presented the gospel FOC so not as to make full use of my rights (v.18).
I think Paul speaks in this way because the Corinthian church was difficult. He had a thorny relationship with them (2 Co 2:1, 7:8) and sometimes had to 'boast' (2 Co 12:1ff) so as to establish his apostolic credentials.
His underlying message to the Corinthians would be "you have many false teachers who get material support from you. I find glory in my weaknesses and willingness to give up my rights, not in insisting on them."