1 Corinthians 9:3-11
3 This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. 4 Don’t we have the right to food and drink? 5 Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? 6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?
7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? 8 Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10 Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12 If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?
I have kept this whole section together for this daily blog because it is a series of rhetorical questions with basically the same assumption that is given in v. 12: the one who does the work should be paid for that work. The application in Paul’s own ministry is that he could expect support from his churches but in Corinth, he did not so that he would not be beholden to them. In the patron/client context of the first century, he did not want to be a client under obligation to the Corinthians who would be taking the patron role. He wanted to be free to preach the gospel. He wanted to be in the role of the patron. He had what the Corinthians needed: the gospel message. A patron is more or less in control of the “goods” given to the client. Paul wanted to stay in control of the gospel so that the Corinthians would not distort it. He was a steward of the divine mysteries (4:1).
In some settings, a pastor may be tempted to compromise his or her preaching or ministry in light of the power of the local church. The power may be in many forms, including financial renumeration and support, honor and prestige, self-worth, and other things. The pastor may look to the church or church board for these things and do certain actions or avoid certain things. One example is not confronting sin in the church or in a certain person, such as an influential “power holder.” The fear is that the pastor might lose his or her job. Pastors are called to preach the full gospel. Paul was not afraid to confront the sin in the Corinthians (see ch. 5). He would not be beholden to them for anything. He had to be free to preach as the Holy Spirit directed.
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