Yesterday Recap: We learned that Christian liberty is not about exercising all our freedoms, but about loving others enough to set them aside when needed.
Today’s Focus: Paul defends his authority as an apostle yet refuses to use his rights, choosing instead to endure hardship so nothing hinders the gospel.
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The Cost of Preaching Without Compromise
1 Corinthians 9:1-18
Yesterday we saw Paul’s exhortation to holiness in 1 Corinthians 6:12–20. He pleads with believers to live lives set apart for Christ in all their actions. Today’s passage, 1 Corinthians 9: 1–18, continues with Paul’s defense of his ministry. He sets forth a personal example of setting aside even his rightful privileges so that nothing would stand in the way of the gospel message. It is an example that asks a searching question of every believer: How far are you willing to go, to give up, so that someone else can hear about Jesus?
Paul begins by throwing down the gauntlet to his critics: “Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord?” (1 Corinthians 9:1 KJV). Paul’s apostleship had been granted to him by the risen Christ Himself, it was not self-proclaimed (Acts 9:3–6). The Corinthians were the living testimony of that apostleship, they were “the seal” of his having been an apostle (v. 2). He had proved himself worthy of his commission by bringing them to faith in Christ, yet even with all this, Paul would not attempt to claim special privileges by reason of his apostleship.
Verses 3–14 of 1 Corinthians 9 serve as an exposition on Paul’s statement in verse 3, “Have I not liberty by Christ to do all things?” He is simply stating his right to material support by reason of his work. Paul uses common examples of life in his day. Soldiers are supported by the government, farmers eat the fruit of their crop, and shepherds drink the milk of their flock. Scripture supported this as well. Paul quotes the Law “Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn” (Deuteronomy 25: 4, quoted in 1 Corinthians 9:9) and Jesus’ words “The labourer is worthy of his hire” (Luke 10:7). The point is that those who preach the word have the right to be supported by the word.
The surprising thing in this passage is that Paul voluntarily renounces that right. Paul says in verses 12 and 15 that he does not use this right, for “I would lose all things” rather than let anything impede the preaching of the gospel of Christ. He did not want people to think he was in the ministry for the money. The truth of the gospel was more important to Paul than his own comfort or convenience. It was “that gospel by the which I am ministered unto, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for the gospel” (v. 17). To Paul, ministry was not a job or hobby, but his very reason for living. God had called him and commissioned him, and nothing in this world would keep him from the work (Jeremiah 20:9).
It is this reality that cuts deep into our current context. The reality is there are preachers and teachers in our day who have made ministry into a business, a career, rather than a calling. Paul’s own words in 2 Corinthians 2: 17 spoke of “many, which corrupt the word of God” by treating the truth as a commodity to be sold. You see it in the way sermons are often focused more on money and motivation rather than sin, repentance, and the cross. You see it in prosperity preachers, celebrity pastors, and brand-driven churches who are more interested in platform and profit than pointing people to Jesus. Scripture is not against supporting your pastor or church financially, it is against preachers and teachers whose hearts are first in the ministry for financial gain rather than the flock. Jesus called these men hirelings and warned that they “are not the shepherds of the sheep: therefore the sheep do not belong to them” (John 10:12–13).
The antidote to this is Paul’s example. His life, his example says, “If ever my support, my comfort, my rights ever become a stumbling block, I will gladly, gladly, gladly, set them aside for the sake of the gospel.” That should be the heart and spirit of every true minister. The willingness to forgo rights and comforts, so that nothing will distract from or detract from the message of salvation in Christ.
The challenge of this passage for today’s believer is simple and it is costly. What rights are you willing to lay down so that nothing stands in the way of the gospel? It may be your time, your resources, your comfort, or your personal preferences. Paul was willing to go hungry, work a trade, and be misunderstood so that no one could ever say he was in ministry for the money. How much more should we, in this day when cynicism is rife, be willing to lay down anything that could get in the way of a clear witness of Christ to others?
As we look forward to the passage for tomorrow, we see that Paul will continue this train of thought as he will explain how he accommodates himself to all men without compromising the truth. If the passage for today teaches us that love lays down rights, the passage for tomorrow will show us that love also stretches itself to meet people where they are for the sake of bringing them to Christ.
Takeaway: The gospel is worth more than your comfort, your convenience, and even your rights. Lay them down and watch what God will do.
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Nehemiah 7:73-9:21
1 Corinthians 9:1-18
Psalm 33:12-22
Proverbs 21:11-12
Today’s Scripture – Read
Listen to Today’s Scripture
New Testament: 1 Corinthians 9:1-18
Summary: Paul Surrenders His Rights
If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more? 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. Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. 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. What then is my 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 Corinthians 9:12-18
Beware of the Preachers that want to charge for the presentation of the Gospel.
endure. False teachers sought money. Paul wanted to be certain he was not classed with them, so he endured not accepting support in order not to offend. Acts 20:34; 2 Thessalonians 3:8.
~ MacArthur Bible Commentary
To have used it would have been an abuse since it would have given rise to reproach and character assassination from false apostles. It could have hindered the Gospel and become a stumbling block for some weak minds.
You know, we do not have the right to give up our freedom for that was purchased by Christ but we do have the freedom to give up our rights for the sake of winning the lost. Paul gave up his right to receive financial support and he begged the Corinthians to give up their rights for the sake of the saved. Christian ministry is like fighting a war, caring for a vine, a vineyard, tending a flock and cultivating a field. Meditate on these images and see what they teach you about serving the Lord.
Ministry is stewardship, and the servant must be faithful. Ministers of Christ are also like runners who must keep the rules or be disqualified. And in a few of these verses, we’ll see that they call for courtesy and wisdom in witness, not for compromise. I have become all things to all men, does not mean Paul had no personal convictions. No, not at all, it means he used his convictions to build bridges, not walls. If he seemed inconsistent, it was only because people did not look deep enough. His one overriding and great desire was to win the lost. And that governed his every decision. It was Howard W. Newton who wrote tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy.
Ten Shekels and a Shirt – by Paris Reidhead
Tomorrow: Paul will explain how he becomes all things to all people, adapting himself to different audiences without compromising the truth, to win them to Christ.
Beware of the money-making fake preachers out there!
Overview: 1 Corinthians
Refusing to Use Your Liberty
1 Corinthians 9:15–18
Profit rather than a call
Is Every Preacher Really in It for the Gospel?
In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul proves he had every right to be supported for his ministry, then turns around and refuses it. Why? Because nothing, not even his own comfort, was worth putting a roadblock in front of the gospel.
This message digs into Paul’s radical example and exposes one of the quiet dangers in today’s church: preachers who use the pulpit as a platform for profit rather than a call to salvation. You’ll see the biblical marks of a servant who loves the gospel more than money, and why sometimes the most Christlike thing you can do is lay down a liberty you’re entitled to.
Read or listen now and discover how Paul’s example challenges our own motives in ministry.
Click here to read the full message →
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