Blessings and Welcome!

Join me in the reading and discussion of
1 Corinthians Chapter 9:1-27.

1 Am I not truly free? Am I not an emissary of the Liberating King? Have I not personally encountered Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work, my mission in the Lord? 

2 Even if others don’t recognize that I am His emissary, at least you do because you are the seal, the living proof that the Lord commissioned me to be His representative.

3 Let me speak in my own defense against those keeping themselves busy picking me apart. 

4 Have we lost the right to eat and drink? 

5 Have we lost the right to bring along our wives, our sisters in Jesus? Other emissaries travel with their wives, and so do the brothers of our Lord, not to mention Cephas. 

6 Is it just Barnabas and I who have lost the right to earn a living? 

7 Is a soldier in combat required to pay his own salary? Who would plant a vineyard and not enjoy one grape from it? Who would care for and nurture a flock but never taste the fresh milk?

8 These ideas aren’t based on merely human notions; the law says these same things. 

9 In Moses’ law, it is written: “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out your grain.”  Is God’s concern here limited to oxen, 

10 or does He speak here ultimately for our benefit? These things were written for us, so as the plowman plows and the worker gathers, they can labor with the hopeful expectation that they, too, will share in the good harvest. 

11 The same principle applies here: Is it too much to ask that we would be compensated materially for planting life- and world-changing spiritual realities? 

12 If you have rightfully supported others, shouldn’t we deserve your support even more?

But we have never insisted on this right; instead, we would rather put up with anything than to put some obstacle in the way that prevents even one person from experiencing the good news of the Anointed One. 

13 Perhaps it has escaped your notice that leaders and priests of the temple make their livings off the temple and that those who tend the altar eat their dinners from part of the sacrifices. 

14 So it shouldn’t be a stretch that the Lord has arranged for preachers of the gospel to make a living by those who have embraced and been liberated by the gospel.

Paul works hard. He travels the known world starting new churches and writes letters instructing other churches. Simultaneously, he makes and sells tents to fund his basic needs and missionary travels. Would Paul’s time be better spent training young pastors or preaching to a group of church leaders rather than making tents? By giving his churches his service for free, is he doing a disservice to those who will serve these churches in the future and have families to care for?

15 Despite what I’ve said here, I have never staked a claim for such things, and I have no intention to start now; that’s not why I’m writing. I would rather die than have anyone (including me) invalidate my right to boast. 

16 You see, if I preach the good news, it’s nothing to brag about. This urgency, this necessity has been laid on me. In fact, if I were to stop sharing this good news, I’d be in big trouble. 

17 You see, my story is different. I didn’t volunteer for this. Had I volunteered to preach the good news, then I would deserve a wage, a reward, or something. But I didn’t choose this. God chose me and entrusted me with this mission. 

18 You’re looking for the catch. I know you’re wondering, “What reward is he talking about?” My reward, besides being with you and knowing you, is sharing the good news of the Anointed One with you free and clear. That means I don’t insist on all my rights for support in the good news; 

19 that also means that I am free of obligations to all people. And,...