Your Right When It Comes to Your Rights (1 Corinthians 9:1-18)

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? [2] If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. [3] This is my defense to those who would examine me. [4] Do we not have the right to eat and drink? [5] Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? [6] Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? [7] Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? [8] Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the Law say the same? [9] For it is written in the Law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” Is it for oxen that God is concerned? [10] Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. [11] If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? [12] 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. [13] 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? [14] In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. [15] 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. [16] 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! [17] 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. [18] 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 9:1–18)

I. When You Might Not Use Your Rights

Because they are fundamental to our life together as a city or a state or a nation, it's not strange to talk about... our rights, is it? In one of our founding documents, Thomas Jefferson wrote some-thing I think we can all agree with: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights (i.e., they cannot be taken away or transferred away)”.

But even if our fundamental rights really cannot be taken away by someone else or somehow transferred away by us, would it be right, regarding our rights, not to make use of them at times? If you had the right to speak your mind, when and why might you not make use of that right? If you had the right to assemble with like-minded individuals, just like we're doing this morning, when and why might you not make use of that right? Or if you had the right to leave a prison after serving your sentence, why (if it were even possible) might you stay?

In our passage this morning, 1 Corinthians 9:1-18, Paul is going to talk about that very thing. As we talked about last time, these verses are part of a larger section that runs from 8:1 to 11:1, and deals with an issue that was very familiar to those first readers: the issue of eating meet that had been sacrificed to a pagan idol.

II. The Passage: “We Have Not Made Use of This Right” (9:1-18)

There are a good amount of verses in this passage, and we could spend several hours just looking at different themes the Apostle touches on here. But having just heard the passage read for us, let me give you a simple breakdown that we can use as we seek to understand God's word to them back then, which is also, of course, God's word for us this morning. What I'd like to show you is how in verses 1-5, Paul explores his many rights. Then, in verses 6-12a, as well as 13-14, Paul expands on just one of his rights. And finally, in verses 12b, as well as 15-18, Paul explains his not making use of this right. So, look with me...

First, at how Paul explores his many rights in verses 1-5. It's important to remember that, in the previous chapter, Paul has just been discussing a right that belonged to the Corinthians. In 8:9 he describes it as “this right of yours”. What was that right? It was the right to, the freedom to, eat food that had been sacrificed to an idol. If according to 8:4, an idol has no real existence, then the act of consuming this meat is, in essence, exactly the same as consuming any meet. Religiously or spiritually speaking, Christians have the freedom to eat whatever they want. For as Paul will explain in 10:26 (quoting Psalm 24:1), "for the earth is the Lord's, and everything in it."

But when he, in 8:13, asserts that he will never meat again if his eating ever makes a brother or sister in Christ stumble, (in making that assertion) he wants to make sure, in the very next verse (9:1), that they understand his resolution there is purely voluntary; that is, that it is not something he has to do. “Am I not free?”, he asks in 9:1. If they enjoy such freedoms (such rights) in Christ, why would Paul be any different? He's an apostle for crying out loud. That means that, unlike them, he's actually seen Jesus. It also means that, in one sense, their Christian faith is a result of his Christian faithfulness as an apostle. And so if he's not only a Christian, but also an apostle, why wouldn't he also enjoy the same spiritual freedoms they enjoy?

And he goes on in verses 4 and 5 to list a couple of those freedoms: “Do we [as apostle] not have the right (or freedom in Christ) to eat and drink (whatever we'd like to eat and drink)? [Additionally, though according to chapter 7 Paul chose to remain single, he asks here] Do we not [also] have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord [i.e., half brothers of Jesus like James and Jude] and Cephas [i.e., Peter]?” The assumed answer to these rhetorical questions is a resounding “yes”! Paul does have these rights. But as we move to the next set of verses, we see that his argument continues as...

Second, Paul expands on just one of his rights, beginning in verse 6. “Or is it [for example] only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living?” As an apostle, Paul had the freedom to raise support from others believers in order to fund his ministry efforts. Here he explains this practice using both everyday examples and a relevant scripture. The everyday examples are listed in verse 7: “Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?”

The relevant scripture is provided in verse 9. Paul quotes there from Deuteronomy 25:4... “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” As Paul explains at the end of verse 9, this OT law wasn't ultimately given for oxen. Look again at verse 10: “It was written for our sake”. As the spiritual plowman and thresher there in Corinth, as one who had sown spiritual seed among them, Paul had every right to “reap material things from [them]”.

As a quick aside, it's this very principle that underpins what we would today call vocational ministry. That could mean financial support for evangelists and church planters. Moreover, Paul quotes this same exact OT verse in 1 Timothy 5:18 when he writes there about “double honor” elders, or what we today would call a full-time pastor. In fact, in 1 Timothy 5, Paul also quotes the words of Jesus, words preserved for us today in Luke 10:7, “the laborer deserves his wages”. I think Paul has that same teaching in mind when he says in v. 14, “In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.”

But even thought this right is firmly established, being supported by many practical and biblical principles, third, in the remainder of our passage, we see how Paul explains his not making use of this right. This point is clear from the end of v. 12... “Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right,..” He repeats this choice in v. 15... “But I have made no use of any of these rights...”. Then again at the end of v. 18... “so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.”

Think with me about what Paul's doing here. At the end of chapter 8, Paul declared that he would not never eat meat again if it meant causing his brother or sister in Christ to stumble. Now, if anyone in the Corinthian church doubted his seriousness in making that statement, Paul wants to make it abundantly clear that this principle of not making use of his rights... it could be found in many areas of his ministry. The area he spotlights here is his not accepting financial support from the Corinthian believers. Why would he do such a thing when it was his right as a gospel worker? Well, to be clear, according to v. 15, he was definitely not raising the issue in order “secure any such provision” from this church. So again, why not make use of this right? I think we find an answer in the closing statement of verse 12: “...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.” Why would taking money from these believers present an obstacle for the gospel? Because, as he would tell them in his second letter, “...we are not, like so many, peddlers [salesmen] of God's word...” (2 Corinthians 2:17). In a place like Corinth, where orators and teachers of all stripes charged money for their (2:1) “lofty speech” and their (2:4) “persuasive words of human wisdom”, Paul would not allow his motives to be questioned. He was not going to confuse the Corinthians, and he was not going to give his opponents anything to twist to their own self-promoting ends.

In and of itself, his preaching was no ground for boasting. Why? Because he must preach this gospel. He was commissioned to do so. He had a “stewardship”. Verse 16: “For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!” No. His ground for boasting (i.e., boasting in the Lord—cf. 1:31) was to be found in his approach in Corinth: (v. 18) “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.”

III. The “Unalienable Rights” of Christ

Whew! We just a tackled a lot of verses in a little bit of time. There's plenty in that passage, isn't there? But I think, as we just talked about, Paul made his main point abundantly clear in verses 12, 15, and 18. Now, please remember what I suggested last week: that in tackling this comp-licated matter of eating food sacrificed to idols, we also see how this issue ends up pressing to the surface and pointing us to, what I'm calling, marks of Christian maturity. Last week we talked about a mature use of knowledge. This time, it should come as no surprise that what Paul is explaining (and exemplifying) here is a mature use of your rights. Like the Corinthian believers and Paul the Apostle, you and I, as disciples, also experience freedom in Jesus Christ; we enjoy many rights as sons and daughters of God the Father. But that's where Paul's emphasis comes in. At times, the mature follower of Jesus will... deliberately... not make use of those rights.

But why? Well, last time, the answer to that question was love (a love that “builds up”). Rem-ember that? This time, Paul explains his rationale as not wanting to “put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.” Are these two different answers? Not really. You see, we love others best when we love them with the gospel, whether believer or unbeliever. This is true because only the gospel can powerfully meet our deepest need: our need for God. But if there's any chance that something could prove to be an unnecessary obstacle to my gospel ministry, or your gospel ministry, we should gladly set to the side any of our rights, whether they be civil or spiritual. For example, I have the right to free speech regarding my political opinions. But if I had some sense that, with a particular person, or in a particular situation, my political opinion could prove to be an unnecessary hindrance to the gospel of grace, then I would happily keep that opinion to myself.

Another example might be alcohol. You may know that followers of Jesus are free to drink beer, wine, and other kinds of alcohol. What we are not free to do is get drunk. But if you were attem-pting to faithfully represent Christ in, let's say, a very religious, but non-Christian community, where alcohol was somewhat of a taboo, would you be willing to not make use of that right? I'm afraid some believers would confuse this choice with people-pleasing, or would feel like they were supporting legalism, or may even think they were fighting some principled battle for the truth. And in certain situations, those things could be true. But it should be our pray that we would not confuse discernment in circumstances like those with a me-centered impulse to assert our rights, rather than set them aside. For if Jesus Christ had asserted his “unalienable right to... life”, rather than setting it aside on the cross, we'd have no gospel; no Good News of eternal life.

When it comes to your rights, brothers and sisters, it is your right... in Christ... to make no use of those freedoms, if it means loving others better with the gospel. We'll dig even deeper into this idea next week. But if you are not already doing so, would you pray for two things: first, would you pray for a heart to better love others with the gospel (in both words and deed); and, second, would you pray that God would show you areas where you tend to assert your rights, rather than setting them to the side. Again, this could be with unbelievers and believers. It could be at work, or at home, or anyplace you have relationships. May God help us to grow and mature in Jesus, so that we better reflect him to the people God has placed in our lives, or at least, on our path. And may we do so with a heart full of love and gratitude in light of Christ's incomparable example.