1 Corinthians Episode 11: The Rights of a Gospel Minister

Paul teaches the rights and responsibilities of a gospel minister.

- Podcast Transcript -

Wes

Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you're interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on to today's episode. This is episode 11 in our 1 Corinthians Bible Study podcast. This episode is entitled The Rights of a Gospel Minister, where we'll discuss 1 Corinthians 9:1-14. I'm Wes Treadway and I'm here with Pastor Andy Davis. Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we're looking at today?

Andy

Well, this is a fascinating and important section of scripture to describe the necessity of churches paying their pastors for the gospel ministry they receive, but at the same time, ironically, it's kind of the opposite of what Paul does with that information. He says, "I have the rights to be supported financially for the ministry, but I've not used those rights." So, what ends up happening is in these three chapters, 1 Corinthians 8, 9, and 10, he's generally addressing the topic of meat sacrificed to idols and the principle that love limits liberty. And here he describes himself as an example of someone who has limited his own liberties for the sake of the gospel. That's the whole purpose of chapter 9. But a sub-purpose is pastors like me, like you Wes, receive financial support from churches and that's the pattern supported in scripture here. So, there's a major point logically, which is love limits liberty, but there's a minor point which is pastors should be supported for the gospel work.

Wes

Well, let me go ahead and read verses 1-14 of chapter 9 as we begin:

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? 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.

This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 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? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 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?

Do I say these things on human authority? Does not the law say the same? 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? 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. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much If we reap material things from you? 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.

Andy, how does this first section of 1 Corinthians 9 relate to the previous chapter?

Andy

Well, I gave the principle in our intro, and that is love limits liberty. The first thing Paul says here is, am I not free or am I not at liberty? I have certain liberties, certain freedoms, but the point he's going to make is we didn't use our rights, we didn't use our freedoms. And so overall, 1 Corinthians 8, 9 and 10 is addressing the topic of meat sacrificed to idols. The idea of some Corinthians that they understood doctrinally that idols are nothing. There's no reality to it. Meat is just meat, and we should have the freedom to eat whatever we want.

And Paul says, that's all true, but your knowledge is puffing up. Love builds up. And so, if you have love, it's true that you have that knowledge, but you need to use it carefully. You could be destroying a brother or sister in Christ by your liberty. So, love limits liberty. Then he uses himself, throughout this whole chapter not just his first half, but throughout the whole chapter as someone who pulled himself back from his full expression of rights. When he was with the Jew, he became like a Jew. When he was with Gentiles, he became like a Gentile. He wasn't thinking about his own preferences. In the first half of the chapter, this part that we're studying today, he's zeroing in on his rights as an apostle specifically to financial support. And so, we're going to talk about that.

"If you have love, it's true that you have that knowledge, but you need to use it carefully. You could be destroying a brother or sister in Christ by your liberty. So, love limits liberty."

Wes

What does Paul assert about himself in verse one and why does he make these assertions here?

Andy

He says, "I'm an apostle. I've seen our Lord Jesus." And then he points to them as the result of his apostolic work. He's saying that's who I am and therefore I have certain rights and privileges, but I haven't used those rights. So, the first thing he does is establish himself as an apostle who is actually literally physically seen Jesus on the road to Damascus.

Wes

Now, how are the Corinthians themselves proof of the validity of Paul's apostleship?

Andy

Well one of the things Jesus said plainly in the Sermon of the Mount is, "By their fruit, you'll recognize them," and Paul's arguing from fruit to the reality of the tree. "I am an apostle. You are the fruit of my apostolic ministry." This is how we know what an apostle is by their works, by their fruit. And so, Paul is arguing from the effectiveness that he showed in preaching the gospel and also doing signs and wonders, he says that in other places, these things mark an apostle. So, he did signs and wonders, and he did a powerful preaching of the gospel. Those are apostolic gifts, and it was blessed with apostolic fruitfulness. So, he says, "You are the evidence of my apostleship," the Corinthian church that he planted.

Wes

And what kind of evidence should gospel ministers seek to prove the validity of their own call?

Andy

Well, I think first and foremost, right doctrine and faithfulness and holy living are the marks of a genuine gospel ministry. We could argue big numbers, but it just isn't necessarily true. There are sometimes even in church history where there's extreme faithfulness with very little visible fruit. I think about a man that I didn't know that much about before I wrote my heaven book called James Gilmore, who preached the gospel thousands of times in rural Mongolia, traveling thousands of square miles of empty land preaching to people who had no interest in spiritual things. And he won two people to Christ. But tremendous faithfulness, tremendous character, and right doctrine. And so those are the things I look for as the mark of a true gospel minister. The fruit can help, it can prove some things, but that's something only the Lord can do.

"Right doctrine and faithfulness and holy living are the marks of a genuine gospel ministry."

Wes

Now in verses 3-12, what are some of the rights that Paul claims for himself as an apostle?

Andy

Well, he says, look, we have the right to food and drink. In other words, material support. So, he's talking about just what we need to live. So, food, clothing, shelter, clothing, those basic things that we need for life. He said we have the right to that. And it goes beyond that to talk about a family, to take a believing wife along. He doesn't mention children, but the idea to have a family. And so there are going to be physical, practical things. Now he already said in chapter seven, look, if you have a wife, you're going to have to take care of her. Your interests are going to be divided. So, when he says, don't I have the right to take along a wife with me, a believing wife, he makes that plain, and to support her, to provide for her. So, he's really arguing here of his rights toward material support, financial support.

Wes

What does verse 5 teach us about the Roman Catholic's longstanding requirement that all their priests take a vow of celibacy?

Andy

Well, let's talk about this man Cephas, also known as Peter, who they claim is the first pope. But apparently the first pope was in fact married.

Wes

He seems problematic already for this doctrine.

Andy

Right out of the gate. So, they have a strange view of sexuality, and I think a more biblical view of sexuality is that sexuality is a gift from God within the context of covenant marriage. And also, to forbid marriage, Paul calls the doctrine of demons. So, I think that runs you into some very grave problems when it comes to celibate priesthood. I think it's problematic. But there's a heritage of it probably based on Augustine's own struggles with the sin of fornication. And then the things he wrote about concerning lusts and things like that were not all that helpful, although he was generally an incredibly faithful teacher for the word of God. And so, I think it's problematic. It was really Luther marrying a nun, Catherine von Bora, who was an ex-nun and he an ex-monk that had each taken vows of celibacy, which they then repudiated as unbiblical. I think that reestablished, the pattern of a pastor being able to be married.

Wes

What does Paul mean by his seemingly sarcastic comment in verse 6?

Andy

"Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living?" That is sarcasm, and sometimes the New Testament writers use it, but he said, look, you need to understand me properly. And so, to put the whole picture together, we read in the book of Acts when Paul came to Corinth, this very location, he worked as a tentmaker with Priscilla and Aquila. He stayed with them and worked. Then when others came with financial support from other places, he took advantage of that financial support from other places to give his full time to the ministry of the word. And so, a tentmaking ministry is okay but not optimal. Even Paul tried, when he had financial support, gave his full attention to the ministry of the word. So, I'm not in any way minimizing tentmaking ministries. I think they can be very useful. In other words that you're working a full-time job, but also doing ministry.

There are just some practicalities you're going to run into. If you've got a full-time job and then you've got a family, you don't have actually much time left for the ministry of the word. So, Paul gave himself to that. And in Acts 20 to the Ephesian elders, he talked about how his own hands supplied his own needs and the needs of his companions. He was a hard worker. And so, we had a three-legged stool there of Paul working during, I mean preaching the gospel in the marketplace during the day, teaching the disciples or doing in-depth theological discipleship at night. And then working with his own hands late at night, making tents to support his needs. He was a hard, hard worker. Laborers. So here he's being sarcastic, saying, look, only I and Barnabas are the ones that have to work for a living. So that's the use of that particular statement.

Wes

What issue does Paul zero in on verses 7-12?

Andy

All right, so here he is just talking about logic. He's using examples of how workers are worth their keep. It is reasonable that those who preach the gospel should make their living from the gospel. This is the very point he's making. What he's saying is, it is right for those who preach the gospel to be paid for it, "But I didn't use that right. So, you also, Corinthians, who know the truth about idolatry and meat sacrificed to idols shouldn't use your freedoms to hurt other people." That's the point he's making big picture. But it is a lasting principle that pastors should be financially supported, missionaries should be financially supported. It is right for them, who preach the gospel, to make their living from the gospel.

So, he walks through certain examples. Look, if you're a soldier, you don't pay your own way. The king pays you. The government pays you to serve as a soldier. And if you're working out in a vineyard, you're going to eat of the grapes. If you're tending a flock, you're going to drink the milk. The law of Moses says, "Don't muzzle an ox while it's treading out the grain." God doesn't care about the ox so much as he cares about us. The idea is a worker is worth his keep. Jesus himself said that when he sent them out. He said, you're going to find people who will take you in ,and they'll pay you or provide for your needs so that you can preach the gospel. So, he's using many examples here to say it is right for those who preach the gospel to make their living from the gospel.

Wes

Now, Andy, you've compared a little bit Paul's assertion here that pastors make money from preaching the gospel with his own personal example as a tentmaker in Corinth. I guess some questions that flow from that would be, really a category of questions. Why is it vital for churches to support their pastors well? Not so they'll be rich, but so that they can live a normal life financially like other workers who are church members. Why do you think pastors have so often struggled badly to make ends meet? And why do so many churches fail to obey these principles that Paul is laying out?

Andy

Yeah. There's a lot of questions that you're asking here, and I think they're vital questions. I think there is a history of pastors needing to prove their piety by poverty almost, even in the Protestant denomination. And we definitely saw mendicant preachers in medieval Roman Catholicism that took vows of poverty. And you think about the rich young ruler and how Jesus told him to sell everything, and he'd have treasure in heaven. And so sometimes churches just want their pastor to be very godly and pious and not have any money at all. I've read of pastors that were paid in firewood or some other things and just had trouble making ends meet. But turning it around more positively, the reason is, I think, it's practicality. The fact of the matter is if you don't pay your pastors, they're going to have to provide for themselves and their families and their interests are definitely going to be divided.

They're going to have to spend time making money and provide for themselves. And here's the thing, let's take a church planting pastor who's bivocational. Goes to a certain community, let's say he's got a wife and three kids, he sets up shop there, he's got to pay rent, he's got to pay for groceries and clothing and all that. And the poverty line in America these days is like 35K. So, for that, he can barely make ends meet. So, imagine what is he doing to provide for that if the church doesn't support him financially, he's going to have to do that throughout the day. And to make that much money, you're going to have to work 8-5. That was what I worked as an engineer, 8-5.

Well, you get done, you come home, let's say you eat dinner with your wife. You disciple your kids, you talk to them, hug them, pray with them, play with them, do different things, and then put them to bed by 7:30, 8 o'clock. Bathed. And maybe your wife's a very hard worker, but there's still maybe some laundry to do as she has three little kids. So, you help out with that. All right, finally you're done with all that. And maybe you didn't even spend a lot of time with your wife. Now you start working on your sermon. All right, it's 9:30 at night. You're tired, tired, tired, all right. So, you're going to work and let's say you're a hard worker and you're diligent and you're good at what you do. So, you put in about 90 minutes on it and then you can go to bed with your wife and have some time to talk to her and love her and care for her and develop your marriage with her. And you go to sleep and next day you do it all over again. Then on Saturday, your sermon probably at that point with that little amount of work, you've done some research, you've sketched it out, you're going to spend the day writing the sermon, not going to have a lot of time with your kids.

Might take an hour or two with them. You have written a sermon that week and that was a big achievement. You haven't done anything else as a pastor. There's no shepherding, there's no counseling, there's no evangelism, there's no worship planning. Hopefully somebody else is doing that. You see the problem? There just isn't much time for the broad church work. So therefore, churches would do well to pay their pastors, free them up from those secular concerns so they can give their full time to the full ministry of the word. And it is an interesting question you ask why do churches fail to do it? I think sometimes they don't really understand what's involved in those aspects that I just walked through. I know those things from experience because I was a church-planting pastor in New England, and I've also been well cared for here at First Baptist Church.

So, I've seen both sides of that and I've heard stories as well. I think they just don't understand. They don't know how long it takes to write a good sermon. They don't understand all the other things that go into pastoral ministry. For example, there'd be times that I would be at First Baptist church, but not preach. Didn't happen often, but I wanted to hear a young pastor has some gifts and preaching and listen to them and evaluate him. So, I just wouldn't preach that week. And individuals would come up and rather insensitively say, so you didn't do anything this week, or you took the week off, something like that. And it's like, well, there are other things I do other than just preaching. There are many other things. So, you're mentoring younger men in the ministry. You are doing outreach type ministries. You're doing, like I said, counseling, preparing other services. There's Sunday school classes and lessons I would do. Midweek Bible studies. There are all kinds of other things going on. And so, it's really just, I think the reason is that people don't understand the fullness of pastoral ministry and how time-consuming it is, and then the fullness of the need to care for a wife and children. And so, to be freed up from needing to earn money is a great blessing and very, very helpful.

Wes

Now in this defense, Paul makes use of three examples: the soldier, the farmer, and the shepherd. What common point does he make from these three laborers and how does it relate to gospel ministers?

Andy

Right. In all three cases he's saying they don't pay their own way; they make their living from what they do, or they're provided. Like the soldier doesn't soldier at his own expense, he is paid to do it. And the farmer takes from the crop and the shepherd the same thing. And so, it is reasonable to take from what you do to support yourself. So, what is the connection with the preaching ministry? There is no direct fruit that comes from preaching, no physical fruit. And so that's why Paul is about to argue. He says, "If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?" It's apples and oranges. So, if you preach, preach, preach, counsel, counsel, counsel, what do you have physically to show for it? You can't eat that. So, the church needs to pay money. They have to actually give you, back in his day, silver coins so you could go buy food. And so that's the point that he's making. There has to be a valuation of the spiritual ministry in actual physical money so that the needs can be met.

Wes

What does Paul learn from the law of Moses and the command "You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain."

Andy

It's an interesting picture. There is this command, and Paul's knowledge of the word of God is detailed and wide. I would've missed that. It's like what does that have to do with preaching? And I think he's just making an analogy. It's like you don't muzzle the ox so that it can eat and satisfy. You don't want the ox to be frustrated. And so, I think it's ox frustration. All right. Well, the same thing, here's a man preaching the gospel. He's surrounded by people who their financial needs are met if-they're not actually wealthy. Think about Lydia who's a dealer in purple cloth. She's got everything she needs, table well provided for, et cetera. And then others at least their basic needs are met. Meanwhile, he is starving. He's not able to provide for his family, he's not able to provide for himself. That will be frustrating. So, it's a frustration. Imagine where the ox is muzzled and therefore, he's not going to keep treading out the grain. He doesn't want any part of this. He's not getting rewarded. So no, it's not for oxen that God cares. He's caring ultimately for people.

Wes

How does Paul use the example of the plowman and the thresher in talking about financial support for pastors and how does Paul connect physical and spiritual things here much as you've alluded to already?

Andy

Right. So, he is delving into the basic rights of an apostle, and he's talking about why pastors should be paid, apostles should be paid. And what he's saying here is as you're doing the work of a farmer, a plowman, there is an anticipation of a harvest. Otherwise, there's that frustration that we're talking about. Why am I doing this? I mean, nothing's coming of this? And the work of the gospel ministry can be frustrating. Spiritually, I planted the seed, and Apollos watered, but God made it grow. So spiritual harvest might take years. In the meantime, how is he going to care for his family? How is he going to care for his own needs?

And so, the idea is there is fruit that needs to come from actual physical farming. And when that harvest comes in, their needs are met. Generally, they were living on what was in the barns, what was stored up in the silos from last year's harvest. So, they're eating on that while they're working hopefully toward the next bumper crop. And so, it is here, what he's saying is, look, we are plowing spiritually, we are planting spiritually, we're ultimately going to be harvesting spiritually, but we have material physical needs. You need to meet those needs physically. That's what he's arguing for.

Wes

Why does Paul claim in verse 12 to have a greater right to financial support than others have from this church? And why didn't Paul make use of his right to financial support from the Corinthian church?

Andy

All right. So, if others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more? It's just because of who he was, he was their father in the faith. He said, you have a lot of counselors, a lot of brothers, you only have one father. That's me. And so that's the "how much more" argument. I have an even greater right. And when you look at how I acted, I didn't take a penny from you. He's going to say this again and again. He's going to say it right here. "We didn't use our rights. So, we clearly showed moral character in which we are not in it for the money, we were denying ourselves, we were pushing ourselves right to the limit. So therefore, not only my role as your spiritual father, the ultimate founder of your church at the human level, but also because of how we carried ourselves, we should have the right all the more."

Fundamentally the key thing he says in verse 12b, he says, "We did not use this right." And then he says in verse 15, "But I have not used any of these rights." And he's going to keep saying that kind of thing. This is the point. We have the rights; we didn't use them. That's how this chapter functions in the three chapters on meat sacrificed to idols. But the establishment of the right is a timeless principle for churches all over the world.

Wes

What analogy does Paul turn to in verse 13?

Andy

Okay, priests. So maybe these are Gentile people, they didn't fully understand how the Levitical priests worked, but the priests were the ones that ate the meat. So, the people would bring in their offerings, and the blood would be poured out, but the meat would be available for the priest eat. There was a priestly portion, and there were various other portions that the priests would eat and provide their families for. So, he's saying, look, those who worked in the temple made their living from the food of the temple. So therefore, we don't have any physical offerings now, the animal sacrifice is obsolete, it's been fulfilled, there are no animals. So, what are we eating? And so there needs to be some money here basically. He's making an analogy, but you didn't know this, but read about it in Leviticus, read about it as God established the Levitical priesthood. They ate the meat. We don't have any meat. What are we going to eat?

Wes

What clear command does Paul make in verse 14 concerning all of this? And in light of that, what final thoughts do you have for us today?

Andy

Well, this is the timeless principle that is not the main point. It's not even the main point. It's a sub point. And that is the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. By the way, he commands that in Matthew 10 when he sent them out two by two. So, he says, "Don't take any money." He says, "Workers' worth his keep. You're going to find people out there that will provide for you." So, the timeless principle is those who preach the gospel have the right to make their living from the gospel. And so, for us, we should make certain that pastors are well-paid. And by well-paid meaning they're, not that they get wealthy, we're against the health and wealth of the prosperity gospel, not in it for the money. As 1 Peter 5 says, "Not greedy for money but eager to serve." However, just that their needs are met like the norm is in that church. Just that they should be kind of average like everyone else in the church in terms of food, clothing, shelter, transportation, cars, just the lifestyle should be about like it is for everyone else. And so that's the timeless principle. The big picture he's going to argue however, is love limits liberty. I didn't use my rights.

Wes

Well, this has been episode 11 in our 1 Corinthians Bible study podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for episode 12 entitled, the Responsibilities of a Gospel Minister, where we'll discuss 1 Corinthians 9:15-27. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.