9:15 But I have used
none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done
so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my
boast an empty one. 16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of,
for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. 17 For
if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a
stewardship entrusted to me. 18 What then is my reward? That, when I preach the
gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my
right in the gospel.
19 For though I am free
from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. 20 To
the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews; to those who are under
the Law, as under the Law though not being myself under the Law, so that I
might win those who are under the Law; 21 to those who are without law, as
without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of
Christ, so that I might win those who are without law. 22 To the weak I became
weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I
may by all means save some. 23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so
that I may become a fellow partaker of it.
Paul is by no means a boring individual. His life story is an
amazing one. He was Jew of the Jews and made it his life mission as a young man
to squash this Jesus uprising that threatened the Jewish faith. He actively
imprisoned His followers and had some put to death. Then he met Jesus himself
and everything changed. Ever after it was his mission to know Jesus and to make
Him known. By the comments he makes his motivation to serve Jesus with his
whole being was twofold. Not only did he genuinely love Him but was also driven
by guilt for the things he had done to hurt His followers.
Here in 1 Corinthians 9 he declares it is his right as a
minister of the gospel to receive wages but he refuses to take payment.
Unfortunately this refusal was actually causing problems because some saw his
passion and sacrifice and wondered why other ministers were "less
committed". However for Paul that was never his intent. It was proper that
they be paid for their work as it was proper for him to be paid as well but he
wouldn't allow it. He wanted the gospel to be free. He dedicated his life to
pioneer work. He entered places where there was no Christian presence and paid
the foundation for churches to be born and the good news to spread.
They say up to 15% of the population has a pioneering spirit.
Certainly Paul did and he wanted the foundation laid on a bed of self-sacrifice
so no one could say he entered their city to make a profit or for any benefit
to himself. It was all about Jesus.
How did he do it? How did he enter cities that worshipped
idols and start churches dedicated to the One True God? He became all things to
all people. It is a concept we struggle with. To some it seems compromising. To
others it seems deceptive but done correctly it is neither. All Paul did was
learn to relate to every kind of person, to see the world through their eyes
and speak their "language". For some it was through helping them see
through their own Jewish Scriptures that Jesus was the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. For those under the law and trying to appease God by
their good deeds he showed how Jesus is the perfect One, the spotless Lamb, our
substitute. For those without law who feared restriction he showed that Jesus
came to set the captives free but that abuse of our freedom in Christ actually
leads to the worst kind of slavery and the law of sin and death.
Paul studied every mind. He met them as they were. He learned
to preach the Good News in language they could understand. He did it all for
free so that no new believer and no enemy of the cross could accuse him of
doing any of it for personal gain even though receiving a wage would have been
completely correct.
Meeting Jesus on a heart level changes a person. Paul was a
free man but chose to be a slave of the Good News. :)
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