READ: 1 Corinthians 8-9
Verses
chosen for meditation: 1 Corinthians 9:11-12
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.
REFLECT
As much as Paul loved the Corinthian Church, they gave
him much pain. There were those who were constantly questioning Paul’s authority
and his apostleship (1 Corinthians 9:1-2). Some claimed to be apostles,
thinking they had better credentials than Paul. Their idea of an apostle was a
man with authority, who lets everyone knows who’s boss. They saw Christian leadership
in terms of being masters, not servants. But Paul was too “soft” and “weak” for
them. To them, a person too willing to deny himself his freedom in Christ, couldn’t
lead the church, much less be an apostle.
Paul explains how he sees his freedom in Christ,
especially how he freely and deliberately restricts his freedom for the benefit
of others. He maintains that this is a sign of strength, not weakness. Paul
talks about his rights as an apostle and his rightful claim to the title. He
has seen Jesus our Lord, who commissioned him to be the apostle for the Gentiles.
The existence of the Corinthian church is itself evidence of Paul’s seal of
apostleship. Paul, if anyone, has a special right to claim the Corinthian church
as his responsibility. He brought the gospel to them, and braved many challenges
to see the church planted and grow in such a city.
Nevertheless, he refused to claim his rights as an
apostle (v12). One of these rights is the freedom not to work for a living, receiving material support for ministry (1 Corinthians 9:6). Yet, Paul often worked long
hours of manual labour (likely as a leathermaker) for his own living expenses. He
avoided being a burden to the local church though it was his right. Because of
this, nobody could question his integrity as he “coveted no one’s gold or silver”
(Acts 20:33-34). More importantly, he chose not to exercise this right so that
the gospel would not be compromised, as was the case in Thessalonica (2 Thessalonians 3:7-9).
RELATE
Rights,
rights, rights. Paul had many, but claimed none. The Corinthians expected an apostle
to be very firm on his rights, but Paul makes a contradictory case, which gives
us a good approach, and a challenge to anyone called to share in the gospel. Theologian
C.K. Barret puts it well:
The
gospel, which turned upon the love and self-sacrifice of Jesus, could not fitly
be presented by preachers who insisted on their rights, delighted in the
exercise of authority, and make what profit they could out of the work of
evangelism.
I
had this ex-student who came to me for a referral for a scholarship application
which would also secure her a job opportunity. She was a spiritual mentee as
well, so we could use Biblical perspectives to guide certain decisions. Upon
her own conviction, she decided not to include some of her accolades in her application,
which she felt had little to do with the skill sets or character needed for the
job.
Being
principled, she also wanted to be assessed on certain credentials, rather than
gain an “unfair” advantage. Apparently, her mother had some influence in the
industry and could help boost her chances, but she refused. Should she not get
the scholarship and job due to not relying on these things, she was fine with
it. She felt carefree and had the peace of God, able to accept any outcome that
came with her choice.
Far
from her intention, her interviewers, through their line of questioning, found
out she left out other accolades. When asked why, she explained her reasoning
and they were impressed by her humility and lack of need to impress. She was successful
in getting the job, but little did she know that the true blessings of her
decision came long after that application.
As
she progressed in her career, she had multiple challenges, including being the
target of envy, jealousy and untrue gossip. However, her co-workers eventually found
out the nature of how she came into the company (not through her), which
garnered respect. The disposition displayed in her application continued
throughout her career, where she showed servanthood rather than exercise the
right of lording it over others, something many in her industry would do. She
won over her co-workers, who found her integrity to be completely above board.
Most importantly, when there were opportunities to share the gospel, her track
record would not pose an obstacle, but instead strongly support her case.
Like
Paul, she is simply not concerned about rights. She had the inner freedom to
forgo her rights, which not many Christians achieve. By freely ignoring her
rights, she was celebrating her freedom. The irony of being concerned with
rights is this: we think that the more rights we have, the more freedom we have
because we are entitled to more things. However, that mindset often drives us
to wearily slog to get those rights. When we do attain them, we feel the need to
always exercise them, if not the effort to get those rights in the first place would
be “wasted”. There’s no freedom in that. More like a stressful pursuit.
My
ex-student’s example may be a peculiar one, but there are many smaller-scale applications
in our daily living, where we can forgo our rights for the sake of others. A
simple example is to forgo our right as a customer to say the words “can I speak
to your manager” when a waitress makes a mistake or gives unsatisfactory service
(not due to bad attitude).
Paul
was willing to endure anything for the gospel (v12). A person like that is not
interested in rights. Paul was so passionately gripped by Jesus that he would
do anything to ensure that Jesus might have first place in everything
(Colossians 1:18). His attitude to Christian ministry was to ‘endure’, rather than
‘enjoy’ his calling.
REST
Dear
Jesus, teach us to be like Paul, who sees himself as a steward with no rights
but responsibilities, even when he did have rights. Like him, may we be gripped
by you, challenged to do what it takes to put you in the best light. In your
name we pray, Amen.
Chris Chong
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