Introduction
Why do I preach? Why does a person become a preacher? It has its benefits. One gains a measure of respect with the office. There are flexible hours and a fairly secure income during recession. Of course there is the opportunity to help people, and then there is the weekly occasion to speak out with no interruption! This text gives the real reason for why anyone should dare take such a job.
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Let’s get back into the situation. Paul is having to defend his authority as an apostle. Though the Corinth believers are his spiritual children whom he brought into the knowledge of salvation, they are starting to buck against his authority. One way they are doing this is by questioning his credentials as an apostle. He is not one of the original eleven, nor was he appointed by them. Why, he is not even supported in the same way they are. He works with his hands for a living!
Chapter nine is Paul’s defense for his peculiar practice of earning his own support. He does have the right to demand support from the Corinth Church which he demonstrates through reason and scripture. Nevertheless, he has chosen for himself not to make use of his right out of a desire not to place an obstacle in the way of the gospel. He does not want money to become a problem. In these next few verses he discusses the matter at a more personal level.
15 But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision.
Paul is not manipulating the Corinthians to send him support as such tactics are often used. I don’t want your support even though it is the reasonable and biblical thing to do. I have to work to support my ministry to you, but don’t worry about me. I don’t want to be a burden. Nothing like guilt to bring in the funds!
Actually, Paul really does not want support for personal reasons. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. That is rather strong language, and it seems, well…boastful. Let’s hear him out.
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!
Here is Paul’s thought process. For years he has traveled through the Roman empire preaching the gospel. He has been successful starting churches in most of the cities he visits. Even in the midst of persecution he has persevered to preach the gospel. That is all true. Even so, he has only done what he as a servant of God was given the duty to do in rendering his Lord service.
Do you remember what Jesus said about this?
“Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down at table’? 8 Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10 So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty’ ” (Luke 17:7-10).
Paul understands this. As he said in 4:1, This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. By preaching the gospel to the gentiles who have not heard it before, he is merely carrying out his job assignment. Even suffering is part of the job. God has said of him,
“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:15-16).
It is noble work Paul is doing and certainly difficult work. Nevertheless, it is his job description. Though he ought to be proud in the sense of carrying out his work well, he cannot reward himself with a treat for going beyond what is expected of him. Indeed, to have done less would have invited shame. This is what Paul means by the statement, Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
Paul no doubt loved to preach, but he is not expressing an inner spirit for preaching, that he would be too restless to be out of the pulpit. He really would be in trouble for quitting his job. His boss would not “regretfully but graciously” accept his resignation. Paul was not asked to sign up in the first place. He was sent by God on a mission, and God expects him to keep it. Woe to what Paul could expect from God should he fail to keep his commission.
To get back to Paul’s discussion of boasting and reward, he says, 17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but 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.
If Paul had not been drafted into the service of preaching the gospel, he could pat himself on the back for volunteering. But he wasn’t. He was assigned and entrusted to be a steward of the gospel. That is, he was to keep the good news safe, guard it from corruption, and deliver it wherever he could. It was a matter of duty to do so. What then, could he do for personal pleasure? He could work for free. He was not told that he must work extra hours to maintain his own support. He had the biblical right and the example of the other apostles to be dependent upon the support of those he ministered to. This is what he could boast about.
If you are like me, you probably have a cynical reaction to Paul. Listen to Paul’s own words about boasting:
God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord” (1:29).
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:13).
What then is Paul doing boasting in his works? Does he believe that God will allot his extra rewards for going beyond the call of duty? Is it even possible to go beyond one’s duty? Do we ever put God in our debt, doing more than he could expect of us?
The explanation is simple and understandable. Paul delights that God has given him opportunity to demonstrate his love for him and devotion to his cause. Have you never desired to do the same, whether to God or someone or cause you are devoted to? The coach tells his players that if they are truly committed they could the championship. Therefore he exhorts them to exercise one hour a day beyond practice. They, however, take it upon themselves to exercise two hours. They are delighted to show their coach how dedicated they really are. Sam joyfully gives his portion of rations to Frodo to show his devotion to his master. And so Paul joyfully renders his service to the church of Corinth for free out of dedication to the cause of Christ. In none of these cases, does the party going the extra mile take a haughty attitude that he ought to get some respect for his work. The deed itself is the reward, not getting his due of attention.
Again, the only reason Paul is bringing the whole subject up is that his church has turned his devotion against him. Do you have image problem, Paul, that you have to do extras to earn your authority? Doesn’t your side job show that you are only a wannabe and not a real apostle? It would be the same as critics complaining about the athletes not believing they are good enough and need the extra hour, or that Sam really trying to make himself nobler than Frodo. No, no. It is the joy of the deed, the opportunity to display real love and devotion that is the reward.
Lesson
What lessons may we draw from this text? Paul’s understanding of his calling to preach sheds light on the minister’s calling. First, my calling as a minister is to be understood as a duty assigned by God. It is a duty that I like, but a duty nevertheless. Preaching, quite frankly, can be heady experience.
I have preached in many circumstances and find them all opportunities to fall into the temptation of expecting extra commendation from God. I’ve preached in one of the most famous churches in America before hundreds of people and in small churches of less than thirty. I’ve preached to an audience of ministers and seminary professors and to an audience of mental health patients. If the situation is glamorous I am tempted to think how specially good I must be to merit such an audience; if it is small and made up of “undistinquished” worshippers, then I can be proud of being humble enough to serve God’s “small people.” I say it is tempting, but God has done a pretty good job of letting me know that, whatever the circumstance may be, I am merely carrying out the duty expected of me.
When we walk into a store, we expect the salesperson to treat us courteously despite what we may be wearing that day or how much he expects we are prepared to spend. It is his job, his duty to be attentive to us and treat us respectfully. So it is the duty of the preacher to deliver faithfully God’s Word to whomever and whenever the circumstance presents itself.
Furthermore, it is my duty to preach the gospel. What does that mean? We need to think that through. As an apostle, Paul had a special urgency to present the gospel of Christ’s salvation to people who had never heard. That is why he did not stay around any one place for long, and why he mostly traveled to areas where there were no churches. The church pastor’s primary audience is his church. Paul needed a reason to stay for a length of time; a church pastor needs a reason to leave.
Another difference between Paul and the church pastor, to a degree, is the attention given to expounding the whole counsel of God found in the scriptures. I want to be careful not to be misunderstood. Paul taught the whole counsel of God, and we ministers spend our lives trying to teach all that Paul taught. Nevertheless, there is a difference between an apostle with the mandate to get the gospel out to as many people as possible and start as many churches as possible, and the church pastor who has the mandate to disciple a particular congregation. Paul had a narrower time frame in which to teach, as well as a more restrictive task. Paul got churches started; as he said, he planted churches while others came afterwards and watered.
Well, I am watering. The task of preaching the gospel is not different from Paul’s, but the context in which it is preached is different. As Jesus did in a brief manner with his disciples in teaching them how to see him and his gospel work in the scriptures, so I am to do for the church. My job is to preach the gospel using as much of the scriptures that I can practically manage during my stay. The good news of God’s grace through Jesus’ saving work on the cross is taught throughout the scriptures. It is not a matter of being found in handful of verses here and there, but the whole Bible is written with the cross – the good news – as its focal point. I must get across that gospel to you.
This is a critical concept to understand about preaching. I have not done my duty if I convey a message that does not contain the gospel. Here is what I mean. We’ve started reading the Bible and one of the first stories is the fall of Adam and Eve. Let’s say I preached from Genesis 3 about that story. I decide that it is a great story to teach about marriage. I’ve been wanting to do that anyhow. Eve eats the forbidden fruit, then gives it to Adam to eat. Well, why didn’t Adam stop Eve from eating the fruit? Here is an example of the husband not exercising his responsibility to be the spiritual leader. I then give you three practical ways to manage your home: have daily devotions, take your family to church, and be active in church. That is a helpful message, isn’t it? However helpful it may be, then I’ve failed my duty before God.
Here is the story that explains what the gospel is for. Man has sin; he disobeyed God and ever since has been separated from him. Our hope is in another Adam to represent us. An Adam that will not sin; an Adam who will impart to us righteousness rather than sin. That Adam is Jesus Christ.
Who needs this message? Certainly the unsaved, but also the saved. Even we who have responded to the gospel need to hear it again and again. Why? Because we keep forgetting it. We act like we have to earn God’s favor all over again. If I am a good enough parent; if I am moral enough; if I am kind enough; if I can do enough of the right things, God will stay pleased with me. That is not the gospel, and so I have to keep preaching to you and to me to keep us on track.
Woe to me if I don’t, because it is not to you that I must hold my accountable but to God who commissioned me for this task. He will demand of me what I did in the pulpit with his Word. Did I preach it faithfully or did I select what I only felt comfortable with? Did I water the gospel down, giving you a false impression that salvation is for everyone who means well? Did I make the gospel too complicated, making you think it was only for those who studied a lot? Did I make it too burdensome, so that you thought it was only for the spiritually elite? Did I hide it in efforts to give you practical and entertaining messages that would keep you coming?
I have got to answer to God about these things. And woe to me if I fail. As Paul said back in chapter three, if I build on the foundation with wood, hay and straw, instead of gold, silver and precious stones, I may be saved but only as through fire. Though I decided upon the ministry using practical means to make my decision – my interests and abilities – I took ordination vows with the understanding that my commission came from the Holy Spirit. It is God who calls me to my task – minister the gospel and who gives me the means by which to carry it out – preaching the Word. Woe to me and to any minister who fails to preach faithfully God’s Word.
But then also know hat preaching the gospel is also the minister’s great reward. What greater delight can one be given than to study God’s Word to us and then teach it to others, especially, when one’s charge is to proclaim the gospel. I remember being interviewed by a seminary student who asked how I kept motivated week by week in preaching. My reply was that expositiory preaching forces me to study the scripture in-depth. That alone rejuvenates me. And then, to think how to again lift my people with the gospel…that psyches me. I like my sermons, not because I ipresss myself with my eloquence, but that I get excited by the wisdom and blessing of God’s Word.
It is the message of the Bible that I attempt to convey to you that you may have understanding and that you may be moved by the riches of God’s Word. I see myself as bringing forth the treasures from the storehouse and displaying them for you to enjoy. I know that I have accomplished my duty when you express your appreciation, not for the sermon, but for the scripture itself; not for my insight, but for the blessing of the gospel.
It is my reward to have a congregation that gets pumped up by what God has to say in his scriptures; that is eager to hear the fullness of the gospel taught; that demands from the preacher, “Give us a message from the Lord. Teach us his holy Word, what he wants us to hear, that we may take our orders from him and be strengthened once more. Let us hear the gospel once more, the hope that we have in Jesus Christ who bore our sins, has given us his righteousness, that we are now reconciled with our God.”
What a job!
