Paul continues to demonstrate his rights as an apostle in order to give himself as an example of how the strong must sometimes surrender their rights for their weaker brothers.
(1Co 9:11-12a ESV) 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?
There is an attitude among many church goers that those who work for the church have implicitly denied any interest in material things — like a decent salary. But Paul puts the lie to this argument. Those who sow spiritual things are entitled to “reap material things” from the people served. And this is a “rightful” claim. Most translations use the Western “right.”
It can be argued that Paul would have found the idea of one Christian having a “right” as against another very foreign. It’s not so much about rights as the proper outworking of love. It’s not as though Paul could have sued the church for money! His “right” is not legal but relational. Hence, he speaks in spiritual and agricultural terms. It is the nature of things that the one doing the work receives payment for his work — because of the dignity of humanity as created in God’s image, an Old Testament scholar might argue.
Thus, when churches refuse to pay staff well, commensurate both with the market and challenge of the work, they sin. And it’s not just that they break a rule. They undercut the dignity and humanity of their minister.
And it’s just so hypocritical. We insist that it’s “spiritual” for the minister to struggle in poverty all the while insisting that we can keep our money and be spiritual without the poverty, as though poverty only builds character for preachers.
Elders who refuse to pay their staff well have no business being elders. They should resign due to their ignorance of the scriptures and distance from the heart of God.
(Did I make that clear?)
(Ministers who take pay and don’t work as hard for their money as their members work for theirs should also resign and recommit to their relationship with God and Bible study.)
(1Co 9:12b ESV) 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.
Paul anticipates his conclusion, and we’ll wait until the end to say much more. Paul is tipping his hand to show where he’s taking the argument. He has rights but he chooses not to exercise them. But it’s his choice, not the church’s. He chooses to voluntarily yield his right to payment to better further the gospel — but he is no obligation at all to do so.
(1Co 9:13 ESV) 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?
Again, another example from the Torah. The priests were paid out of the sacrifices and contributions of the others so the priests could perform their duties 24/7. God did not reduce them to poverty as a condition to serving him. Even the high priest who entered the Holy of Holies — the very presence of God — was paid for his services.
Money for services rendered is not dirty or sinful. Greed is. But the opposite of greed isn’t poverty.
(1Co 9:14 ESV) 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.
This is likely a reference to —
(Luk 10:7a ESV) 7 And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages.
Jesus’ saying is likely built on —
(Deu 24:14-15 ESV) 14 “You shall not oppress a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether he is one of your brothers or one of the sojourners who are in your land within your towns. 15 You shall give him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets (for he is poor and counts on it), lest he cry against you to the LORD, and you be guilty of sin.”
Refusing to pay wages on time or in a fair amount is not being smart with your money. It’s sin.
(1Co 9:15-16 ESV) 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!
It’s easy enough to see that Paul is declaring that he has chosen not to ask for money and is not doing so now. Moreover, Paul doesn’t consider merely preaching the gospel to be grounds for boasting. He feels so called, so driven to preach that he can claim no personal credit for it.
(1Co 9:17-18 ESV) 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.
Paul, feeling compelled to preach Jesus, insists on doing more than he must. And so he preaches for free, not because it’s necessary or even right but because it’s something he is able to do to be more effective.
In short, some things are more important than rights, even rights repeatedly and plainly given by God and Jesus.
(1Co 9:19 ESV) 19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
“Servant” is an imprecise translation. Some translations prefer “slave.” The problem is that, to modern ears, “slave” sounds like slavery in the 19th Century American South, but Greco-Roman slavery was different. Here’s a video of the debate over the translation by the ESV translators —
“Indentured servant” might be a better word, although that may be a bit obscure, but it’s less obscure than “bondservant.” The idea, especially in this passage, is that Paul has voluntarily placed himself into this condition — as an indentured servant would. It might be temporary, but during its term, it’s a position of absolute servitude and submission.
Though all denominations have preacher and leadership problems, I think the problems within the CoC are quite unique. First of all, preachers and writers have for years been telling the membership that preachers are not pastors or reverends, and they have done their job too well. Not only does it diminish the respect that preachers are due, it also affects their salaries. I may have told this before, but I knew a preacher who told of the time he was serving a church in the early nineteen fifties making only Fifty dollars a week. He said that when he asked his elders for a five dollar raise, one elder, a rich farmer, spoke up, “…ain’t no preacher worth fifty five dollars a week”. Granted, that was during the fifties; but, it is not too difficult to find the same attitude in churches today.
On the other hand, Jay’s statement regarding preachers who take pay and do not work hard needing to resign is spot on. I remember Landon Saunders speaking at Harding in the mid-seventies, when he called out preachers who sit in the coffee shop all week, then on Saturday nights pull down their little book, “Simple Sermons for Simple Preachers”. I am not sure how easy it is for preachers these days to get away with taking a sermon straight from a book, being that there are more elders and members who are well read, but I do believe that, in spite of the boast that the CoC has made in loving the word, it’s preaching has not been anywhere near what we would call creative. The love for the arts, such as poetry, prose and writing has lagged behind. Even among preachers who claim not to “steal”, many simply present boring running commentaries. The job of preachers, first and foremost, is to preach, and I believe that the preachers who earn their pay are those who have people walking out of worship more inwardly stirred and challenged than when they walked in; but to do that, they must READ,THINK, DIG DEEP INTO THEIR SOULS, and WRITE.
http://www.willettecoc.org/