1 Corinthians 9
by Pastor David Groendyk

Paul asks a lot of rhetorical questions in this chapter. His main point through it all is this: he is happy to give up any of his rights for the sake of bringing people to faith in the gospel, and every believer should have the same mindset.

What exactly are Paul’s rights that he’s talking about? What is he free to do? The major one is that he has in mind is the right to be paid for his vocational ministry of evangelizing and preaching the gospel. Why in the world would Paul choose not to be paid for his work? Because it would be a stumbling block for those to whom he’d be preaching (v. 12). Imagine if Paul were going around giving these stirring gospel presentations from city to city and at the end of them he passed around a hat and said, “Now listen, the law says I have the right to be compensated for this work I’m doing, so everyone needs to cough up!” Ok, maybe that’s not exactly how Paul would’ve phrased it, but you get the idea. His listeners would have been skeptical of the truth of the message if they thought he was just in it for the profit, and that’s the last thing Paul wants to be an obstacle to potential Christians! So instead he makes the tremendous sacrifice not to make a living wage so that he can present the gospel free of charge.

Here’s how Paul links this to the situation in Corinth. Some believers in the church knew that they had the right and the freedom to eat meat sacrificed to idols (8:4). However, some were weaker in their consciences and thought it was wrong to eat that meat; and when a believer goes against their conscience that is bound by Scripture, it is actually sin for them (8:7). Thus, by standing on their rights, they were spiritually destroying other believers and even sinning themselves (8:11–12). Paul urges the stronger brothers and sisters to forfeit their rights and freedoms in order that the weaker brothers and sisters might not stumble (8:9). Now chapter 9 is Paul putting his money where his mouth is. More than that, it’s surely a much bigger sacrifice not to earn a living than skipping out on certain meat now and then.

Even though he has all the rights in the world, Paul chooses to become a servant to everyone (v. 19). Actually, to put it even more strongly, Paul would rather die than hinder someone from becoming a Christian (v. 15). His ultimate goal at all times is to bring as many people to saving faith in the gospel. Why would he ever choose to stand on such a material right like making money or eating meat if the alternative is eternal salvation for someone else? Notice even the imbalance in Paul’s sacrifice and his reward: he becomes a servant to everyone just so that some might be saved (v. 22). This is radical sacrifice for the sake of the gospel.

This is an especially challenging word for Americans. We prize the many rights that we have, and it is an unspeakable blessing to live in a country with so many freedoms. But we need to be careful not to idolize those freedoms. Commenting on this passage, Gerald Bilkes asks the penetrating question, “Do you love your liberties more than you love your brothers?” The first and greatest right we have in America is the right to life. Remember this: even the Son of God was willing to give up that right in order to save his people. Although he was infinitely rich, he became poor for our sakes (2 Cor. 8:9). Let us all learn to imitate that same kind of sacrifice for the sake of bringing anyone to a saving knowledge of Christ.