Am I not as free as anyone else? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? Isn’t it because of my work that you belong to the Lord? Even if others think I am not an apostle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s apostle. (I Corinthians 9:1-2 NLT)
Obviously ...concerning the things of which you wrote to me: (I Corinthians 7:1) The church in Corinth must have had a questions regarding Paul's authority as an apostle. Remember, Jewish religious leaders kept following Paul wherever he went starting new churches to try and convince the new converts that he could not be an apostle, because ...all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” Now after many days were past, the Jews plotted to kill him. (Acts 9:21, 23)
But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul. But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city [Antioch], raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. (Acts 13:45, 50) Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there [Derbe]; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. (Acts 14:19) But regardless of the opposition the Jewish religious leaders tried to create against Paul's authority and teaching, Paul reminds the church in Corinth that the fact that they even exist is a testament to his authority; You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s apostle.
This is my answer to those who question my authority: Don’t we have the right to live in your homes and share your meals? Don’t we have the right to bring a Christian wife with us as the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers do, and as Peter does? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have to work to support ourselves? (I Corinthians 9:3-6 NLT) Paul moves on to explain that he and Barnabas were no different than the other apostles. When the other apostles traveled teaching the gospel they who had wives brought them with them, and they were welcomed into believers homes, to live in your homes and share your meals. Paul is stating that he and Barnabas should have been treated that same way even though they weren't married; but instead they were expected to work to support ourselves.
Paul was making it clear that he and Barnabas were already working, had been teaching the gospel and starting churches. Their pay should have been that the people help provide for their needs. What soldier has to pay his own expenses? What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have the right to eat some of its fruit? What shepherd cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk? Am I expressing merely a human opinion, or does the law say the same thing? For the law of Moses says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.”[Deuteronomy 25:4] Was God thinking only about oxen when he said this? Wasn’t he actually speaking to us? Yes, it was written for us, so that the one who plows and the one who threshes the grain might both expect a share of the harvest. (I Corinthians 9:7-10 NLT)
Paul refers to the Mosaic law to prove his point. “When you reap your harvest in your field, and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat your olive trees, you shall not go over the boughs again; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, you shall not glean it afterward; it shall be for the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow." (Deuteronomy 24:19-21) “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain." (Deuteronomy 25:4)
The point is all of us who have should share the extra we have with others, especially those who are sincerely doing the work of God - ...apostles, ...prophets, ...evangelists, ...pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12); or those who are really trying to help themselves and better their situation - like the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. The perfect example of this is Boaz towards Ruth. Ruth the Moabitess [a widow] said to Naomi [her mother-in-law], “Please let me go to the field, and glean heads of grain after him in whose sight I may find favor.” And she said to her, “Go, my daughter.” Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers. ... Now behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said to the reapers, “The Lord be with you!” ... Then Boaz said to his servant who was in charge of the reapers, “Whose young woman is this?” ... So the servant who was in charge of the reapers answered and said, “It is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ So she came and has continued from morning until now, though she rested a little in the house.” (Ruth 2:2-7)
Then Boaz said to Ruth, “You will listen, my daughter, will you not? Do not go to glean in another field, nor go from here, but stay close by my young women. Let your eyes be on the field which they reap, and go after them. Have I not commanded the young men not to touch you? And when you are thirsty, go to the vessels and drink from what the young men have drawn.” So she fell on her face, bowed down to the ground, and said to him, “Why have I found favor in your eyes, that you should take notice of me, since I am a foreigner [stranger]?” And Boaz answered and said to her, “ ...The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge.” (Ruth 2:8-12)
Now Boaz said to her at mealtime, “Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied, and kept some back. And when she rose up to glean, Boaz commanded his young men, saying, “Let her glean even among the sheaves, and do not reproach her. Also let grain from the bundles fall purposely for her; leave it that she may glean, and do not rebuke her.” So she gleaned in the field until evening, and beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. Then she took it up and went into the city, and her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned. So she brought out and gave to her what she had kept back after she had been satisfied. (Ruth 2:13-18)
We as Christians should have no problem helping to take care of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. But back to the context of what Paul was saying, he explained it this way to Timothy: Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer is worthy of his wages.” (I Timothy 5:17-18) And as an apostle of God, Paul was saying those wages the church in Corinth should have been willing to give him and Barnabas was to live in your homes and share your meals, just like the apostles who were married and traveled with their Christian wives received.
Since we have planted spiritual seed among you, aren’t we entitled to a harvest of physical food and drink? If you support others who preach to you, shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be supported? But we have never used this right. We would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ. (I Corinthians 8:11-12 NLT) Paul says that even though he and Barnabas should have received the same treatment as the married apostles because they were doing the same work, planted spiritual seed among you, they didn't let that stop them from doing what God had called them to do. Even thought they had the right as an apostle to be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine, they would rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ.
We must make mention here that a lot of ministers today expect to be counted worthy of double honor, without having done the labor in the word and doctrine. That is an awful testamony to the life and doctrine of Christ Jesus. So many leaders of so-called churches are living lavish lifestyles on the tithes and offerings of their members, instead of using that money the way God intended, which is to take care of their needs, not wants, the needs of the church and then the needs of the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27) But instead of doing this, many of today's leaders are doing what Jesus convicted the Jewish religious leaders and lawyers of doing. And He said, “Woe to you also, lawyers! For you load men with burdens hard to bear, and you yourselves do not touch the burdens with one of your fingers." (Luke 11:46)
A leader should do the work first and then trust that The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God. But even if the Lord doesn't repay with the material and physical extras, then just as Paul said, rather put up with anything than be an obstacle to the Good News about Christ. But as for us who are a part of the body of the church, Don’t you realize that those who work in the temple get their meals from the offerings brought to the temple? And those who serve at the altar get a share of the sacrificial offerings. In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it. Yet I have never used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that I want to start now. In fact, I would rather die than lose my right to boast about preaching without charge. Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. (I Corinthians 9:13-16 NLT)
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