1 Corinthians 9:1-27, Called to Flexibility
Theological Proposition/Focus: The Call of a Christian is to a call to be flexible, to be all things to all people that some might be won to Christ.
Homiletical Proposition/Application: We must consider others and act with a great deal of flexibility toward others that we might see them come to Christ.
Introduction:
Image: What does it take to be an elite athlete
Pick your favorite athlete and take a look at what their routine involves. If you look, what you will find is that an elite athlete makes a lot of sacrifice in order to have the time to reach that level of play. An elite athlete spends hours upon hours each day training and often has just a short amount of time available for things that are not training. Why? Because this is what it takes to perform at that level.
I was looking at the routine of an Olympic swimmer. 6:20 Wake-up 6:30 breakfast 7:15-7:45 strength and mobility 7:45-10:00 Swimming 10:05 - refuel with a snack 10:15-11:45 - Strength training 11:45-12:30 - Refuel with lunch 12:30-2:30 - nap 2:30-3:15 - refuel with a snack 3:15-3:30 - jump training for explosivity 3:30-4:00 - mobility and flexibility 4:00- 6:00 Swimming 6:00-6:15 cool down 7:00 dinner 7:30-9:00 - free time 9:00 bed
Did you catch that, 90 minutes of unscheduled time! An elite athlete must be flexible in their free time to be at that level.
Need: We need to be flexible to reach people with the Gospel.
Subject: Evangelism, Discipleship, Relationships
Preview: Those called to serve God must make life subordinate to the Gospel, be willing to give up their rights, recognizing that the ultimate goal is leading people to Christ always looking forward to eternity.
Text: Read the text with each main point.
Setting the Stage:
We have been in the middle of First Corinthians and there is not a lot to say other than to simply remind ourselves that Paul was writing to a church that was steeped in factionalism and needed to break away from an attitude of factionalism. The reality is the people needed to be more flexible in what they thought were their rights and instead learn to place the Gospel first.
Body
Those called to serve God may live life but that right is subordinate to the Gospel (9:1-11).
For those called to serve God, credentials are secondary to the Gospel (1-2).
Paul uses a series of four Rhetorical questions to present his credentials and their insignificance compared with the Gospel.
Am I not free? Yes, but that freedom is ultimately a freedom to serve Christ.
This is huge. In chapter 8 Paul talked about giving up his rights. Here, now, Paul reminds the Corinthians that he is indeed free. However, that freedom is a freedom not to do whatever he wants, but a freedom to serve the Gospel.
For Paul to be free is actually to be a slave to Christ!
Am I not an apostle? Yes but even that right is subordinate to the Gospel.
There is a sense in which Paul outranked everyone else. What Paul said carried authority, Apostolic authority. However, Paul's rank is still subordinate to the Gospel.
Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Yes, but even direct revelation from Jesus does not qualify someone to supersede the Gospel.
Image: Six degrees of separation and Erdos Numbers.
In 1929 Frigyes Karinthy wrote a short story in which a group of people play a game whereby they attempt to make contact with any person in the world through no more than 5 links in a chain of friends. This concept eventually led to researchers studying the number of links needed to reach anyone in the world. In the world of mathematics, we have what is called the Erdos Number. The Erdos Number is a sort of bragging rights idea of how many co-authors are you away from the famous mathematician Paul Erdos.
If anyone had bragging rights it was Paul, not only had he seen Jesus himself, but Jesus had come to appear to him! Yet in reality those rights were subordinate to the Gospel.
Are you not the result of my work in the Lord?
Paul had led the Corinthians into eternal life they owed him big time! But that was not more important than the Gospel!
For those called to serve God, the right to live a full life is secondary to the Gospel (3-6).
In verses 3-11 there is an immediate implication, there is a theological expectation that we provide for those whose vocation is the Gospel.
However, the text is also clear, quality of life, for one whose vocation is the Gospel, takes a back seat to the Gospel.
Several items are secondary to the Gospel.
The right to food and drink
The right to family relationships
The right to earn one's wages through the Gospel - more on this later.
I want you to realize, these are in some sense basic fundamental rights - the right to food, companionship, and labor, but they take a back seat to the Gospel.
For those called to serve God, even their financial well-being is secondary to the Gospel (7-11).
The right to compensation for work is a basic right - soldiers, farmers, and shepherds are all examples of this right (7).
In fact, God provided for this basic right in the Law as quoted in Deuteronomy 25:4 (8-10)
If we make sure to compensate people for mere physical labor, how much more should we compensate for spiritual labor? (11)
Nevertheless, don't lose sight of the main point of the passage!
The main point is not that we need to provide compensation for those whose life is a labor of the Gospel, we do, the main point is that if we must give up that right that the Gospel might go forth then we must be flexible!
MTR: Ask yourself, "Am I holding my right to live life as subordinate to the Gospel?"
Those who are called to serve must be willing to give up their rights (9:12-18).
The servant of God must be willing to give up their right be supported (12-15).
In Acts 18, we learn that Paul worked as a tentmaker to support himself in Corith.
Paul could have insisted that he be supported by the church but in the case of Corith, Paul chose not to be supported.
Receiving pay for spiritual work was the norm.
It was standard practice in temple worship to pay the priest.
In Mark 6 when Jesus sent out the disciples he told them not to take money with them but to be supported by the people.
However, for Paul in Corinth, to accept pay would have been a stumbling block and so he chose to forgoe that right!
Paul demonstrated the ultimate flexibility for the sake of the Gospel!
Paul's source of boasting is the Lord as stated in 1 Cor. 1:31. Paul is stating that preserving the integrity of the Gospel was of critical importance to him.
When Paul uses the word boast in a positive way it seems to be used in contrast to what the world might boast in.
So I think what Paul is stating here is that his boast is in the reality that he cannot boast in being paid some exorbitant salary, his boast is that he must depend on the Lord.
The servant of God should serve because they cannot help but serve (16).
Image: A call to ministry really feels like being unable to help oneself.
For the last decade or so I have heard a lot of people talk a lot about being called to ministry. Here is what I think is the reality. Being called to ministry feels like being unable to help oneself. The idea is that the individual who is called to ministry really could do just about anything else, but can't help themself. They are stuck and all they can ever think of doing is serving God.
The servant of God should feel satisfaction in serving their Lord (17-18).
The reward for preaching the Gospel is not
Money
Fame
The praise of men and women
The reward for preaching the Gospel is
The simple fact that you are preaching the Gospel
Here is the reality, one who preaches the Gospel with the right motives draws joy from the simple act of preaching the Gospel.
MTR: As yourself, "Am I willing to serve God even if I am asked to give up my rights?"
The basic question that Paul began chapter 9 with is a simple one "Am I not free?" One of the ultimate Christian paradoxes is that the Christian uses their freedom to make themselves a slave to everyone. This is the idea behind being otherish. We must recognize the ultimate goal.
Those who are called to serve should recognize that the ultimate goal is seeing people _follow_ _Christ_ (19-23).
Those who serve God must be willing to give themselves completely (19).
The first item we see in verse 19 is the reality that we are free to give ourselves completely.
Remember that this letter would have been read publicly to a church that was dealing with factionalism.
Paul is distinctly identifying with those who don't have, those in the poor faction
True Christlike behavior seeks to be like Christ setting aside money/power/possessions in exchange for a chance to see souls won.
Specifically, look at Philippians 2:6-8=
Paul notes that freedom is not to be our goal in life, seeing others come to Christ is the goal.
Those who serve God must be willing to become anything in order that they might win anyone (20-22).
As an aside, we often talk of winning people to Christ but the unsaved have not been mentioned anywhere in this passage when Paul talks about winning some I think he would also include the spiritual growth of those who are already saved!
Paul's life was filled with examples of what this looked like.
A Jew to the Jews
Remember Galatians 2:8? Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles but never lost his concern for his own people (Romans 9:3).
Throughout the book of Acts we see that Paul's custom was always to start ministry in a Jewish Synagogue, these were not idle words!
One under the law
A further designation for Jews but also more.
Paul was free from the obligation of the Jewish Law but he still submitted to the Law that he might win those under the law.
A striking example of Paul's adherence to the law is present in Acts 21:23-26 where Paul submits to Jewish temple regulations for the sole purpose of pleasing his critics.
One not under the law but not lawless
A reference to gentiles.
The Christian is not obligated to follow a bunch of rules to earn God's favor! But that doesn't mean the Christian is without rules!
One of the biggest rules we must follow is to love! Let's look at Romans 13:8-10
One who is weak
Remember, in 1 Cor. 8:9-11 we learned that there were Christians who were not confident in their walk, Paul was willing to meet these Christians where they were at in order to win them to Christ-likeness.
And anything else in between.=
Those who serve God reap the blessings of the Gospel (23)
Image: Pastor David will try just about anything
Something that I have observed and appreciated in pastor David is that he will try anything. If you have a game, activity, food, pastor David is always willing to give it a try. Why? Not just to get ore experience in life but because he wants to know people and know what drives them.
MTR: Take a second and consider who God may want you to be in order that you may win some to Christ.
Those who are called to serve should serve with eternity in mind (24-26)
Image: The Isthmian Games
One of the biggest athletic competitions in the world occurred in the city of Corinth.
=The Isthmian games were not as big as the Olympics but were bigger than other city competitions.
=The games were held every two years and Paul was likely present in Corinth for either or both of the AD 49 and 51 events.
Events included
Running
Boxing
Wrestling
Jumping
hurling spear and discus
The reward was a wreath made of celery (originally pine but as cultic activities became more involved they switched the celery)
Those who serve God should remember the importance of strict training (24-25a).
Image: Strict Training - land on the centerline even if you are on 200ft wide runway!
The airplane I fly has a 27 foot wingspan. The big runway at the Lincoln airport is 200 feet wide. But a wise pilot still works to always land on the center of the runway. Why? because one day you may be landing on a much narrower runway. For example, the runway at the Crete airport is only 75 feet wide. A good pilot trains themselves to precisely and strictly maintain their training.
Image: Strict Training - run as if there will only be one winner
I love to run, I hate to race. Why, because I don't like to lose. Seriously, people always ask me if I run in any races, my answer is always No! Why, because the training that would be necessary for me to be competitive is not the type of running I want to do. I want to go out, put on a podcast, and just run for an hour without thinking about speeds, times, etc. I refuse to run as if there is just one winner.
Those who serve God should keep the eternal reward in their sights (25b).
Do you ever notice the pendulum effect whereby we respond to something bad by swinging too far? Materialism is bad, but a truth in the Bible is that we are serving with an eternal reward in mind. It is okay to look forward to heavenly reward as you serve. In fact, it is not only okay, it is Paul's working assumption here.
It is okay to look forward to eternal reward!
The reward here is described as a crown. I personally, don't know what exactly this crown looks like, or even if it here is a metaphor. ====1 Thess. 2:19 can be interpreted to suggest that the crown is connected with bringing Christ glory through those who are won to Christ.
My grandfather used to argue that the crown was some increased capacity to bring glory to Christ throughout eternity.=
In some sense, it doesn't matter exactly what it is. All that I know is that I will love it when I see it and so it is worth working toward that now.
Those who serve God should do so with a great deal of discipline (26-27).
Have you ever watched someone do a skilled task without having received any training or practice? This is Paul's picture.
Sometimes it is painful to watch. This is what Paul is saying we should avoid. We should serve God with discipline!
