Prioritizing the Gospel: Sacrificing Rights for Christ

Those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. That's a principle that we see, not just here in Paul's letter to Corinth but elsewhere in the scriptures preachers of the gospel should be supported financially to live if they are preaching the gospel who says is that just Paul because he wants to be looked after by the church of Corinth or wherever he is well absolutely not if you look at verse 15 he says I'm not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me it's not me saying I want your money but Paul justifies the principle very comprehensively indeed there can't be any doubt about it can there look at the verses from verse 7 Paul says this principle preachers of the gospel should be supported as they preach the gospel the first reason he gave this is just a natural human reason what we might call a natural human reason is that the biblical natural law who serves as a soldier has own expense you don't fight in the army for nothing you get paid so that you can do that who plants a vineyard and doesn't eat its grapes it's obvious that you get a reward for what you do then in verse 8 he moves on to the Old Testament law he starts with a spiritual application of a very earthly principle verse 9 verse 9 and do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain if you read through Deuteronomy that statement stands out a bit because it's in a section where Moses is passing on God's commands for Israel [00:01:47]

should live and the command's about treating other people fairly and justly then all of a sudden in the middle of it if an ox is treading out the ground don't muzzle it so you can't eat anything and paul says well that's a good thing to do we shouldn't muzzle oxen if they're treading out grain that's not kind that's not fair but he says it means more than that if it is true for an oxen then isn't it true for a person a spiritual application of an earthly principle whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest well if preachers of the gospel are spiritually plowing and threshing and scattering seed then they should receive a material harvest from that and then paul moves on in verse 13 to the specific example of those who served god in the worship of the temple or the tabernacle to begin with the levites who carried out all the practical duties around the worship of god and then the priests who were responsible for the sacrifices how did they live they weren't allotted land in israel how could they make a living how could they support themselves where could they get food from well the answer god's answer was that they should share in the the tithe that was given uh in thanksgiving to god for his provision so those who served in the temple will support [00:03:26]

in their work by the rest of the people and then the clincher is in verse 40 the Lord has commanded those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel when Jesus sent out disciples ahead of him he sent out 72 disciples in pairs and he said go to the places which I am going to come to and prepare the way if you like and as he said about he gave him different instructions and among them was the saying the worker is worth his king in Matthew chapter 10 if you go to a place to find someone who is worthy who will put you up on your missionary journey your gospel journey and in a similar passage in Luke's chapter 10 he says the worker deserves his wages so when you go to a place where you can find someone who is worthy of your gospel those you go to should give you somewhere to live to provide your food and your drink so that you have a living from what you're doing so that principle is pretty clear question is how do we apply it what is the point and particularly what is the point for us today the application is simple that churches should support preachers I would say that wouldn't I we'll come back to that a little bit later on but churches have a responsibility if we are to be worthy to take on board Paul's teaching here how do we do that you [00:05:09]

in the old testament i've already mentioned the tithes that god commanded the people to give they were to recognize his goodness to them in providing for their everyday living by bringing tithe to the temple and offering sacrifices in different ways they could go beyond that they could give more than that if they wanted in different ways but at least that tithe of the the harvest that they had and that was to support those who served in the worship of god the service of god now today we recognize god's provision as believers both materially and spiritually we've majored on the spiritual blessings in our worship so far but we've mentioned the fact that god is good in practical earthly ways one of the things we've shared recently is how grateful we are for the fact we live in a place where so many of us have had different reasons to to get care for the service of god their health service there are loads of people in the world who don't have anything like that god has blessed us and we should be thankful but we need to recognize god's material provision for us we don't take up an offering in our service here on a sunday partly to avoid the idea that if you come in we're after your money we don't believe in that for sure partly because in the old days when you pass the the bag the collection bag or a plate along the pew people did have cash that was the only way to give now it's done by uh many of us by standing order in the bank bank account a bank account no real money involved i wonder if we miss something by not having an offering we don't recognize as often as we should that we respond to god not just with our thanks but with our gifts so in the church which does take up an offering usually it's not just a gift that we're able to offer to god in our community so obviously there'll be an opportunity for somebody the minister or whoever to give thanks to god for his to give thanks to god for his one [00:06:48]

goodness and to ask the Lord to bless those gifts in his service but our members of the church those who belong to the church give as we are prompted we're not policed no one goes checking up on how much you give but each one of us is responsible and accountable to God and if a church takes on a preacher well there's a responsibility there so every so often as we come through the Bible we're reminded to ask ourselves how much has the Lord provided for me not in crops or anyone here keeps us a little window box which they grow something in and they need to occasionally it's just about possible in the West End but not many people do it but it's not what God has given us in our crops these days if he's money it's cash it's a a salary if we're working it's a benefit if we're not working and we're receiving from the the state it's a pension maybe there are other things that we receive but wherever we get the income that enables us to live to power rent to buy our food to buy clothes and so on all that comes ultimately not for our own hard work not from the giving of taxpayers not from our investment it comes from god because god could easily take it away couldn't he and he's given us all that we have so am i fulfilling my responsibility this is the question am i fulfilling my responsibility if i'm a believer and i belong to god's church am i fulfilling my responsibilities as god by giving to support the preaching of the gospel as i should in response to his goodness to me that's a significant question how much am i giving in response to god's goodness [00:10:44]

we don't look for help from outsiders we've had when I say outsiders I mean those who don't share our faith we could apply for grants from the government this that and the other I expect for different things but we don't do that we've been very generously supported by Christians in other places who have agreed with the importance of gospel preaching a gospel church to be here in the centre of London in the communities in Covent Garden and in Soho but we can't expect that to continue for what is really let's be honest a small local church there are plenty of churches our size and they haven't had all sorry they haven't all had the benefits that we have received over the years so first of all the responsibility for a preacher for supporting a preacher is ours the church's and as we look into the future that's something we need to take seriously it's a big challenge we thank God for what he's provided in the past not just the money to pay for Michael Tugard Mike Ballard Derek Silver and someone to serve but the gifts that enable us to buy a flat in Soho a house in Covent Garden God has provided and how else could preachers come in to live in the West End it's a real practical problem there isn't it how much would it cost to rent a flat locally? go to the estate agent have a look you would be well you're probably not astonished you've probably got some idea that it's beyond the means of most people to choose to live in the West End so these properties allow us to invite someone to come properties cost money to maintain and I get paid by the church I get supported from the church the church is fulfilling its responsibility at the moment but not from its own giving I can't send it with my friends [00:12:50]

This is the problem. Our costs, our expenses are much greater than our income from ourselves. So we are still depending on outside and the past. And that's a serious long term issue if the church is to be sustainable. So we're going to need to think about it. We're going to need to address our resources and our priorities. We're going to have to think about this. What do we need in order for the gospel to continue to be preached here? How can we provide for them? And this passage challenges us to think about our responsibility. But it will never depend entirely on us, will it? Ultimately, we will depend on the Lord. And so we need his wisdom and his guidance as we think through these things. But we do have to take our responsibility seriously. You can't just say, oh, God will sort it out. Those who preach the gospel should receive. They're living from the gospel. That's an important principle. But it's not Paul's main point in the passage. The main point, and it doesn't complete it here, there's more to be said later on, is in verse 15. Because of that principle. [00:15:25]

I have the right to be supported by people like you in Corinth who I serve. But, he says. I've not used any of it. I don't have any of these rights. He could have done. He could have said, look, you've got to support me. How do we know that? Well, go back to the beginning of the passage. He says, look. But apostles have the right to a living, not just to be housed and fed, it seems. Verse 4 and 5, yes, we need to eat and drink to live. Somebody needs to provide that for us if we're to serve in this way. But actually, verse 5, we can bring our wives along as well, and they'll need to be fed as well. They'll need somewhere to stay. So it seems that apostles have the right to do that. The other apostles were taking advantage of that right. Now, Paul's an apostle. The Corinthians know that. They've heard his story, how he was called by Jesus specially, individually, to serve with the gospel. [00:18:40]

The Corinthians know it because at the end of verse 2, they are the seal of his apostleship. The fact that the Corinthians have come to faith in Jesus through Paul's preaching, the fact there is a church in Corinth, shows that he is an apostle. They're the proof, if you like. All right, so Paul has the right to ask the Corinthians to support him. But he doesn't I have not used any of these rights. Why not? Well, that's a little bit more tricky to answer, in my opinion, at least. I've struggled with this passage, thinking about it this week. But I think there are two reasons that Paul gives. Why he doesn't claim his rights. The first is in verse 12. Nothing should hinder the gospel of Christ. How would Paul, claiming support from the Christians, hinder the gospel of Christ? Well, it doesn't really seem that it would be a big burden to them. They couldn't afford it. There would be a mixture of people in the church in Corinth, but there were quite a lot. [00:20:12]

They should have been able to contribute to supporting Paul, if that was required. So maybe that's not exactly the reason. Maybe it's to avoid any accusation that, Paul, you're only in it for the money. Now, it doesn't seem that Paul is asking for loss. He just wants a roof for his head and food and drink and so on. to be able to live he's not asking for luxury it seems but maybe he's concerned to avoid any sense that he's you know it's just another job maybe that's it we know that in our society today it would be quite a common complaint of people outside the church that those or there are those who serve as preachers of the gospel who do very well out of it now i think in this country there aren't that many but we see in the united states lots of examples it seems of preachers who seem to to flaunt their wealth they seem to be saying because we are so blessed by god that's why we've got these luxury cars luxury homes that doesn't fit with the new testament at all and paul perhaps wants to avoid any accusations like that as he says at the end of the passage in verse 18 he will not be able to live he will not be able to live he wants to be able to offer the gospel free of charge you can forget any financial uh involvement you're not gonna have to pay for this message i want to be able to preach the gospel so that you can respond to it freely now that seems to clash a little bit with what i've just said the principle that christians need to give to god but the giving is to the lord not to paul that's for sure so that's the gospel so that's his first reason for not using his right because he doesn't want to hinder the gospel but the second reason seems to be that paul gets what we might call satisfaction paul gets a reward paul can boast in a good way from not using his rights Paul can boast in a good way from not using his rights [00:21:36]

what do i mean by that well it's quite difficult to get to the bottom of it in my in my view reading what different writers have said about this i can't sound absolutely clear about how what paul says uh in verses 16 and 17 fit with that but i think uh this is true that paul is making a personal expression of his commitment to the lord who has called him the lord he serves everything paul does is done in the lord he does nothing for his own sake we see that clearly if we read through uh well the account of his life or his ministry in acts of the apostles and if we read his letters we see that he has a heart for the people he writes to he's not all about himself so i think amongst other things he wants to show that but what he's doing is more than a duty Paul says he has to preach verse 16 I'm compelled to preach there's an inner compulsion but there's an external compulsion Jesus told him to Jesus commanded him to he has to that's his duty but I think maybe in not using his rights Paul is showing his willingness to serve beyond that that his heart is in him because he wants the Lord's commendation he wants the Lord to say to him well done good and faithful servant you didn't just do the job your heart was in him and I value that that seems to me to be part of Paul's reason [00:25:19]

not claiming his rights but why is he talking about rights why is he saying i've not used them he's not showing off and he's certainly not urging the corinthians to stand up for their rights there are times when we should stand up for rights our rights but the rights of others more likely do you remember in philippi when paul was falsely imprisoned no reason to imprison him when the earthquake took place remember the jailer was converted the magistrates were really worried about what might have happened and they realized they've done something wrong please just leave our city paul makes sure there is a public acknowledgement that he has done no wrong he's not so worried about him he's worried about the gospel it's important that messengers of jesus are seen to be uh if you like squeaky clean so there are times when we might stand up for rights and certainly we stand up for rights in order to serve the gospel's reputation but also to defend others the bible is very strong isn't it the old testament on standing up for justice for the poor and the weak and maybe that's the inspiration behind bob marley's song while christians have a lot of inspiration from god in their service of the poor and the weak maybe we will stand up for the rights of others but when it comes to my rights my personal rights then paul is telling us that there can be much more important considerations than me we should be much more interested in the needs of the gospel and in the lord's approval of our lives than we are in standing up for our rights and to support the gospel that's what paul is telling us so now there are two ways to apply that one is an application to preachers because it's paul saying that you've got the right to [00:30:36]

do this preachers to claim support so that he can live but you shouldn't use it you should be like me no paul isn't saying that how do we know well he's not criticizing the other apostles he says they're well within their rights this is a proper thing to do it is a responsibility is it a principle that believers should support those who preach the gospel why doesn't paul keep the command of the lord if you like the lord has commanded that this should happen well because it's a command for hearers of the gospel not for preachers of the gospel the command is not saying to preachers you must go and make sure you get your money's worth from the people you serve the command is to the people they serve and say you've got the responsibility as we've talked about already to support those who preach the gospel for you preachers don't have to demand their rights there's a book written by a famous american preacher and it's titled brothers we are not professionals and it's a series of messages encouraging christian ministers to realize that they're not following a career they're not doing a job like anybody else you know you go to college you get your degree you go off and you search for a job and you get a well -paid job and you go up the ladder that's not what christian ministry is about christian ministers are servants and so what matters to to them should be the need of the gospel the needs of communities which need to hear the gospel the needs of the church needs of the priorities of the church that they serve [00:32:01]