As I read 1 Corinthians 9, I could almost hear Paul’s desperate plea: “Lord, how can I get them to understand this crucial point?”
This first preserved letter to the Corinthian believers, from beginning to end, is Paul’s desperate attempt to help the fledgling church in Corinth understand the two most foundational elements of Scripture. Loving God is our highest priority. Loving our fellowman is our second. Our pride and our rights must be subordinate to these two primary objectives.
Paul spent at least 18 months establishing the church in Corinth—a city known for its wealth, multicultural population, and its immorality. The majority of the members were converts from paganism. They had embraced Jesus Christ, but old ways of thinking and acting died hard. Some were so engrained, I am sure these new believers did not even realize they still shaped their interpretations of truth.
Have you ever believed something so completely that everything you heard or saw was interpreted through that lens, even when it completely contradicted reality? I have.
When my boys were young, we were traveling through New Mexico and planned to visit Carlsbad Caverns. The day before we planned to go, we met a local woman who enthusiastically shared how much she loved visiting the caverns with her family. From what she described, I pictured it like this:
They would pack a picnic lunch, hike from the visitor center down to the natural cave entrance, eat lunch just inside the opening, and then take one of the guided tours.
I was convinced I had discovered the best way to experience Carlsbad Caverns. I was looking forward to the hike down the mountain from the visitor center to the natural cave entrance.
The next day, we arrived and I immediately went to the information desk and asked for a map so we could hike to the natural entrance. The park ranger smiled enthusiastically and pointed to the map.
“The natural entrance is right here, and you will hike down this path into the cave to the level where they offer the tours.”
I looked at the map and saw a line meandering down the “mountain.” So I touched it and said, “Oh, so this is the path we take to get down to the natural entrance?”
The park ranger, still smiling, pointed at the top of the path. “The natural entrance is here, and you hike down this path to get to the tours.”
Me, a little frustrated. “So, I hike down this path, and I will find the natural entrance where there are tables for us to eat?”
For several minutes we went back and forth, the ranger patiently pointing to the map again and again, but no matter how she explained it, I could not understand what she was saying because of my preconceived idea. Finally, she pointed through the window to the enormous opening in the mountain and said, “Ma’am, that’s the natural entrance.”
I looked out the door and saw a yawning hole and suddenly my preconceived idea crumbled. For the first time, I understood exactly what she had been trying to tell me. I looked back at the map in astonishment and pointed to the top of the path. “You mean, we go in through the natural entrance here and then hike down this path inside the cave to the bottom?”
The park ranger stated flatly, “Yes, that is exactly what I mean.”
I felt like singing, “I saw the light.”
That experience taught me something I’ve never forgotten. Once we become convinced that something is true, our minds naturally interpret everything through that lens—even when the evidence says otherwise. That’s exactly what I think Paul is confronting in his letter to his beloved Corinthian converts. He knows they view life a certain way and he is desperately trying to find a way to remove the blinders and help them see clearly the principle he is teaching.
Why Does Paul Spend So Much Time Defending His Rights?
To shatter those preconceived ideas, Paul asks the Corinthians a whole series of questions that are meant to make them stop and examine their own ingrained patterns of thinking. And he uses himself as an example.
Why?
Because there is no denying that Paul was the one used to bring them to a saving belief in Christ. He was sent by God to them to bring them the good news. He spent a year and half living with them and teaching them. They knew him very well.
Once that fact is re-established in their minds, he quizzes them about what rights inherently belong to him as their spiritual father: such as the right to receive food and drink from them as payment for his work among them; and the right to bring significant others with him to minister with him and expect the Corinthians to cover the additional expenses.
In essence, he works full-time as a minister of the gospel and he has the full right—proven through what the other apostles do and from the Old Testament rules about the priesthood and the rule about allowing an ox who is treading out the grain to eat some of it—to receive pay for the work he did among the Corinthians to bring them to salvation and establish a church.
And now he gets to the crux of the matter. Though he has the right to be fully supported by the Corinthians for whom he labored so tirelessly, he never exercised those rights.
Why?
First and foremost, he did not want to be a burden to them or make them think they were paying for their salvation. After all, God entrusted him with the gospel message and sent him to preach it. If preaching were merely a profession he had chosen, he would expect to receive payment. But Paul had been given a divine commission to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. Therefore, he was simply fulfilling the duty God had entrusted to him, and the greatest reward he could receive was knowing he had offered this incredible gift free of charge.
To emphasize his point, Paul stresses that he is a freeman, slave to no one, but he willingly chooses to be a slave to all who are unsaved: Jews, Gentiles, sticklers for the law and those who aren’t even aware of it, the weak and the strong in faith. Paul never changed the gospel itself. The message remained exactly the same. What he changed were his methods and his personal freedoms. He met people where they were so he could remove unnecessary barriers to faith.
What Does This Have to Do with Meat Offered to Idols?
Paul already established that idols are not gods. So it is not an outright sin to eat meat offered to an idol because an idol is nothing but wood, stone, and or metal. If the Corinthians went solely by that knowledge, then it would definitely not be wrong for them to eat meat offered to them. But the real question is not whether it is right or wrong, the question is whether their actions will draw people to Christ and strengthen their faith. If it has the possibility of weakening the faith of anyone, then it is better by far to give up the right to eat meat and be a vegetarian if necessary. (1 Corinthians 8:13).
And giving up that right does not mean that they believe in idols or have weak faith, instead, it proves that their love for others and their desire that they experience salvation Jesus offers is their highest priority rather than their own rights and desires. They are then following in the footsteps of Paul and his ministry.
After all, the grace and salvation Jesus Christ offers are not meant to make us comfortable and content in the here and now. We have a goal we are striving toward: eternal life and the crown Christ has already reserved for us in heaven.
Running to Win an Eternal Crown
Just as athletes willingly submit to strict training in order to win a race, they gladly give up rich foods while strengthening their bodies and building their endurance. Why? Because they hope to receive a victor’s wreath that will soon wither and die.
How much more willing should we be to give up food—or any other legitimate “right”—and train ourselves spiritually through Bible study, prayer, self-control, and obedience so we can persevere faithfully through every trial until we receive the crown Christ has reserved for us? The goal, then, is not merely self-discipline. It is a heart so transformed by Christ that we willingly surrender anything that stands in the way of His purpose.
The Christian life is not ultimately about asking, “What can I do in view of the great spiritual wealth of knowledge I have?” It is about asking, “What will most help another person know Christ?”
In fact, the goal of true spiritual knowledge is not merely to know more facts about God, master His commands, or explain prophecy. It is to know and love Christ with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. As our love for Him grows, His priorities become our priorities. We begin to desire what He desires—to reach others for the kingdom of heaven.
Sometimes that will require surrendering a perfectly legitimate right. But whenever love leads us to lay aside our rights for the spiritual good of another, we are walking in the footsteps of Paul—and ultimately, of Jesus Himself.
Prayer:
Dear Jesus,
You were willing to give up all of Your rights as God and Creator of the universe. You gave up Your right to live in heaven where You were safe, loved, honored and worshipped by all the angels. Where You had intimate, face-to-face communion with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. You gave up all that to come and be born, the illegitimate child of two peasants, in a smelly stable. You gave up all the rights of kingship, wealth, luxury, and power. To struggle to survive among humans who wanted to kill You from the moment You were born. You gave up the right of ownership of everything and worked hard as a carpenter to support yourself and your family.
You chose to give up Your right to live. You chose to drink the cup of the penalty of sin when You knew no sin. You chose to give up Your right to freedom and allow them to bind Your hands, to hit You, spit on You, blaspheme You, lie about You, whip You and finally, nail You to a cross, naked and reviled by all. You gave up Your right to vindicate yourself, to extricate Yourself, to allow Your army of angels to protect You. You chose to lay down Your life for me.
Thank You for being willing to give up all Your rights for my salvation. Thank You for coming to this dark world to seek and save the lost, me. Thank You for enduring all the man and demons could inflict on You in order to offer the gift of salvation for free to me.
It is a mind-boggling gift. It is a generous, even extravagant gift.
Oh Lord, open my mind and my heart to treasure it for its true worth. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit because without You I can do nothing, I can’t even love You fully. And I certainly can’t learn to love my fellow human beings as You love them without Your Spirit living and working in and through me. Make me a true disciple.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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