Tonight’s Bible study looked at 1 Cor 9:1-18, where Paul, in continuing his discussion about rights and responsibilities, looks at the role of apostles. His claims to be an apostle rest on his having seen Jesus and on the fruit seen in the Corinthians’ own lives (1 Cor 9:1-2), which some take to mean that there can be no such thing as a modern-day apostle (since we physically cannot have seen Jesus.) Eph 4:11-13 tells us that Christ gave the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, however, and these are required to equip God’s people for works of service, ‘so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.‘ Clearly, this maturity will not be attained until Christ returns, so these special ministries are still required today, with an apostle not only preaching the gospel but establishing churches (laying a foundation on which others can build, as Paul has earlier discussed in 1 Cor 3.)
Paul explains that apostles have many rights (including the right to receive material reward for their spiritual work), citing examples from other fields of work (1 Cor 9:7-12), but declares that, just as he would willingly give up meat so that he did not cause any brother or sister to fall into sin (1 Cor 8:13), he is willing to forego financial remuneration from the Corinthians so as not to hinder the gospel. Acts 18:1-5 gives us the backdrop to Paul’s work in Corinth, showing us his part-time work as a tentmaker and how Silas and Timothy supported him so that he could then preach on a full-time basis. Those who support others in Christian ministry (as many women supported Christ during His earthly ministry) have a vital role to play; there are many different kinds of service! Paul’s role as an apostle was to build up the church (the word ‘edification’ has its roots in the Latin words meaning ‘to build a house‘) and to preach the gospel, a commission he took so seriously that he could say ‘woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!’ (1 Cor 9:16) The overarching principle of these verses can be seen in Phil 2:1-11, how we must follow Christ’s example of laying down His rights to serve others. In the words of Graham Kendrick’s ‘Servant King’:
‘So let us learn how to serve
And in our lives enthrone Him,
Each other’s needs to prefer,
For it is Christ we’re serving.’