It is good to have you back for the second episode in Series 3.  

Recap and Background 

Paul has been dealing with the question of idolatry and pagan worship. This was a major issue in Corinth. He encouraged people very strongly that they should not be going to the pagan temples, participating in the sacrifices, or eating the ritual and ceremonial meals that took place in the temple compounds. There are more questions about the temple worship that Paul needs to address, particularly the question of what happens to the meat of the animal sacrifice once it goes into the market, and it ends up as food on your plate. Should you be worried about this contaminated food? Is it spiritually contaminated? Should you eat it or not? These are questions that the Corinthians had in mind.  

As we are following this text, you would expect Paul to deal with this question right now, but he doesn't.  Paul has a habit of changing direction when he is writing his letters, and this can sometimes confuse the modern reader. We need to remember that Paul wrote these letters by dictating the words to somebody else who was sitting near him and writing down the words. He had a scribe available to him, so he was free to think widely. Often, another idea came into his head while he was thinking. I wonder whether you ever have that experience yourself. I certainly have it all the time in conversations with people. It can be very frustrating when we are having a conversation in the family, or in a coffee shop, or on the streets or in the market, and we are going in one direction, which is really interesting, and then somebody moves the discussion over to something else, which you find surprising, and you keep thinking in your mind that you want to go back to the first question. I want Paul to go back to this question of pagan worship and idolatry and the meat in the marketplace, because it was a very practical question for the Corinthians. Let me reassure you, he does, but not now, because a thought has come into his head about something else that he wanted to write to them about.  

This thought concerns the question that he dealt with in the last episode about the freedom that a Christian has, to make their own decisions. He was saying that they were, technically speaking, free to go to the pagan worship ceremonies or not, but if they exercised their freedom in that way, it would damage other believers because they might be confused about what they were doing when they did that. He was thinking about the question of freedom of choice to make responsible decisions as Christians and wants to talk about a decision that he had made concerning the Corinthians – a very important decision. He wanted to explain another issue that came into his mind which was essentially aroundfinance in the church and the support of leaders. He deals with this as a very personal issue by talking about financial support for himself. He came and planted the church in Corinth. He was the Apostle, he was the evangelist, and he was now overseeing the church. These thoughts came into Paul's mind while he was writing about a different topic, so we have to follow the line of Paul's thinking. It reminded him that he wanted to reaffirm his authority to the Corinthians as an Apostle, because his authority was being questioned by people in the church because of their behaviour and the things they were doing, which were different from what he had taught them when he was with them. He was frustrated by that.  

Freedom Comes With Responsibility 

With those thoughts in mind, we are now going to approach this text in 1 Corinthians 9. Paul is thinking about the freedom to make responsible decisions, about his Apostleship, and particularly about the question of financial support. Church leaders, he would argue, have the right to ask for financial support if they are dedicating themselves to the Christian ministry and do not have other income. The use of our freedom can be harmful. For the Corinthians to go to pagan temples would be harmful even though they were free to go; there would be consequences. That is true of many issues in our lives.  

Even before I deal with this text, let me give you a totally different type of example. What happens if somebody in your church inherits a lot of money and they become much richer than anyone else in the church? They are free to buy a much bigger house. In some countries where they have access, they can buy a car and they can buy rich clothes. They are free to do all those things. But what will the consequences be for the other members of the church? It is almost certainly going to be negative because they then become very different from those people. Jealousy comes; they become selfish, and problems arise in the church. Freedom comes with responsibility. This is what Paul is going to talk about as he talks about his Apostolic role. 

Paul’s Authority 

“Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus, our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.” 1 Corinthians 9: 1 – 2 NIV

Paul was trying to assert his authority again. He claimed astonishing authority here. He does this frequently in his letters. He says he is an Apostle. “Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” He told them about this when he had been with them, and we know from the book of Acts that Paul frequently mentioned his conversion story. It is his testimony. His conversion story is the most remarkable conversion story that you can imagine. Many of you will know the story well, and if you have studied ‘The Spreading Flame’, in Word Online, you will be aware that this story is repeated three times in the book of Acts in different contexts. Paul retells the story of the extraordinary moment when he was traveling to the city of Damascus from the city of Jerusalem as an opponent of the church, trying to find Christians to persecute and stop Christianity spreading. Suddenly, on the road, he had an experience of seeing an astonishingly bright light that was so bright that it blinded him and temporarily he was unable to see. He heard a voice calling to him, and he realised it was the voice of Jesus telling him that he had been persecuting Jesus, and that Paul was going to be called to a different mission. He was commissioned to be one of the Apostles, one of the representatives of Jesus, with a particular responsibility of taking the gospel far and wide - to countries far away from Judea, where he was living at the time. Paul says here, “Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” He actually saw the risen Jesus, even though he had never met him during Jesus’ earthly ministry. He is reminding the Corinthians that he is an Apostle. He had seen Jesus; he does know what he is talking about; he does know how to build a local church; and his words come with authority. He was advising them and giving them principles and guidance in many different issues. He was telling them that he has great authority.  

Paul’s Defence  

Having said that, he now moves on to deal with some of the criticisms that people had made of him. He was aware that he had been criticised in Corinth. All church leaders are criticised. Paul found it very painful when churches he had founded sometimes turned against him, or some members turned against him, and they started disagreeing with him, becoming argumentative, even perhaps rejecting his leadership. He was very troubled that the Corinthians had not been loyal to him, and the church had become confused, broken, divided and lacking in strength. 

“This is my defence to those who sit in judgment on me.  Don’t we have the right to food and drink? Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas.  Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk?  Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever ploughs and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.  If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?  If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.  Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar?  In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.”  

1 Corinthians 9: 3 – 14 NIV 

Behind this surprising statement, there is a big issue - money and finance, and arguments about money in the Corinthian church. It is a very common issue in churches for money to become a matter of arguments and division. It appears that some people in the Corinthian church had been claiming that Paul carried out his ministry in Corinth, and in other churches, to make money - that finance was his motivation. This was really challenging for Paul, and probably the accusation came after he had left Corinth and the church had got into confusion, difficulty and division. Now people had come to Paul to say that some people thought that he was only in it for the money. Paul said, firstly, that evangelists and people planting churches and church leaders have a right to food and drink, to their own personal needs being met when they are using their time for the ministry. He even pointed out that some of the Apostles, when they travelled around from place to place, took their wives with them. He didn't have a wife. He said that even Peter (or Cephas), the leading Apostle, took his wife with him when he was going from place to place, so she had to be looked after as well. 

He said that anybody who was working, whether it was a soldier or someone in the vineyard, or somebody involved in farming - whoever it happened to be - was giving their labour and should be receiving some benefit from their labour. He pointed to the Old Testament Law of Moses, the principle, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” verse 9. This is a reference to the fact that as the grain was gathered onto the stone floor, where it was going to be threshed - separating the stalk and the husk from the pure grain so that it could be used for food – it was crushed under a stone, with an ox moving the stone round and whilst the ox was doing that it could see the grain on the floor. Should you put a muzzle on it, so that it couldn't eat while it was working, so that you can eat the grain? In the Old Testament, the rule was, that the oxen could eat while they were working.We have the same principle in Paul's teaching elsewhere concerning elders and church leaders. 1 Timothy 5: 17, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.”  If you honour your leaders, you may have to finance them if they need it. He makes a strong case here for the fact that leaders have a right to be supported. They can't always do any other work; they may not have any other source of income. So why shouldn't they be supported? 

Then, having said all that, Paul says something very remarkable. Even though he had the right to get money from them to support himself when he was in Corinth, he never asked for any money at all. In fact, this claim that he was in it for the money was totally untrue because he hadn't received any money from the Corinthian church. This is remarkable. Verse 12: “But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.” In fact, what Paul did in Corinth, is described in Acts 18. When he arrived in the city, he met two Christians who lived there already, Priscilla and Aquila, and they were described as tent makers - people who work with leather. Leather was used for many different products: clothes, shoes, belts, tents, and army equipment. It was a major product in the ancient world. Many people worked with leather and Paul also had a training in working in leather. So, he joined in their business. He went to live in their house, we think, and he worked with them making leather products, taking them to the market in order that he could finance himself through business. Paul didn't ask for any money from the Corinthian church. He was very frustrated when he was writing to them as they were accusing him of being ‘in it for the money’ but he hadn’t received any money at all from them. Here we have an example of a rumour - an accusation not based on any facts. It was frustrating Paul, and he was defending himself vigorously. 

Freely Offering the Gospel 

“But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast.  For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach.  Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so as not to make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.” 1 Corinthians 9: 15 – 18 NIV 

This is a very important and fundamental principle of the New Testament church. The gospel was given freely to people without demanding money - a very challenging issue in the modern world. Paul was quite clear about this. Sometimes he received financial gifts. He was happy to receive them, but it wasn't a condition of his ministry that he would have to be paid. He came supporting himself, offering the gospel freely.  

Reflections 

The connection between church, gospel and money in the modern world can be very complex and can be corrupted. Some leaders treat churches as businesses through which they can gain significant financial benefits, and maybe enrich their family and their friends. Some teaching that we hear in churches today, suggests that it is important for those who listen to give to the ministry of a gifted preacher and if they don't give to this person and his ministry, they will miss out on God's blessing. You can create a sense of obligation and pressure upon the congregation to give to a person and their ministry, their church, or their online channel. This is totally different from the way Paul operated. Paul trusted God to meet his needs miraculously, or through his own business, or sometimes through gifts from churches. He operated by faith. He took risks, and his preaching never carried a direct financial obligation. It was given freely. If we compromise that principle, then financial corruption comes in and this is very dangerous for the health of churches. 

It is also important that, where possible, the finances of a church are dealt with by people who can clearly explain them to the church members - that nothing secret is done so that leaders cannot secretly take money from their congregations for their own benefit. It is clear to me, reading this passage, that a terrible accusation had risen arisen against Paul concerning money. He found it very painful. Probably there was some issue, even while he was present in the Corinthian church, because he made the decision in that place, specifically, not to take any money from anybody in the congregation. He would support himself. 

We learn a lot from this very surprising and interesting passage. We learn about the relationship between the gospel, the church and finance. Leaders, pastors, and evangelists should be honoured and supported where that is necessary. However, the gospel is given free of charge. A good model for Christian ministry is for leaders to have some means of supporting themselves through business, or other work where possible. That is something that isn't practised very much in the Western world, but it is a very biblical model that we find in the New Testament. We see the danger of corruption when people lead churches or speak through television, or other media, preaching Christianity but seeking funds for their own organisations. We must be very careful that those funds are given purely for the development of the gospel and not for the enrichment and benefit of individual leaders. This was the accusation that Paul was dealing with in this passage. It was a totally untrue accusation, and he was able to resist it, and refute it, and make it clear to the Corinthians that he never had any money from them.  

  

Clearly, this is not all that we can say about finance in the church, but it is a very important passage that helps us in the modern world, where money, the church and the gospel are linked together in a complex way. We as believers should be giving to churches in order that the church can grow and develop. One aspect of that is supporting the leaders, but only if they need it, in a responsible way that can clearly be seen to benefit the advance of the Kingdom of God. Paul knew that he had the right to ask them for finance. Other Apostles did and other elders did in local churches, but he chose not to in this case because he wanted to defend his integrity against a serious accusation.  

  

Thank you for being with us, as we saw Paul taking a surprising journey here, as he changed subject from the last episode. Now he is going on to talk in more depth about his work evangelising different communities and what it meant for him to be flexible in approaching different communities with the gospel.  

  

 

 


It is good to have you back, as we are in the second episode in Series 3.

Recap and Background

Paul has been dealing with the question of idolatry and pagan worship. This was a major issue in Corinth; he encouraged people very strongly that they should not be going to the pagan temples, participating in the sacrifices, or eating the ritual and ceremonial meals that took place in the temple compounds. There are more questions about the temple worship that Paul needs to address, particularly the question of what happens to the meat of the animal sacrifice once it goes into the market, and it ends up as food on your plate. Should you be worried about this contaminated food? Is it spiritually contaminated? Should you eat it or not? These are questions that the Corinthians had in mind.

As we are following this text, you would expect Paul to deal with this question right now, but he doesn’t. Paul has a habit of changing direction when he is writing his letters, and this can sometimes confuse the modern reader. We need to remember that Paul wrote these letters by dictating the words to somebody else who was sitting near him and writing down the words. He had a scribe available to him, so he was free to think widely. Often another idea came into his head while he was thinking. I wonder whether you ever have that experience yourself. I certainly have it all the time in conversations with people. It can be very frustrating when we are having a conversation in the family, or in a coffee shop, or on the streets or in the market, and we are going in one direction, which is really interesting, and then somebody moves the discussion over to something else, which you find surprising, and you keep thinking in your mind that you want you to go back to the first question. I want Paul to go back to this question of pagan worship and idolatry and the meat in the marketplace, because it was a very practical question for the Corinthians. Let me reassure you, he does, but not now, because a thought has come into his head about something else that he wanted to write to them about.

This thought concerns the question that he dealt with in the last episode about the freedom that a Christian has, to make their own decisions. He was saying that they were, technically speaking, free to go to the pagan worship ceremonies or not, but if they exercised their freedom in that way, it would damage other believers because they might be confused about what they were doing when they did that. He was thinking about the question of freedom of choice, to make responsible decisions as Christians and wants to talk about a decision that he had made concerning the Corinthians – a very important decision. He wanted to explain another issue that came into his mind which was essentially around finance in the church and the support of leaders. He deals with this as a very personal issue by talking about financial support for himself. He came and planted the church in Corinth. He is the Apostle, he is the evangelist, and he is now overseeing the church. These thoughts came into Paul’s mind while he was writing about a different topic, so we have to follow the line of Paul’s thinking. It reminded him that he wanted to reaffirm his authority to the Corinthians as an Apostle, because his authority was being questioned by people in the church because of their behaviour and the things they were doing, which were different from what he had taught them when he was with them. He was frustrated by that.

Freedom Comes With Responsibility

With those thoughts in mind, we are now going to approach this text in 1 Corinthians 9. Paul is thinking about the freedom to make responsible decisions, about his apostleship, and particularly about the question of financial support. Church leaders, he would argue, have the right to ask for financial support if they are dedicating themselves to the Christian ministry. They may not do that; it may not be practical. The use of our freedom can be harmful and for the Corinthians going to pagan temples would be harmful even though they were free to go. There would be consequences. That is true of many issues in our lives.

Even before I deal with this text, let me give you a totally different type of example. What happens if somebody in your church inherits a lot of money and they become much richer than anyone else in the church? They are free to buy a much bigger house, in some countries where they have access, they can buy a car and they can buy rich clothes. They are free to do all those things. But what will the consequences be for the other members of the church? It is almost certainly going to be negative because they then become very different from those people. Jealousy comes; they become selfish, and problems arise in the church. Freedom comes with responsibility. This is what Paul is going to talk about as he talks about his apostolic role.

Paul’s Authority

“Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus, our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.”

1 Corinthians 9:1-2, NIV

Paul was trying to assert his authority again. He claimed astonishing authority here. He does this frequently in his letters. He says he is an Apostle. “Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” He told them about this when he had been with them, and we know from the book of Acts that Paul frequently mentioned his conversion story. It is his testimony. His conversion story is the most remarkable conversion story that you can imagine. Many of you will know the story well, and if you have studied ‘The Spreading Flame’, in Word Online, you will be aware that this story is repeated three times in the book of Acts in different contexts. Paul retells the story twice of the extraordinary moment when he was traveling to the city of Damascus from the city of Jerusalem as an opponent of the church, trying to find Christians to persecute and stop Christianity spreading. Suddenly, on the road, he had an experience of seeing an astonishingly bright light that was so bright that it blinded him and temporarily he was unable to see. He heard a voice calling to him, and he realised it was the voice of Jesus telling him that he had been persecuting Jesus, and that Paul was going to be called to a different mission. He was commissioned to be one of the Apostles, one of the representatives of Jesus, with a particular responsibility of taking the gospel far and wide - in countries far away from Judea, where he was living at the time. Paul says here, “Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?” He actually saw the risen Jesus, even though he had never met him during Jesus’ earthly ministry. He is reminding the Corinthians that he is an Apostle. He had seen Jesus; he does know what he is talking about; he does know how to build a local church; and his words come with authority. He was advising them and giving them principles and guidance in many different issues. He was saying to them that he has great authority.

Paul’s Defence

Having said that, he now moves on to deal with some of the criticisms that people had made of him. He was aware that he had been criticised in Corinth. All church leaders are criticised. Paul found it very painful when churches he had founded sometimes turned against him, or some members turned against him, and they started disagreeing with him, becoming argumentative, even perhaps rejecting his leadership. He was very troubled that the Corinthians had not been loyal to him, and the church had become confused, broken, divided and lacking in strength.

“This is my defence to those who sit in judgment on me. Don’t we have the right to food and drink? Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas. Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever ploughs and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ. Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.”

1 Corinthians 9:3-14, NIV

Behind this surprising statement, there is a big issue - money and finance, and arguments about money in the Corinthian church. It is a very common issue in churches for money to become a matter of arguments and division. It appears that some people in the Corinthian church had been claiming that Paul carried out his ministry in Corinth and in other churches, to make money- that finance was his motivation. This was really challenging for Paul, and probably this accusation came after he had left Corinth and the church had got into confusion, difficulty and division.

Now people were coming to Paul saying that some people thought that he was only in it for the money. Paul said, firstly, that evangelists and people planting churches and church leaders have a right to food and drink, to their own personal needs being met when they are using their time for the ministry. He even pointed out that some of the Apostles, when they travelled around from place to place, took their wives with them. He didn’t have a wife. He said that even Peter (or Cephas), the leading Apostle, took his wife with him when he was going from place to place, so she had to be looked after as well.

He said that anybody who was working, whether it was a soldier or someone in the vineyard, or somebody involved in farming - whoever it happened to be - was giving their labour and should be receiving some benefit from their labour. He pointed to the Old Testament Law of Moses, the principle, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.” verse 9. This is a reference to the fact that as the grain was gathered onto the stone floor, where it was going to be threshed - separating the stalk and the husk from the pure grain so that it could be used for food – it was crushed under a stone, with an ox moving the stone round and whilst the ox was doing that it could see the grain on the floor. Should you put a muzzle on it, so that it couldn’t eat while it was working, so that you can eat the grain? In the Old Testament, the rule was, that the oxen could eat while they were working. We have the same principle in Paul’s teaching elsewhere concerning elders and church leaders. 1 Timothy 5: 17, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.” If you honour your leaders, you may have to finance them if they need it. He makes a strong case here for the fact that leaders have a right to be supported. They can’t always do any other work; they may not have any other source of income. So why shouldn’t they be supported?

Then, having said all that, Paul says something else very remarkable. Even though he had the right to get money from them to support him when he was in Corinth, he never asked for any money at all. In fact, this claim that he was in it for the money was totally untrue because he hadn’t received any money at all from the Corinthian church. This is remarkable. Verse 12: “But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.” In fact, what Paul did in Corinth, is described in Acts 18. When he arrived in the city, he met two Christians who lived there already, Priscilla and Aquila, and they were described as tent makers - people who work with leather. Leather was used for many different products: clothes, shoes, belts, tents, and army equipment. It was a major product in the ancient world. Many people worked with leather and Paul also had a training in working in leather. So, he joined in their business. He went to live in their house, we think, and he worked with them making leather products, taking them to the market in order that he could finance himself through business. Paul didn’t ask for any money from the Corinthian church. He was very frustrated when he was writing to them as they were accusing him of being ‘in it for the money’ but he hadn’t received any money at all from them. Here we have an example of a rumour - an accusation not based on any facts. It was frustrating Paul, and he was defending himself vigorously.

Freely Offering the Gospel

“But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast. For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so as not to make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.”

1 Corinthians 9:15-18, NIV

This is a very important and fundamental principle of the New Testament church. The gospel was given freely to people without demanding money - a very challenging issue in the modern world. Paul was quite clear about this. Sometimes he received financial gifts. He was happy to receive them, but it wasn’t a condition of his ministry that he would have to be paid. He came supporting himself, offering the gospel freely.

Reflections

The connection between church, gospel and money in the modern world can be very complex and can be corrupted. Some leaders treat churches as businesses through which they can gain significant financial benefits, and maybe enrich their family and their friends. Some teaching that we hear in churches today, suggests that it is important for those who listen to give to the ministry of a gifted preacher and if they don’t give to this person and his ministry, they will miss out on God’s blessing. You can create a sense of obligation and pressure upon the congregation to give to a person and their ministry, their church, or their online channel. This is totally different from the way Paul operated. Paul trusted God to meet his needs miraculously, or through his own business, or sometimes through gifts from churches. He operated by faith. He took risks, and his preaching never carried a direct financial obligation. It was given freely. If we compromise that principle, then financial corruption comes in and this is very dangerous for the health of churches.

It is also important that, where possible, the finances of a church are dealt with by people who can clearly explain them to the church members - that nothing secret is done so that leaders cannot secretly take money from their congregations for their own benefit. It is clear to me, reading this passage, that a terrible accusation had risen arisen against Paul concerning money. He found it very painful. Probably there was some issue, even while he was present in the Corinthian church, because he made the decision in that place, specifically, not to take any money from anybody in the congregation. He would support himself.

We learn a lot from this very surprising and interesting passage We learn a lot about the relationship between the gospel, the church and finance. Leaders, pastors, and evangelists should be honoured and supported where that is necessary. However, the gospel is given free of charge. A good model for Christian ministry is for leaders to have some means of supporting themselves through business or other work where possible. That is something that isn’t practised very much in the Western world, but it is a very biblical model that we find in the New Testament. We see the danger of corruption when people lead churches or speak through television, or other media, preaching Christianity but seeking funds for their own organisations. We must be very careful that those funds are given purely for the development of the gospel and not for the enrichment and benefit of individual leaders. This was the accusation that Paul was dealing with in this passage. It was a totally untrue accusation, and he was able to resist it, and refute it, and make it clear to the Corinthians that he never had any money from them.

Clearly, this is not all that we can say about finance in the church, but it is a very important passage that helps us in the modern world, where money, the church and the gospel are linked together in a complex way. We as believers should be giving to churches in order that the church can grow and develop. One aspect of that is supporting the leaders, but only if they need it, in a responsible way that can be clearly seen to benefit the advance of the Kingdom of God. Paul knew that he had the right to ask them for finance. Other Apostles did and other elders did in local churches, but he chose not to in this case because he wanted to defend his integrity against a serious accusation.

Thank you for being with us, as we saw Paul taking a surprising journey here, as he changed subject from the last episode. Now he is going on to talk in more depth about his work evangelising different communities and what it meant for him to be flexible in approaching different communities with the gospel.