“The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel” (Matt. 10:10). Here a few thoughts who need to consider are:
- The Apostles and all those who labour for the ministry have the right to be paid from the Church. The church must support him and all his dependants.
- The minister who does not take money from the church must work hard to earn his living for him and his family.
- If a man does not labour for the church and yet take his maintenance from the church of God, it is nothing but a domestic theft and sacrilege.
- If the minister does not obliges the church and lives in luxury, idleness and yet take full support from the church is a monster and a thief.
The plowmanplows and the thresher threshes, they are doing so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.
Paul’s loving act to deny the support: (9:15-30):
Paul shows indirectly that there are 3-reasons why he was denying his right of support.
- To snub the selfish preachers: (9:15): In those days there were many travelling preachers who lived on money for whatever they preach. Preaching the Gospel or scripture had become a job just like the present days. Many people come to preach with the expectation of money. Paul wanted to snub all such preachers. This he mentions even in (Phil.1:17) about those who are preaching Gospel out of their selfishness. The apostle was willing to sacrifice his rights to set an example that he was not out to collect money although he had every right to get supported, but he loves the people. By taking support, some people may look down him. Sometimes the Gospel is hindered by an overemphasis on money. The unsaved world is convinced that most preachers and evangelists are only involved in “religious rackets” to take money from innocent people. When the minister gives up his right for the sake of the gospel, he does more than his charge and office demands. By preaching the gospel freely, the Apostle showed that he acted from principles of zeal and love and thus enjoyed much comfort and hope in his soul.
Ex: This is true in some countries like India also. It is widely believed that Indian preachers go to western countries for collecting the money. We must take the example of Bro. Bakht Singh and Dwight L Moody who had many opportunities yet they lived sacrificially and built churches and preached the gospel. Bro Bakht Singh has introduced a new way of offerings in the worship as it is clearly told to the entire congregation that only those who are born again and inspired by the Holy Spirit are welcome to come in queue to put their offerings in the box.
- For the necessity of the gospel: (9:16-18): the Apostle wanted the message of the Gospel to be free from any obstacles or hindrances in the minds of lost sinners. Paul did not claim any credit for preaching the Gospel, because he had been called by God to preach. “Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I do not preach the Gospel!” (9:16) which reminds him of the Damascus Road experience which he cannot disobey. God had given him a divine stewardship. It is his obligation to preach the gospel. This way Paul had introduced the idea of preaching the gospel of Christ without charge. In way he was promoting the idea “Tent making missionaries” or the “Tent makers.” Of course this should not be a general principle to be applied to all preachers. “Paul’s pay was to do it without payment” (Moffatt). This is the way the Apostle gained his reward.
- For the sake of different people adopting different methods: (9:19-23): For the sake of different people he refused to exercise his right of taking support and solely depended upon God. He adopted different methods but he never changed the Gospel nor compromised with anything of the Gospel. He followed the theme “unchanging Gospel but changing methods.”Paul was a Jew who had a great burden for his own people (Rom.9:1-3; 10:1). But his special calling was to minister to the Gentiles (Eph.3:8). Whenever he went into a new city (and he always went where the Gospel had not yet been preached (Rom.15:20), he headed straight for the synagogue, but when he was rejected by the Jews, then he turned to the Gentiles. Paul used freedom and discipline which he finds important for any minister (9:19).
Ex: Apostle Paul used wisely to adopt to different situation to preach the message of the Gospel. In the book of Acts we find how Paul faced different people. When he spoke in the city of Athens, he started from “unknown god” and when speaking to King Agrippa he boldly gave the meaning of joy involved in being a Christian. In the hall of Tyranus of Ephesus, he spoke with tremendous power. It is a great lesson for all believers to adopt to new situations to preach this unchanging Gospel.
The Lord Jesus Christ also spoke to different people with different approach . To Nicodemus, he spoke of regeneration and spiritual birth (Jn.3), to the Samaritan woman He spoke of living water (Jn.4) etc.