Support is Right

 DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

SUPPORT IS RIGHT

1 Cor 9:3-12

3 This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. 4 Don't we have the right to food and drink? 5 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? 6 Or is it only I and Barnabas who must work for a living? 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk? 8 Do I say this merely from a human point of view? Doesn't the Law say the same thing? 9 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? 10 Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. 11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 12 If others have this right of support from you, shouldn't we have it all the more?

NIV

Paul is going to tell them that he does not use this right, but he still lays out all this in his defense. Why would he tell them all this and then say he does not expect or want anything from them. There are some interesting truths that we could explore. Because we already have dealt with the food and drink issue and how some even today sit in judgment of those who eat and drink what they consider unacceptable for Christians. We think it is interesting that the Apostles, the spiritual leaders of the church took their wives along on their travels as they shared the gospel message with others. The interesting fact is that the spiritual leaders were married, and if we are going to have a New Testament church that follows the pattern of the first church, then it would seem right to expect the spiritual leaders of the church to be married. Because what Paul tells Timothy about selecting overseers and deacons in the church that they are to be married to, as some would translate, ‘one’ wife, while the Greek can be translated as a ‘certain’ wife, as the qualification of the wife is also given. Nevertheless, marriage is established by God and so it is scriptural for leaders of the church to be married. The second truth is about how the leaders of the church should be compensated for their service to God and his people. Most leaders within a denomination are paid as long as they hold a qualified position in the church. All the national leaders and their staff, the regional leaders and their staff as well as the local pastors and their staff should be compensated for their service. When a man or woman sets themselves for the service of the Lord it is right to see to their support. There could arise a situation in which some of them might see these positions as jobs rather than servants of the Lord. We wonder when each of them is interviewed for whatever position in the body they are applying for, have they been called, and if so, the pay offered should be accepted, if they negotiate, then they may not have been called, but merely seeking the right pay. Paul is merely making the point that all who serve the Lord in ministry should be compensated. We do think there is a difference between support and receiving a set salary. Have we changed the system based on our culture? It is the way things have become, but that is not all bad, for our times are much different than their times. Nevertheless, those who serve the Lord need an income from the people.