This is the fourth article in a four-part series with focusing on what it means to glorify God.  In the first installment we considered what it means to glorify God with our bodies. In the second we considered how by focusing on the right things, we bring glory to God. The third installment explored how we use our knowledge to glorify God. In this final installment, I would like to consider Paul’s words to the Corinthians concerning how we make use of our freedom.    

¹⁶ For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel.

¹⁹ For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. ²⁰ To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. ²¹ To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. ²³ I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (I Corinthians 9:16-23)

 

Paul views it as his calling to share what he has been given, the gospel, free of charge.  Does this mean that Paul never received financial support?  No.  What it means is that Paul never withheld the gospel from people because of their inability or unwillingness to pay.  Any support Paul received was from free-will offerings made by his co-workers in various cities where he had planted churches.  The support he received from those who had already obeyed the gospel is what allowed him to preach the gospel to those yet to be reached.  It was not uncommon in the 1^st century for philosophers and teachers to charge a fee to those wanting to learn from them.  No doubt, this was partly to support themselves.  Paul does no such thing.  He shares what he knows about Jesus freely, to anyone and everyone who will listen.  For Paul, preaching is much more than a job.  It is a God-given vocation.  He describes it this way to the Galatians:

¹⁵ But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, ¹⁶ was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; ¹⁷ nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. (Galatians 1:15-17)

Paul can no more remain silent concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ than the prophet Jeremiah could concerning the word the Lord had given to him.  

⁹ If I say, “I will not mention him,
    or speak any more in his name,”
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
    shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
    and I cannot. (Jeremiah 20:9)

In both men, we might imagine a word from the Lord desperate to escape from within them.  Paul cuts loose this word for all to hear, like a musician who performs on a street-corner playing not for money, but simply for the love of making music.  Could it be that Paul felt he owed it to Jesus after persecuting the church, to work for him “free of charge”?  Jesus instructs his followers in Luke 17:10, “¹⁰ So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’” For Paul, preaching the gospel is a duty entrusted to him by none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.  

Second, we see that because Paul is Christ’s slave, he belongs to no human being. And yet, as Christ’s slave, Paul sees it as his purpose to serve every human being.  Earlier in the epistle Paul writes, ^“For he who was called in the Lord as a bondservant is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a bondservant of Christ.” (I Corinthians 7:22) This mindset is modeled on nothing less than the mindset of Christ. As the Lord of Lords Jesus enjoys absolute freedom. How does he choose to use such freedom? In humble service to sinners like ourselves. Gordon D. Fee summarizes this connect between Paul and Christ when he writes, “Free, in order to become slave to all- this is surely the ultimate expression of truly Christian, because it is truly Christlike, behavior.” As Paul goes on to categorize the various groups that he became a servant to, we notice that some of them were not keen to receive him as a servant. For instance, while many Jews received the gospel gladly, others did not. Paul himself writes, “Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.” (II Corinthians 11:24) Paul persisted in serving Jews, and many other groups, that rejected him. Why? Because once again, the model that Paul follows is Christ. Just as Christ met us where we were, so also Paul meets those he encounters where they are with the message of Christ. Paul’s trip to Athens stands out as an example of this. We read in Acts, ^“So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. ²³ For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.” (Acts 17:22-23) One has to wonder if years before, Paul ever envisioned a scenario where he would be standing among Gentiles, arguing that a crucified man was the Messiah, doing so not from the Scriptures but from natural revelation and Greek philosophy. Years of laboring for King Jesus taught Paul that the message is constant, but the way we deliver it and those who deliver it constantly change.

This leads us finally to the conclusion that like Paul we serve by being all things to all people, motivated by the desire to save some. Paul longs to bring the blessings of the gospel to as many as will receive it. In 2018 the world was inspired by the story of a sports team trapped in a cave in Thailand. The boys had entered the cave exploring, but heavy rainfall caused the water in the cave to rise, cutting off their egress. Over the coming days, expert divers from around the world converged on the scene. They worked together, facing tremendous danger, to reach those trapped and eventually bring them safely out of the cave. These divers left their places of safety and placed themselves with those in danger, in order that they might be brought to safety. Though the situation was desperate, they hoped to save at least some of the boys. They hoped to bring them the blessings of food, and medical supplies, and the equipment necessary to make their way to safety. In the end, all the team members were saved, but two of the divers lost their lives. One died in the rescue operation, another passed later from an infection that developed because of the effort. The divers accepted the risk of losing their own lives, considering it worthwhile if there was a chance to save those in jeopardy. Should we not view the salvation of souls in the exact same manner? We are called to view ourselves as the rescuers, and those without Christ as those in danger. Ours is not a freedom from service, but a freedom to embrace the call to serve.  N. T. Wright puts it this way, “His overall point is to make them see that Christian freedom is not freedom to do what you like, but freedom from all the things that stop you being the person God really wants you to be, which is freedom for the service of God and the gospel.” Like Paul, we must view Christ as our example in this endeavor. We must approach everything, including our freedom, with the mind of Christ. Paul himself put it this way when writing to the Philippians:

“⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:5-8)

If we, like Christ, made a commitment to use our freedom not for the advancing of our own agenda, but for the betterment of those around us, imagine the difference we could make for God’s kingdom! 

-Justin Simmons lives in Glenmora, LA and preaches for the Glenmora Church of Christ