1 Corinthians 9:3-9 - This is my defence

9:3

All ministers of the gospel come in for criticism. Sometimes, of course, it is well deserved, but much of the time it is not, and even the most faithful of servants of Christ will be accused of various things. However, those who accuse Christ’s servants need to be very careful. In the Old Testament those who attacked Moses came to a sticky end! If we sit in judgement on others, then God will sit in judgement on us.

9:4-6  

Paul starts by delineating some of the “rights” he does have, but did not make use of. It seems that Paul did not take a “salary”, but was in receipt of free food and drink, and presumably lodgings. Maybe he was criticised for this “free” food and drink. Paul and Barnabas served the gospel and it was perfectly reasonable for them to receive food and drink. Paul also had the right to take a believing wife along with him, and the other apostles (and Christ’s brothers) did this. A minister of the gospel has the “right” not to work for a living.

9:7-9

Paul then goes into some length in pointing out that a worker is indeed worth his keep, and he does this both from an everyday perspective and a Biblical perspective. First of all, at the everyday level he uses several analogies. First, a soldier in the army gets paid, he is not expected to fight at his own expense. If someone plants a vineyard he can get some of the grapes. If someone looks after animals he can drink the milk from the animals. So in the world it is a generally accepted principle that a worker gets paid! Moreover, the Bible says, “do not muzzle an ox while it is treading the grain” (Deut 25:4). There are two interesting things from these “proofs”. First, principles which work in the world do teach us things. Secondly, a law applying to animals is used to draw a lesson about people. Jesus did a similar thing regarding the Sabbath when He pointed out that it was fine to rescue animals on the Sabbath, therefore it was all the more acceptable to heal people on the Sabbath.