Paul’s Own Example
9: 1-27
Having entered himself into the discussion in 8:13, Paul now goes on to illustrate the basic principle he was teaching at the end of Chapter 8 – namely, that even though we may have certain freedoms in Messiah, we are not obligated to exercise those freedoms at every possible opportunity; in fact, there will be times when we specifically need to refrain from doing so in order that a fellow believer might not stumble, and that the cause of Messiah may be advanced. As Paul does so, he uses as an example an issue that will soon blossom into a severe crisis in his relationship with the Corinthians.224
If eating a piece of meat sacrificed to an idol was a big deal to the believers at Corinth, Paul completely raised the steaks (pun intended) by talking about his right to receive money in comparison to their right to receive meat. Paul had a right to be paid by the churches he started and for the ministry he rendered on their behalf. But Paul willingly chose to limit that freedom in order to maximize the effectiveness of his ministry. As he developed this illustration, we gained some significant insight into the scriptural responsibility of a church to pay its pastors.225
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