Perspective . . . it makes all the difference, doesn’t it? It’s the difference between the cup being half-full or half-empty . . . the difference between discouraged by how far we have to go and being jazzed by how far we’ve come . . . and, as I’m reminded by Paul this morning, the difference between grudgingly going through the motions of the Christian-walk and getting up in the morning ready, willing, and by His grace, able to discharge the privileged calling of being a child of the King.

In 1Corinthians 9 Paul, using his own calling as an apostle as an example, illustrates his teaching in the previous chapter concerning not using our liberty in Christ to engage in activities that might stumble others (8:9). As an apostle, Paul had a lot of “rights” . . . the right to eat and drink . . . the right to have a believing wife . . . the right to quit his “day job” and to rely on the financial support of others in order to preach the gospel (9:3-11). So, from one perspective, Paul had some “rights” . . . biblically he had these “rights” . . . practically he had these rights as other apostles were married and supported by the church. But from another perspective, Paul would choose not to exercise these rights . . . that being the perspective of a sacred trust.

Paul didn’t view himself as doing God some favor by taking the gospel to far away lands and into hostile territory and therefore deserving the rights of an apostle. Rather, he viewed his role in the body of Christ as a privilege and a calling . . . it wasn’t about what he was doing for God, but about what God had done for him. It wasn’t IF he obeyed God in the calling . . . it was about HOW. Preaching the gospel wasn’t some magnanimous gesture on Paul’s part for which he deserved to exercise the rights associated with it, instead Paul saw it as a sacred trust to be discharged faithfully.

“Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn’t preach the Good News! If I were doing this on my own initiative, I would deserve payment. But I have no choice, for God has given me this sacred trust.” — 1Cor. 9:16-17 NLT

Now that’s perspective! Compelled to preach, because God has asked him to preach. Not owed any payment, because it wasn’t his call to be a messenger to the Gentiles, but it was God’s call and He had given Paul a sacred trust . . . “I have been entrusted with a stewardship” (NKJV). Thus, from his perspective, Paul was simply fulfilling that trust by seeking to be a faithful steward.

And I can’t help but make application to how I walk my Christian walk. I don’t think it matters whether I’m called to be in full-time, supported ministry or just trying to get through the day in a way that’s consistent with my profession of faith . . . I have been given a sacred trust and, really, there’s nothing to boast about in seeking to be obedient to that trust. But I can discharge that trust in one of two ways . . . either in a “grudgingly” manner or in a “God glorifying” manner. One is going through the motions . . . the other is administering a stewardship as unto Him. That stewardship could be a ministry or some form of service we’ve been called to, but it could also be simply dealing with the circumstances of life God has allowed to fall on our plates. What a difference it would make if I were to view “living a life worthy of calling with which you were called” (Eph. 4:1) not just as a command to obey, but a sacred trust to discharge.

Perspective . . . it can make all the difference . . .