My Morning Meal

As an apostle, Paul had certain rights. Not entitlements of men, but some God-given “ground rules” of which Paul could have legitimately availed himself. Oxen who tread out the grain should not be muzzled, but allowed to eat of that which they worked. The plowman should plow and the thresher should thresh with an expectation of sharing in the crop. “In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel” (1Cor. 9:8-10, 14). But Paul chose instead to keep his day job . . . even if he only had time to do it at night. He chose not to take a paycheck (or even a paycheque) for his ministry but instead sought to remain self-funding. How come? Because of Paul’s perspective on what God had asked him to do . . . a perspective I’d do well to emulate.

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! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship.   (1Corinthians 9:16-17 ESV)

Entrusted with a stewardship . . . that’s how Paul viewed his apostleship. The preaching of the gospel wasn’t his meal ticket . . . it was his calling . . . it was what God had enabled him to do . . . it is what God had told him he should do . . . “woe to me if I do not preach.” His ministry wasn’t a vocation, it was a precious trust . . . to be managed thoughtfully . . . to be administered effectively . . . to be dispensed carefully. Paul would “endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ” (9:12b). And if that meant making tents at night so he could preach during the day with no grounds for anyone to question if he was in it for what he could get out of it, that’s what he would do.

And there’s a principle here, I think, for all of God’s people . . . and, in particular, for this God’s people in this chair this morning.

Every believer is a “workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10). Each redeemed child of God has “gifts that differ according to the grace given to us” that are to be used (Rom. 12:6). It seems to me I can either ignore these truths or somehow believe that they’re not true of me and do nothing . . . or I can say, “whatever” and half-heartedly “check the box” . . . or, I can view the calling and gifting of God I’ve been given as a stewardship . . . as a sacred trust.

I can count it an honor and privilege to serve Christ and to serve His body with whatever enabling He has trusted me with. I can manage and nurture the calling . . . I can faithfully dispense what was been given to me . . . I can do so with no thought of what’s in it for me, but solely because of the pleasure and glory it perhaps brings Him. I can be careful to manage all areas of my life so that no obstacle is tossed in the way of what God has graciously allowed me to do on His behalf. Rather than view the “kingdom tasks” God has asked of me as something to do in my free time, they can become the reason for why I work a day job . . . my service for the King, whatever it may be, can be the “ends” for which everything else becomes the “means.”

And it’s not about having an elevated sense of self or boasting in the importance of what I’ve been asked to do . . . “woe to me if I don’t do what God has asked me to do”. Rather, it’s about embracing a perspective on the high, and holy calling which is mine because He who called me, and tasked me, is high and holy. It’s about being faithful because He is faithful. It is about serving wholeheartedly because He was “all in” when He secured my salvation.

Entrusted with a stewardship . . . by the grace of God . . . for the glory of God . . . amen?

Was reminded of a foundational principle for doing life this morning . . .

“All things are lawful for me,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful for me,” but I will not be enslaved by anything.  
(1Corinthians 6:12 ESV)

The New Living Translation puts it this way, “You may say, ‘I am allowed to do anything.’ But I reply, ‘Not everything is good for you.’ And even though ‘I am allowed to do anything,’ I must not become a slave to anything.” And Peterson, in his paraphrase, The Message, says it like this, “Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.”

I kind of like that . . . the difference between what’s “technically legal” for us as Christians versus what’s “spiritually appropriate.”

Now, for those who like black-and-white rules, this sort of thing can drive them crazy . . . because it’s grey . . . it’s a principle . . . it’s a filter through which we assess our choices. It’s what determines the difference between something being “ok” . . . and “good” . . . and “better” . . . and “the best.” It’s the difference between “permissible” and “beneficial” (NIV terms). And one of the key tests is whether or not we are enslaved by or mastered by one of these “permissible” activities. You see, it’s all about who owns us.

I remember one of my girls, when she was little and learning to assert her independence, saying to one of her sisters, “You’re not the boss of me!” And that’s the question at the heart of the matter in this latter portion of 1Corinthians 6 . . . who is the boss of me?

The world tells us that we are “the boss” . . . and we can choose what we want to do . . . and who we want to do it with . . . and when we want to do it. But the Scripture has a different view of who’s the boss . . .

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.  (1Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV)

“Your are not your own.” Doesn’t matter which translation of the Bible you read, the words are the same, “You are not your own.” And The Message, not known for using few words when many will do, makes the implication of this truth clear in this way, “Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works” (6:19-20a MSG).

I was bought with a price (6:20) — the blood of God’s precious Son . . . I am not my own. “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?” (6:15) . . . I am not my own. “He who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with Him” (6:17) . . . I am not my own. “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God” (6:19) . . . I am not my own.

“God owns the whole works.” That’s the truth . . . that’s the reality. It’s the foundation upon which the principle operates . . . everything is permissible . . . but not everything is beneficial . . . I will not be mastered by anything . . . other than the Lord . . . for I am not my own.

A couple of simple questions to ask myself as I make life’s choices . . . “Is this beneficial?” . . . “Is this mastering me?” . . . “Am I seeking to glorify God?” . . . “Am I making this choice because I think I’m the boss of me?” No black-and-white do’s-and-don’ts . . . but a life principle that can make all the difference. Father, by Your grace, so let me live and so help me to choose as to seek to glorify You in my body . . . ’cause You’re the boss of me. Amen?

You can hear the tone changing . . . from commendation to constructive criticism . . . from recognition to reproof . . . from acknowledging what they had to pointing out what they lacked. I’ve read 1Corinthians before . . . I know what’s coming. Although they were a super-gifted church they were also a pretty messed up body of believers. Arrogance . . . divisions . . . sexual immorality . . . arguments about what to eat and not to eat . . . throw in some playing around with idolatry and a messed up Lord’s table . . . and Paul has no shortage of “opportunities” to bring to their attention. And while the tone changes . . . while the words become a bit more pointed . . . while the “straight talk” gets straighter . . . under girding it all is the heart of a father who wants to see his children reach their full potential. And it makes me think . . . that’s what’s needed in the church today . . . more fathers.

I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.   (1Corinthians 4:14-16 ESV)

The Corinthians didn’t need more teachers. They didn’t need more instructors. What they needed were more fathers. More men and women who cared for the saints first and corrected them because of their care. More people in their midst whose intent wasn’t to tear down but to build up . . . who, while being honest, weren’t brutally honest . . . who, rather than seeing themselves as a judge for God, were instead driven by a jealousy for the glory of God, wanting to see that glory be manifest as God’s people lived like the people of God.

Now to be sure, Paul doesn’t pull punches as he addresses issue after issue. Here, in 1Corinthians 4, he takes on their pride and arrogance. You sense that God had laid a certain amount of blessing and gifting on this group of believers. But you also sense that they had lost sight of the fact that they were benefactors of the grace of God . . . instead thinking that the somehow they had earned or self-determined their favored standing and circumstance. And Paul calls them out on it, “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” (4:7) But Paul’s intent was not to take them down a notch but to ramp up the reality of the kingdom of God in their midst . . . “for the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power” (4:20).

What the church needs is more fathers. More men and women who are motivated beyond “rightly dividing the word” but are also driven to contend for the body of Christ . . . “that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10). People with a parent’s heart . . . with spirits of love and gentleness seeking to guide and direct others beyond just knowing the right talk but also embracing the worthy walk. Brothers and sisters in Christ who themselves humbly pursue the things of God and then, even more humbly, say “Imitate me” and together we’ll figure out this pilgrim pathway.

We don’t need more judges . . . we don’t need more church-bashers . . . we don’t need more fault-finders . . . we need more fathers . . . and mothers . . . and imitators of God . . . the God who came to seek and save the lost . . . the God who gave of His all that His people might know life — and know it to the full.

We have lots of guides . . . not many fathers. Oh, that God would move His people to care and contend for His people . . .