Paul wants a reward.  He receives the reward if he is unpaid for his services.  His reward is that the gospel is offered free of charge.  People here in America are very attuned to their rights.  They are frequently embroiled in arguments about financial rewards for their services.  In a heavily industrialised country, people are more alienated from their labour.  The best way to get them to work on mindless, repetitive jobs is to pay them.  So the reward for education is to get a job.  The reward for a job is the salary.  The reward for the salary is the pursuit of shallow pleasures.  This should not be the life of a Christian.  Why does getting an education have value to the Christian?  Why does a job have value to the Christian?  Why does a salary have value to the Christian?  The answer is always the gospel.  This does not mean that my reward is a new venue to tell people about Jesus.  This means that each life experience is a place to experience fulfillment in the moment living for Jesus.  The gospel is a new life in Christ which reverses the alienation of the worker from their labour.

1 Corinthians 9:15-18

¹⁵But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me. I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of this boast. ¹⁶Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. ¹⁸What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make use of my rights in preaching it.

Question

1. What has Paul not used?
2. What is Paul compelled to do?
3. Because Paul is a volunteer, what is his reward?
4. If you have volunteered for a job, what was your reward?
5. How could you bring the joy of volunteering to your regular job?

Going Deeper

Observation

1. What does Paul not hope for?
2. What would Paul rather do than have anyone deprive him of his reason to boast?
3. Does Paul boast?
4. If Paul is not a volunteer, what is he simply doing?
5. What is Paul’s reward?

Interpretation

1. To which rights is Paul referring?
2. Isn’t it wrong for a Christian to be boastful?
3. What is the gospel as a whole?
4. Is Paul laying a foundation for a volunteer society?
5. Why is it rewarding to Paul to offer the gospel free of charge?

Application

1. In the opening paragraph I talked of workers being alienated from their labour.  This is an idea that Marxists frequently agree with.  How should a Christian dialogue with Marxists?
2. Satisfaction should be found in the work itself.  When you do anything it should be done ‘as unto the Lord.’  How does not being able to see the value in a job affect the way a worker works?
3. How can a shoe maker preach the gospel through the way they make shoes?
4. If God is the author of mathematics, the sciences, language arts, and the fine arts – how can a student study them in such a way that it preaches the gospel?
5. How are you preaching the gospel through the way that you are working this week?  Would you volunteer for the kind of job you are doing?
6. Can you volunteer your time, like Paul, for God’s work?