1Cor 9:4-7 - Parasitism and Preachers

4-7 Do we not have the right to eat and drink? 5 Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living? 7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Or who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?

Somebody has been getting factious among the Corinthians. Even though Paul and Barnabas had been the very means God used to bring the light to them they apparently questioned their authority and their conduct. Welcome to the church! You haven’t been crucified until you’ve been crucified by Christians.

There seems to be a large component of unjustified criticism here, which adds to the sting of the would-be factioneers. It’s not simply disagreement, but a disagreement that is not even based on facts. Some people never like to let the facts get in the way of an argument. Because of human nature, argument itself is unavoidable and differences are not only inevitable but they can be a good thing, as we shall see in Chapter 11. But the underlying key must be a sincere desire for truth to prevail and having the necessary humility to be willing to accept truth when it is revealed, even if it utterly devastates our own view.

But Paul, who never has made himself a burden to local congregations even though he can show Biblical teaching as to why it is a godly thing, stands falsely accused of being a parasite. Not only this, but the accusers attack his freedom in Christ and even would deny him the simple rights that other Apostles demonstrably enjoy. The implication is that Paul is a "lesser" kind of evangelist/church planter and does not measure up to the status of the original twelve (or eleven).

How ironic it seems to me that it is amongst those today who are most enamoured of Corinthian manifestations (the charismatics) that the greatest abuses of congregations, the most flagrant bilking and milking occur. But it ought not to be a surprise. The Corinthian church is, in view of the facts demonstrated in the first epistle, perhaps the single worst example in the New Testament (with the possible exception of some Revelation churches) of what Christianity should look like. In some circles it is taken to be the paragon, the ideal, the pinnacle of Christianity. Some need to give their head a shake because they aren’t letting the facts get in the way their predispositions.

There are both common sense and Biblical arguments made by Paul to substantiate the fact that pastors/evangelists/ministers ought to be supported by the congregations that they serve. Nothing wrong with it. If we can show generosity to a brother in need why can we not share our worldly goods with those who bring us the gift of God’s word through teaching and evangelism? It is a no-brainer. Yet there are always people who do not look to scripture as the authority - and who perhaps do not even have the spirit of Christ - who grind axes based on personalities. The question ought to be, am I receiving from the Lord through this person the guidance of God by pastoral ministry, preaching and teaching? If so it doesn’t matter if I happen to like him. But if he is not delivering the word and fulfilling his God-given mandate then even if I find him to be the best thing since sliced bread as a friend, or a "nice guy", or a golf partner, he is taking money under false pretenses and is a genuine burden on God’s flock.