On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ… What is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge…. “ (1 Corinthians 9:1-12 – excerpted) If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?” But we did not use this right. “Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord…? Don’t we have the right to food and drink? Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas? Is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk?. The prize is the blessing and reward of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ: The most direct language Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 9 is connected with his calling as a minister of the Gospel. There is a race and a prize even while we wait for the Ultimate Crown of Life. We are citizens of Heaven, but right now we live here. These are all part of the broader “citizenship of heaven” Paul talks about in Philippians 3.
"the calling that is above" (Galatians 4:26 Colossians 3:1).What was the prize? The New Testament refers to a number of different prizes, goals, or rewards: Paul was basically saying, “I do not follow Christ like one ignorant about life in the Kingdom of God. Then Paul says, “I do not run like one running aimlessly (ignorantly), so that I myself will not be disqualified.” No athlete would start a contest without knowing the rules. If you’ve heard the phrase “like a boss,” that’s what’s going on here. Paul is going to put his sinful urges into a headlock and put them down for the count. In order to do this, Paul had to discipline his body, literally “making it a slave.” This is a wrestling analogy. It will change your life if you run is such a way as to win. Jesus once said, “Count the cost if you want to follow me.” Paul picks up this theme – following Christ will demand time, attention, and effort. Paul then tells them to train and compete as athletes who really want to win. They couldn’t earn their way into the spiritual arena through birth or hard work. If that were the case, no one would be eligible. There was no herald in the church announcing who was qualified to enter the games based on their history. There’s at least one key difference - Paul doesn’t address their origin or training. Paul is the herald for the church – the “preacher.’ As 1 Corinthians 9 unfolds he displays the prize, exhorts the contestants, encourages people to copy them, declares the terms (rules and boundaries), and declares his own eligibility. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27) Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. It’s in this context that Paul writes to the Corinthian church : In fact, when the athletes entered the venue, the herald would loudly announce: “Who can accuse this man?” If no one did, he would say that since the contestant was not a slave, thief, or person of corrupt morals, he could enter the games. After the competition, the judges declared one winner, who received a crown of some type of vegetation.
Since Paul wrote 1 Corinthians 9 in that context, it’s worth learning a bit more about the games before looking at the passage.Īthletes had to have the right credentials. In Corinth, the people were most familiar with the Isthmian Games. The Apostle Paul often used figures of speech from arena competition.
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