Catholic Commentary on 1 Corinthians 9

"I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some." (1 Corinthians 9:22)

The Rights of an Apostle

Paul defends his apostolic credentials: have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? He then lists the rights he has as an apostle but has chosen not to use: the right to food and drink, the right to take a believing spouse, the right to be supported financially by the community. He and Barnabas have waived these rights. The one who ploughs and the one who threshes should do so in hope of a share in the harvest. Those who preach the Gospel should receive their living from the Gospel. But Paul has made no use of any of these rights, choosing instead to preach free of charge so that the Gospel itself not be hindered.

His reward is not financial but evangelical: the privilege of preaching the Gospel without charge. He has made himself a servant to all in order to win as many as possible. To the Jews he became like a Jew. To those under the Law he became like one under the Law. To the weak he became weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. The Catechism identifies this principle as the heart of inculturation: the Gospel is always expressed through particular cultural forms, and the missionary who refuses to adapt to the culture of those they serve has misunderstood the Incarnation, in which God himself became like us in all things but sin (CCC 856).

Run to Win

Every athlete exercises strict self-control, training with discipline for a perishable crown. Paul runs not aimlessly; he fights not beating the air. He disciplines his body and keeps it under control, lest after preaching to others he himself should be disqualified. The apostle who has waived his rights and adapted to every culture is also the athlete who subjects himself to rigorous discipline. Freedom and discipline are not opposites in Paul. The freedom to become all things to all people is sustained by the discipline that keeps the body in subjection to the Gospel it proclaims.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Paul became all things to all people for the sake of the Gospel. Not by compromising the Gospel but by refusing to impose his own cultural preferences on top of it. The question for every Christian communicator is the same: what is the Gospel and what is my own cultural packaging? The Gospel must be preserved. The packaging must be negotiable. Becoming all things to all people is not relativism. It is the imitation of the God who became one of us.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you became all things to all people in the Incarnation itself, taking on our flesh so that we might receive your divine life. Give us your flexibility without your compromise, your adaptation without your loss of self. Make us servants of all for the sake of the Gospel. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

9
The Rights of an Apostle
(Deuteronomy 18:1–8)
1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you yourselves not my workmanship in the Lord? 2 Even if I am not an apostle to others, surely I am to you. For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
 
3 This is my defense to those who scrutinize me: 4 Have we no right to food and to drink? 5 Have we no right to take along a believing wife,* 9:5 Literally take along a sister—a wife— as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?† 9:5 That is, Peter 6 Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living?‡ 9:6 Literally Or is it only Barnabas and I who do not have authority not to work?
 
7 Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Who tends a flock and does not drink of its milk?
 
8 Do I say this from a human perspective? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? 9 For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”§ 9:9 Deuteronomy 25:4 Is it about oxen that God is concerned? 10 Isn’t He actually speaking on our behalf? Indeed, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they should also expect to share in the harvest.
 
11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much for us to reap a material harvest from you? 12 If others have this right to your support, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not exercise this right. Instead, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.
 
13 Do you not know that those who work in the temple eat of its food, and those who serve at the altar partake of its offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. 15 But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this to suggest that something be done for me. Indeed, I would rather die than let anyone nullify my boast.
 
16 Yet when I preach the gospel, I have no reason to boast, because I am obligated to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 If my preaching is voluntary, I have a reward. But if it is not voluntary, I am still entrusted with a responsibility. 18 What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it.
Paul the Servant to All
 
19 Though I am free of obligation to anyone, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), to win those under the law. 21 To those without the law I became like one without the law (though I am not outside the law of God but am under the law of Christ), to win those without the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.
 
23 I do all this for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.
Run Your Race to Win
 
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way as to take the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games trains with strict discipline. They do it for a crown that is perishable, but we do it for a crown that is imperishable. 26 Therefore I do not run aimlessly; I do not fight like I am beating the air. 27 No, I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

*9:5 9:5 Literally take along a sister—a wife—

†9:5 9:5 That is, Peter

‡9:6 9:6 Literally Or is it only Barnabas and I who do not have authority not to work?

§9:9 9:9 Deuteronomy 25:4

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