1 Corinthians 9

To people who criticize how I work, I reply like this: I am an apostle. I have seen Jesus our Lord. I am free. You are the result of the work I did—you are my workmanship.

Even if some others do not think I am a true apostle, I am a true apostle to you. By the Lord's stamp of approval, you are the proof that I am a true apostle.

This is how I answer those who say that I am not a true apostle:

"Don't we have the right to receive financial support from those we serve?

Don't we have the right to travel with a believing wife, like the other apostles do—like the Lord's brother and Cephas?"

No one made a rule that only Barnabas and I must take on work in order to support ourselves.

No soldier serves in the army at his own expense. No one plants a vineyard without being able to eat the grapes or drink the wine. No one shepherds a flock without drinking some of the milk that comes from the animals.

This is common sense, and this is also what the law of Moses says.

For the law of Moses says, "When an ox is treading out the grain, do not stop it from eating some of it." There is more that God is concerned about in this law.

This law is about us. Moses is saying that those who work in any job should benefit from the fruit of that work, just like the ox eating the grain on which he is treading.

If we have sown the seed of the good news to you, is it too much for us to receive money from you in our support?

Others received this kind of help from you, and we have certainly proven that we deserve it even more than they do. However, we have not accepted anything from you, even though we were entitled to it. Instead, we endure all kinds of hardships so that we do not make it more difficult for people to believe in the good news about Christ.

Certainly you know that those who helped carry out the sacrifices offered to God in the temple received some of those offerings for their own needs. They received some of the food offered to God.

In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who proclaim the good news are to receive their living wages from the good news. They receive part of what is given to God for their needs.

But I have not demanded any of these things for myself. And that is not why I am writing this to you now. I boast that I never demand these things from you, and I would have to stop boasting if you were to pay me, so I would rather die than have you pay me.

If I proclaim the good news, I am not doing anything for which I should boast. I feel obliged to preach the good news. I would grieve with many tears if I could not do what God called me to do.

When I preach the good news because I want to, I have a great reward. But even if I only preached because someone forced me to preach, I would still have to preach, because God trusted me to do this work for him.

So what is the reward that God gives me? It is that when I preach the good news, I offer it without anyone paying me for it. Instead, I offer it for free so that I can do it without receiving the payment the Lord would allow me to take.

I am not obligated to anyone, but I am a servant to everyone, so that I might persuade more and more people to trust in Christ.

When we worked with Jewish people, I became like a Jew, so that I might win them to Christ. To those who lived under the law I lived as they lived, so that those who lived under the law may trust in Christ as I trust in him. I lived as they lived, even though I did not live my life by the law's demands.

When I was with those who were not ruled by the law of Moses, I became like them (though I myself was not outside God's law, and I was obedient to the law of Christ), so that I could persuade those who lived apart from the law to trust in Christ.

To those who were weak about rules and laws, I lived as they did, so I persuaded them to trust in Christ. I have lived under rules and with many lifestyles and with all kinds of people so that in any way God chose to work, God will rescue some of them.

I do all this so I may proclaim the good news about Christ, so that I will also experience the good things the good news brings to us.

You know that when people run in a race, they all run, but only one of them wins the prize. So you also should run to win the prize.

Every athlete uses self-control in the way they prepare for a race. They prepare for the race so that one of them may get a crown of victory. That crown is made of olive leaves, and it does not last. But we are running so we might receive a crown that will last forever.

Therefore, in everything I do, I do it for a purpose. I do not waste my effort or exhaust myself by striking the air like a boxer who has no opponent.

I discipline my body and I make it obey my commands. I do not want to preach the good news to others and then lose my reward because I failed to fulfill what he commanded me to do.