Pardon me? Apostle Paul wasn’t on the ‘payroll’?

Passage: 1 Corth 8: 1-14

These were the verses that jumped out at me this week were:  1 Am I not as free as anyone else? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord with my own eyes? Isn’t it because of my work that you belong to the Lord? 2 Even if others think I am not an apostle, I certainly am to you. You yourselves are proof that I am the Lord’s apostle.  3 This is my answer to those who question my authority.

This was a difficult passage to get something practical out of but God really blessed me with a little revelation yesterday.  I literally begged God to show me something I could learn from this chapter and He didn’t fail me.  After Cindy (our Pastor’s wife) sent me the background info about this chapter it put it into a better perspective for me.

I want to talk about titles we use in our Christian circles such as: Pastor, Preacher Missionary, Sunday School Teacher, Counselor, etc.

We all have different Spiritual gifts.  If you’re not fully aware of what your gifts are than perhaps try to serve God in a few different ways and you’ll discover how He can use you in what you enjoy doing.  But lets just say you know your gifts and you serve the Lord but you haven’t been given an official ‘title’.  In this chapter Paul is explaining that just because he doesn’t want to except money from the Corinthians doesn’t mean he isn’t an apostle.  Paul would prefer to have freedom from the authority of the Corinth Church and continue building tents and preaching.  You can understand this because if the Corinth Church wasn’t functioning like it should than you wouldn’t want to be subject to their authority.  So Paul is defending his right to do this and uses examples of it in later verses.  But apostles back than were always supported by the Church so they could use their time to teach and not work but as a result the people are questioning Paul’s title ‘apostle’.  In verse 1,2 he explains to them that of all people they should know he is an apostle because of all the spiritual seeds he has planted. (vs. 11)

So how do I apply this to my life in a practical way?  Too often I think we depend on those on the payroll in our Church to do everything.  But it’s not God’s intention for the rest of us to relax and live an easy street Christian life.  How involved are we in our Churches and communities?  We don’t need a title not even Paul needed one.  He defended his title, but even if he didn’t his work was so obvious because of the spiritual seeds he planted.  We can also use the defense that not all gifts are obvious but I am not talking about being obvious.  I am talking about just being an active Christian and not relying on the people that have the titles to do it all for us.  There’s a new book out that I have yet to read but the title intrigues me, it’s called “Stop Dating the Church”.  A lot of people going to Church but few are committed because we’re just ‘dating’, we don’t want to make a commitment.  We still need gifted men and woman on the ‘payroll’ to do what God has called them to d.  But God has commanded us all to allow ourselves to be used by Him.  Perhaps we feel like we need or deserve a title.  That didn’t stop Paul. I believe with or without his title he would have continued to be used by God.

“God is looking for faithful people through whom He can reveal His extraordinary purpose and ways”

~ Lysa Terkeurst

Hebrews 10:35 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! 36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

Let’s all be willing and faithful in order to be used by God and discover our gifts.  Do you think Paul was faithful to God? That’s why God was able to use him and God hasn’t changed, we have.  God can use us in  similar and amazing ways with or without a title.

I am praying that God will help me look forward to what he has promised me and less concerned about my material life.  Paul wasn’t concerned about his material life, he just wanted to preach freely without the authority of Corinth over him.  We  have the privilege to preach freely in our country but few of us take the time. We don’t need a title we  just need to have faith.  You can be a missionary on your street, a pastor to your community, a counselor to a friend, a preacher in the office or an example of Jesus to strangers.  The best part is we can still keep our jobs.

In the clay,

Chantal Dube