Friday 10 September 2010

Background

"Boasting" is a favourite word of Paul, who is responsible for55 out of 59 New Testament uses of the idea, 39 of them being inthe Corinthian letters.

Usually he boasts of things most people would not think to boast of- his sufferings, his weaknesses, Christ crucified. Here, however,Paul's boast is that he has not expected to be paid for preachingthe gospel (the good news of Jesus) even though he believes thatpreachers have a right to be financially supported (verse14). At least, they do if they freely choose to preach thegospel, but Paul finds himself under compulsion to do so, whichmeans that doing it carries its own reward for him.

Verses 19-23 then give important insights into how Paul goes aboutthe task. Having argued in the previous chapter that those who arestrong in faith must not behave in ways that offend those who areweaker in faith, Paul now claims that his own approach in sharingthe gospel is to put himself in the shoes of those he is seeking toreach. In particular, he is reflecting on how when among fellowJews he follows the kosher food laws, and when among Gentiles(non-Jews) he doesn't, although he makes sure by way of theparenthesis in verse 21 that his indifference to food laws does notmake him lawless in any moral sense.

The final paragraph (verses 24-27) concludes the digression thatchapter 9 has been within the bigger discussion of sharing in pagancultic meals (to which chapter 10 returns). The use of athleticmetaphors was commonplace in Greek philosophy. Here the athleticand boxing applications are rather clearer than the gospel ones:only one person wins the race, all competitors need focus andintensive self-discipline in training, the prize is the ancientequivalent of a bouquet of flowers. Although he mixes the metaphorssomewhat, Paul urges the Corinthian Christians to run the Christianrace with the proper self-control of the person determined to winthe prize of eternal life itself. In emphasising his own example,Paul mentions potential disqualification at the very end to makeclear that self-discipline is not an optional extra in theChristian life. Without it, the disciple faces a real danger.

To Ponder

With reference to verses 16 and 17, do you feelor have you ever felt that there is something you have to do, andreally have no choice about it? What did you do, or what are youdoing about this? Is this an element in what people may refer to asa vocation, meaning something more than a career choice?

If someone wants to be effective in communicatingthe gospel today, what might be the contemporary equivalent groupsof people to:

1. The Jews
2. Those under the law
3. Those outside the law
4. The weak

that Paul mentions in verses 20 to 22?

When Paul speaks of punishing and enslaving hisbody he is not talking about self-harm but is applying theself-discipline of an athlete somewhat clumsily to the trainingregime of a boxer. But in what ways do you think we need todiscipline ourselves in order to be effective Christian disciplesand witnesses?