This is the transcript of Restitutio episode 594: 1 Corinthians in Context 11 - Money and Benefaction with Sean Finnegan

This transcript was auto-generated and only approximates the contents of this episode.

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594 1 Corinthians 11.mp3

Transcript

00:00
Hey there, I'm Sean Finnegan. And you are listening to restitutio, a podcast that seeks to recover authentic Christianity and live it out today.

00:12
1st Corinthians 9 is a fascinating chapter. Paul masterfully lays out five arguments for why ministers should be paid for their work before telling the Church of Corinth that he has chosen not to make use of this right, and that he never would. Why not? What was it about the situation in Corinth that made Paul Leary of taking the?

00:32
Money in order to get at this question, we'll consider how benefaction functioned in Greco Roman cities. We'll also consider 2 significant patronesses, Junia, Theodora and Phoebe of Ken Crei. My hope is that this episode will open your eyes to see how Paul deftly negotiated the issue of benefaction in his first century context.

00:54
Here now is Episode 594, part 11 of our first Corinthians and context class, money and benefaction.

01:09
So my main focus for this section is First Corinthians Chapter 9, which we haven't covered. We have looked at Chapter 8 and Chapter 10 and I skipped over 9, so now I want to cover 9 today.

01:23
But in order to understand 9, let's back up to the very end of Chapter 8 and start in verse 9 where it says. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling.

01:35
To the weak, for if others see you who possess knowledge eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since they are conscience as weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols.

01:48
So by your knowledge, the weak brother or sister for whom Christ died is destroyed.

01:54
But when you thus sin against brothers and sisters and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.

02:03
Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never again eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.

02:13
So this is the context Paul, I've been talking about eating food sacrificed to idols and the issues that relate to that. And he has very strongly explained to the Corinthians, the Corinthian Christians who said they possess knowledge and therefore they could do whatever they want. He has explained to them.

02:34
No you can't.

02:35
You have to care about your your weaker brother or sister. And so now in Chapter 9 what he does is he applies this to himself, using himself as an example. And so that's what we're going to look at now, starting in Chapter 9, verse one, Paul says, am I not free, am I not?

02:55
An apostle, have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work in the Lord?

03:02
If I am not an apostle to others, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship.

03:09
In the Lord.

03:11
This is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to our food and drink? Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a believing wife, as do the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephus? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working for a living, who at any time?

03:31
Pays the expenses for doing military service. Who plants a vineyard and does not eat any of its fruit?

03:38
Or who tends A flock and does not get any of its milk.

03:43
So.

03:45
He begins this chapter Chapter 9 by giving his Apostolic bona fides, in other words, what makes him a legitimate apostle. He says he's seen the Lord, he said he's done miracles. He he says, you know, even if other people don't recognize me as an apostle, you guys should. Because.

04:05
Of how I was among.

04:07
And so he establishes that he is a legitimate apostle. And then he says, well, if I'm a legitimate apostle, shouldn't I have the same rights and privileges as other apostles as Peter or some of the other apostles? They all they get to bring their wives with them. Shouldn't I be allowed to do that? They.

04:26
Get paid. Shouldn't I be paid? Is where he's about to head. And so he makes 3 preemptive arguments to get paid 1.

04:36
Is the analogy of military service people in the military do not pay for their own expenses, he says. And then he talks about those who are farming a vineyard and they, he says, well, look, if you planted a vineyard and you're looking after the crops, then of course you're going to share in the crops and then.

04:57
Last of all, talks about the shepherd who has flocks and gets the milk from that, and so he's making the case.

05:06
In three illustrations that he should be paid.

05:11
And then he adds a fourth example. And for that, when he quotes the Bible from Deuteronomy, we read in First Corinthians Chapter 9, verse 8. It says do I say this on human authority like, AM I just making this up? Guys? Does not the law also say the same for it is written in the law of Moses. You shall not muzzle an ox.

05:32
While it is treading out the grain, is it for oxen that God is concerned, or does he not speak entirely for our sake?

05:40
It was indeed written for our sake, for whoever ploughs should plough and hope, and whoever threshes should thresh in hope of a.

05:47
Share in the.

05:48
Crop if we have some spiritual things among you. Is it too much? If we harvest material things so here he quotes Deuteronomy 25, verse 4.

05:59
According the Bible and he says to them.

06:03
Hey, is this really just talking about oxen here? This is a interpretation strategy that we don't use much as Christians. Probably that's a good thing. It's called a mid rash and it's a it's a Jewish style of interpretation where you're looking for a deeper meaning for a scripture. And then you apply it to a new situation, which means that.

06:23
It can end up meaning a lot of different things, so you really need God's spirit working within you if you're going to do something like this, which I believe Paul certainly had. And So what he says is he's like, look at the ox, the.

06:36
Ox, you would not put a muzzle on an ox while it's threshing the wheat.

06:41
So that the ox can eat while it's working, so the ox can benefit from its work. So it is with ministers that ministers should be paid for the work that they do.

06:53
Verse 12. We pick it up if others share this rightful claim on you. Do not we still more.

07:00
Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of.

07:07
The Gospel of.

07:08
Christ, do you not know that those who work in the temple service? Hey, let's just throw another argument out there, argument #5 those who work in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve.

07:20
At the altar, share in what is sacrificed on the altar. In the same way the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the.

07:29
Possible, but I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing this so that they may be applied in my case. Indeed, I would rather die than that.

07:42
No one will deprive me of my ground for boasting.

07:46
So let's summarize the arguments #1 military soldiers get their expenses paid for #2 vineyard farmers enjoy the fruits of their labor #3 shepherds get the milk from their flock #4 threshing oxen are not muzzled, so they can graze and #5 those who work in the temple service.

08:06
Get their food from the sacrifice.

08:08
Actions from this we get two major conclusions #1 we who have some spiritual things among you should harvest material things. That's verse 11 and then #2. The Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. That's verse 14. And yet.

08:29
After making five arguments throwing in everything, including the kitchen.

08:34
You think?

08:35
He says in verse 15, but I have made no use of any.

08:41
Of these rights.

08:43
Nor am I writing that so that they may be applied in my case. Indeed, I would rather die than that.

08:50
No one will deprive me of my ground of boasting.

08:54
So the question is why Paul? Why? Why not take money from the Corinthian Christians?

09:04
So in order to understand that, we need to look at a little bit of background information to understand how benefaction works in the ancient world. So Benefaction was a system in place in cities, especially Greek cities, but then also Roman cities.

09:23
They had been in place for centuries before Paul was even born. For example, Aristotle, writing three centuries before Christ.

09:33
His book politics, he says the magistracies of the highest rank, which ought to be in the hands of the governing body, should have expensive duties attached to them. And then the people will not desire them and will take no offense at the privileges of their rulers when they see that they pay a heavy fine for their dignity.

09:54
It is fitting also that the magistrates on entering office should offer magnificent sacrifices or erect some public.

10:02
Memphis. And then the people who participate in the entertainments and see the city decorated with votive offerings and buildings will not desire an alteration in the government.

10:14
And the notables will have memorials of their magnificence. Magnificence is a word we don't use too much today, but it's essentially the idea of generosity.

10:25
So how benefactor works in ancient cities is that first of all, in order to run for office, you had to be wealthy.

10:34
And you had to make a large donation to benefit the city.

10:41
When elected to the Office of the City, you were expected to pay out big time.

10:47
You could build a new building. You could fix an old building. You could renovate the fountains, the pyrene fountains.

10:55
You could fix the public toilets.

10:57
You could work on an aqueduct or install a new aqueduct to bring water in from far away. Or you could do other things. You could sponsor the games, the gladiatorial games or some other kind of theater activity that people would enjoy a play or or a musician. A famous musician from another city. Maybe you would pay for half.

11:17
That person to come and in some way you're going to benefit the city.

11:23
That's going to cost a lot of money, which is why only wealthy people ran for office and only wealthy people would get elected. Just think about it. Let's say you had just some poor person going for office and then like 3 rich people and the rich people say, well, if you elect me, I'm going to fix up the baths and I'm going to, I'm going to make the hot water final.

11:44
Being hot.

11:45
I know like a lot of people been complaining about that, so I'm going to do that. And then the poor person is like, well, I don't really have any money, but I'm going to be a really good administrator. Nobody's voting for that person. So. So that's how it works in the ancient world. Now, when that person got elected, they would be thanked in an official ceremony.

12:05
Honored by a statue on a prominent road. Or if you were really a High Roller, giving big money, you could even get a statue in the forum in the marketplace where people are going to do all kinds of different stuff.

12:20
So, but usually there are downtown roads in the city and they're lined with these pedestals with statues of people on them. And those are wealthy people that have given money. And then underneath the statue and we have lots of these in archaeology underneath the statue we have this pestle and it and it tells you that person's name, all their accomplishments they've ever done.

12:41
And then what? They're being honored for. They donated money to pave this road or they donated money to fix something.

12:49
OK. Then at the public ceremony, there would be recognition given to the donor and they might also receive a Golden crown and reserve seats at the theater.

13:00
One of the easiest things to spot, archaeologically is a theater. If you ever go to any of these archaeological sites in Turkey and Greece especially, but also other places you you see the theater because it's just dug out of the side of a hill. Typically with all these stone, and you get to the theater and a lot of times you'll see names or a name of a group.

13:21
Actually engraved in the theater.

13:25
How did that person get their name there? They gave some money. OK, so that's how Benefaction worked.

13:32
Arjan Zuker Heck says hierarchies, however, are never self-evident.

13:39
But have to be persuasively presented as such. Elites have to convince themselves both themselves and those below them that their domination is not arbitrary, but that the existing order is somehow the natural state of things.

13:54
The social hierarchy has to be shown to be morally justified in the sense that it accords with the broadly shared beliefs about what is good and just.

14:05
The more privileged the position of the governing elite became, the more individual members had to give evidence of their moral superiority, and they had to do so in hard cash.

14:17
In other words, in this city.

14:20
Where you have 99% poor and 1% stupid rich.

14:28
How do you prevent the pitchforks from coming out? How do you prevent the people from just revolting and just taking your stuff and then distributing it among themselves? You convince them that it's it's part of the order of things that you're in power, that you're ruling because look how generous you are. You donated this library, or you donated this fountain.

14:49
Where you donated this really cool sculpture of a dolphin.

14:54
That everybody thinks is really impressive and they show their friends when they come in out of town, they're like, oh, look at this dolphin sculpture.

15:01
That babies Felinus donated. Right. Like that's that's how you do it. In other words. So that's the function of benefaction in a city. We have an actual example from a fictional book that was written about a century after Paul was there. And it's from Appuleius his book, The Golden Ask he mentions.

15:20
This incident, he says his name was theosis and he came from Corinth, the capital of the province of Acaia. As one would expect of a man of his birth and rank, he had passed through the different graces of office to the quinquennial magistracy.

15:37
And to honor the occasion in a suitably brilliant manner. So he just won an office. Now he's got to honor it. And by way of displaying his magnificence to the full he had undertaken to provide a three day gladiatorial show. So eager, indeed was he for popularity that he had been as far afield.

15:57
Cecily to procure wild beasts and celebrated gladiators. And now that he had acquired and arranged all he needed, he was preparing to return to.

16:07
Florence. So this is fixed in. There was never a guy named theosis that we know of. OK, it's a fictional novel, but like the point of it is, this is the sort of thing that people did who won office. You know, this guy travels, he gets these wild animals, he gets these gladiators from other cities and he brings them all to Corinth.

16:27
And he's funding all of this because he won the election of the DUOVIR in the 5th year, every five years. The duel, Veer is called the quinquennial, which is the person that is now going to decide who's entering the Senate.

16:43
And updating the roles of the city as well.

16:47
Alright, now.

16:49
That's been that's been a faction at the city level. What about at the personal level? At the personal level, we tend to call it a Patreon client relationship, a patron client relationship.

17:03
The patron was the superior who provided.

17:07
For his clients. So what would you provide your clients? Well, you could give them money. Legal help, protection from someone's political support, business connections, or even just food. In fact, clients were expected to show up every morning for a special greeting at the home of their patrons in the city.

17:28
In return, the client was expected to provide loyalty, public recognition and basically just play the role of informants.

17:39
If they heard anything bad about their patron, they would report it back and protect their patron and the patrons reputation. And if they found a way to influence in some way and increase in honor for their patron, they were expected to bring that to fruition as well.

17:59
Paul knew these were the expectations. If he took a wealthy person's money and 1st Corinthians Chapter 9, verse 16, he says, if I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting. For an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel, for if I do this of my own will I have a wage.

18:21
But if not of my own will, I am entrusted with the Commission. What, then, is my wage?

18:28
Just this that in my proclamation I may make the Gospel free of charge so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel. Reading these words, you may conclude to yourself.

18:42
Paul didn't like taking money. Paul didn't like to receive gifts from wealthy people. Paul's just he's just so committed to the gospel that that's all he cared about and he didn't. He didn't really deal with money and and worry about finances. And he was just kind of opting out. You might even think.

19:03
By reading this that Paul didn't want the Corinthians money.

19:08
Both of those assumptions will be incorrect.

19:11
Paul did receive money. He didn't have any problem receiving money, and he actually did want the Corinthians money as well.

19:17
So.

19:19
We'll see that in just a few minutes here. As far as the idea of Paul taking money or receiving money from from churches, let's look at Philippians Chapter 4.

19:29
Philippians 4 verse 10 I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have revived your concern for.

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Me indeed. You were concerned for me? Paulson prison at this time. That's the concern you were concerned for me, but had no opportunity to show it. Not that I'm referring to being in need for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it.

19:51
Is to have little.

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And I know what it is to have plenty.

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In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of having plenty, and of being in.

20:03
I can do all things through him who strengthens me. In any case, it was kind of you to share in my distress, you Philippians indeed, know that in the early days of the gospel when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving except you alone. For even when I was in Thessalonica.

20:24
You sent me help for my needs more than once.

20:28
Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the profit that accumulates to your account.

20:33
I have been paid in full and have more than enough. I am fully satisfied now that I have received from aphrodites the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God, and my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

20:54
To our God and father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

20:59
Look how careful he is. This is a thank you note. Just to be clear.

21:04
Paphitis brought money to Paul. Paul is writing back to the cinders of the money, the Philippian Church, to say thank you.

21:12
That's not all that Philippians is, but that's what this section is that I read to you from.

21:17
And he's so careful to not take upon himself the obligation of a client.

21:25
The standard understanding in the ancient world, if you receive money from someone is that now you were indebted to that person and that you were to look at that person as your patron and they are to look at you as a client. That's the standard interpretation. Look at how he talks about money here in philippian he.

21:45
To him, if they didn't even give him money.

21:48
No, no, no, no. It was a sacrifice they gave to God.

21:52
Right. And so now God is responsible to bless them. Paul's not. He has no obligations at all. Do you notice that here?

22:00
He says. And my God will fully satisfy every need of yours according to his riches.

22:06
So he's totally opting out of his patron client expectation and the Church of Philippi was fine with that. They got it. They understood what he was doing. He didn't want to be owned. He didn't want to be controlled. He didn't want to be under 1 patrons.

22:20
Thumb or responsibility? Considering the fact that he is actually already in the employ of the patron, namely Jesus Christ, and that that was going to supersede anything anybody else did.

22:34
So his sufficiency is in God, and yet still he knows realities of life. And he was willing to take money to receive money. I always say take, but it's really to receive money from the Philippians.

22:49
This action here's my point. Action wasn't always negative. It wasn't always like, oh, this is such a drag. There were lots of positive examples of benefaction in the ancient world, too. And it was a necessary part of how ancient cities worked. I want to introduce you to Julia Theodora. She was an important, wealthy woman who advocated for people.

23:09
In Lycea, a region in western Turkey, and we have 5 letters praising her on an inscription dated to the year 43 AD.

23:21
She may have been there in Corinth a decade before Paul came. She may have still been there when Paul came. Paul might have met Junia Theodora. We don't know. She wasn't a Christian. She has nothing to do with Christianity. She's just a wealthy woman who served the role of a benefactor.

23:41
To these other cities. So in other words, if you're a benefactor to a city, you don't even live in, guess what? You've got a lot of money, you've got a lot of resources to do that sort of thing.

23:53
So let's see what is. What is this inscription saying? You hear are lines 22 to 31.

24:00
It says the following. The people of Patara have decreed since Junior Theodora a Roman living in Corinth, a woman of the greatest honour living modestly, who was a friend of the Lycians and has dedicated her life to earning the gratitude of all the lycians, has bestowed numerous benefits also on many of our citizens and revealing the generosity of her nature.

24:22
She does not cease because of her goodwill from offering hospitality to all the licenses and receiving them in her own.

24:29
And she continues particularly to act on our behalf on behalf of our citizens in regard to any favor asked, so that the majority of our citizens have come before the Assembly to give testimony about her couple of things on this before moving on. One is that it.

24:48
Says that she showed hospitality.

24:52
She received these people into her own house and it also says that any saver asked she was able to take care of for them. So this is an important person to have contact with. Once again, Lycea is a region in what we would call Southwest or West or Turkey.

25:13
And it has several cities in it.

25:16
These cities, if you're in a port city, guess what you're doing. You're trying to make money by trade through shipping, and if you want to trade to the West, how are you going to do it? You're going to go through.

25:28
Corinth it's good.

25:29
To have somebody in Corinth that is looking after you or looking after your people, someone to make sure that everything is smooth.

25:37
With the unloading of.

25:38
Ships they're transporting across the delcos to the other side. The reloading of the ships, make sure nobody gets robbed. Make sure everybody has a place to spend the night. All those kinds of things. And that's the role that Junior Theodora was playing for. This one region of the Roman Empire called Lycea. Here's another inscription or another section of the same inscription.

25:58
Line 72 to 77.

26:00
Reads since junior Theodora of Roman, a benefactress of the greatest loyalty to the Lyceum Federation in our city has accomplished numerous dot dot dot benefits for the federation and our city and dwelling in the city of the Corinthians welcomes in her own house lycee and travelers and our citizens.

26:20
Supplying them with everything, displaying her patronage of those who are present. Patronage is this Greek word pro, stacia, and so this is this is a word that is associated.

26:33
With this kind of activity of being someone that looks over others, not just financially, but also showing hospitality and also favors Jerome Murphy O'Connor commenting on this says the following Junia Theodora may have helped individuals financially but her principal service to her fellow.

26:53
Science was twofold. She offered them hospitality, and she facilitated relations with the administration.

27:03
By assuring the friendship of the authorities, exports from Lycea had to go by sea and it is no coincidence that the cities that honor Junior Theodora are the principal ports of western Lycea.

27:16
All right, so this is a classic example of a benefactor or a benefactress. In this case a a lady who is looking after these people from this particular region. We don't really know why she did this. We didn't know if she was like from there or had relatives there or. Or maybe it was just a some sort of a deal she had worked.

27:35
Now we just know that she did and they loved her and all these cities were sending her letters 5 letters, in fact, and that she thought they were so valuable that she or somebody in her family paid a professional stonecutter to inscribe them on a piece of stone.

27:55
All 5 letters and bury them with her and that's why we have it, because it was buried in her tomb and we have the text of all 5 letters nicely laid out. So that's really a cool little window into the ancient world. Which brings us now to Phoebe of Ken Crei.

28:14
We read about her in Romans chapter 16, verses 1 and 2, Paul says. I commend to you, our sister Phoebe, a Deacon of the church at Ken Crei, so that you may welcome her in the Lord, as is fitting for the Saints and help her in whatever she may require from you for she.

28:34
Has been a benefactor toward prostatitis of many and of myself as well.

28:42
Once again, Jerome Murphy O'Connor. He says Phoebe was a benefactress on a less international scale than Junior Theodora, but her activities would have been very similar. The title given to her by Paul Prostatis.

28:58
In Roman 16, two is a cognate of prostacyclin, which is used to describe the contribution of Junior Theodora. Phoebe hosted the Assembly of Believers at Kendriya. That means she had the church at your house.

29:13
Her house would have been open to travelling Christians whom she would help with advice, contacts and, if necessary, intervene.

29:22
Paul flat out says he received phoebes's benefaction. He calls her a benefactor. You only call somebody a benefactor is if. If you receive their benefaction, including financially, but also their business contacts. Also, their ability to communicate with.

29:40
The government on your behalf, why is it that we don't read about persecution in Corinth? Could it be because Phoebe at Ken Cream, which is only a couple miles away? It's the eastern?

29:50
Reported that she had contacts and she smoothed things out for them. Or it could have been somebody else. So that's a lot to think about. But Paul received benefactor from Phoebe, but he wouldn't receive it from the Corinthian elite. Why?

30:08
Let's look at Chapter 11 of Second Corinthians. We haven't looked at 2nd Corinthians much because it's kind of in the future, so we don't want to jump ahead, but.

30:17
This is actually a flashback here, describing what it was like when he was there. We read in verse 7. Did I commit a sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted because I proclaim God's good news to you free of charge? I've robbed other churches by accepting support from them in order to serve you.

30:37
When I was with you and I was in need.

30:40
I did not burden anyone for my needs were supplied by the brothers who came from Macedonia, so I refrained and will continue to refrain from burdening you in any way. So Paul took money, he received money even when he was in Corinth, but not from the Corinthians, from brothers of Macedonia.

31:01
Now just a little insight here. Macedonia refers to a region which would include the churches of Philippi and Thessalonica.

31:11
But this is probably referring to the Church of Philippi, which we know there was a wealthy woman named Lydia A.

31:17
Seller of purple.

31:20
And so Lydia is likely behind a lot of this. He doesn't mention her by name specifically, but you know, he says Macedonia is like the region where she lives or Philippi, which is the city that she lives in. So anyhow, it's interesting that these women are playing such significant roles financially in getting this Christian movement going. Jesus himself.

31:41
Had women disciples who traveled and helped him out of their own money.

31:47
Luke records about this.

31:50
So Paul received money even while he was in Corinth, but not from the Corinthians. Why? He knew that it would cause problems.

31:58
Knowing all the stuff we've read in Corinthians so far, you can imagine it will cause problems if Paul started receiving money from one or another of the wealthy people there.

32:11
Paul couldn't subject himself to the client relationship that he would have to have towards somebody who gave him money. As a patron. He didn't want those obligations to be loyal to them.

32:23
Also.

32:24
Let's say one of them starts giving them money and then another wealthy person in the church finds out. Now they're going to compete with each other like, no, I want Paul to show up at my house every morning and give me greetings. You know, I don't want him at your house. Right? And so you could just imagine the divisiveness that was already afoot and how Paul said, no, I'm not taking you.

32:45
I'm not taking a dime from you.

32:48
So it's really an interesting scenario.

32:52
But Paul, in fact, would receive money.

32:54
From the Corinthians?

32:56
And he did.

32:57
Just not for himself. Look at the end of Corinthians. First Corinthians 16. We read in verse one.

33:04
Now concerning the collection for the Saints, you should follow the directions I gave to the churches of Galatia.

33:11
On the first day of every week, each of you is to put aside and save whatever extra you earn, so that collections need not be taken when I come.

33:22
And when I arrive I will send any whom you approve with letters to. Take your gift to Jerusalem.

33:30
If it seems advisable that I should go also they will accompany me.

33:35
So Paul is telling them at the end of the book of Corinthians, First Corinthians.

33:39
Is for 3rd book.

33:41
He's telling them at the end of the.

33:42
Book he's saying look.

33:44
You guys should.

33:44
Be taking collections on a weekly basis.

33:48
So that when I come, it's all ready.

33:53
And then you can appoint people to go with me to look after it. That's fine. I will go and they will go with me and we will all take the trip to Jerusalem.

34:05
To give it to the poor people there, because there are a lot of poor people in Jerusalem and Paul's on kind of like a world tour collecting money and bringing it to the church in Jerusalem, that was in need. So he is actually interested in receiving their money, but notice how far away Chapter 9 is from chapter 16.

34:27
Chapter 9 is the chapter where he gives him 5 reasons why they should pay him, and then he says I would rather die than take your money, right? It's just so dramatic, right. But then like, just like 7 chapters later, we're now we're ohh, we're all the way over here in chapter 16. It's like, by the way, like, do the collection each week and.

34:45
Then when I come, I'll take the money.

34:47
Right. So like he is taking the money, but he doesn't want them to think that this obligates him. To them, this isn't even for him. This is for the Church of Jerusalem, right? So he's keeping these things very separate, which I think is wise.

35:01
The bigger point though?

35:03
That he's trying to make in first Corinthians 9 or that he does make in first Corinthians 9 really rhetorically powerful way.

35:11
Is that he has privileges or what we might call rights?

35:18
And he refuses to exercise them.

35:22
Because he is more concerned about others than himself. Let's see how he concludes this chapter. We look at verse 19.

35:35
It says for though I am free with respect to all I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might gain all the more to the Jews. I became as a Jew in order to gain Jews to those under the law. I became as one under the law, though I myself am not under the law, so that I might gain those under the law to those outside the law.

35:55
I became, as one outside the law, though I am not outside God's law but am within Christ.

36:00
This law so that I might gain those outside the law to the weak, I became weak so that I might gain the weak. I have become all things to all people that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I might become a partaker in it.

36:22
So.

36:22
Oh.

36:23
Paul is gospel driven. Paul wants to win people to the Lord. That's his heartbeat. That's his every breath. It's like alright, well, how do we just how do we reach people with the gospel? How do we reach new folks? How do we reach the lost? How do we bring them to Christ?

36:40
And you can possibly get the impression from this that he's a compromiser and I I don't think that's really the best way to look at it. I don't think Paul would do something sinful for the sake of making a convert.

36:54
But what he is willing to do is inconvenience himself. What he is willing to do is not take advantage of a privilege that he has as an apostle.

37:03
Now what he is willing to do is be uncomfortable for the sake of winning somebody else, and he's using himself as an illustration so that the Corinthians would see. Ohh, this is how I should think about things and how I should live rather than just saying. Well, I possess knowledge so I can do whatever I want. Can't touch me.

37:24
So that's what he's doing here. But then next, he uses an athletic analogy.

37:32
Take a look at this. This is how he.

37:34
Closes out the.

37:34
Chapter verse 24. Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete?

37:41
But only one receives the prize.

37:44
Run in such a way that you.

37:45
May win it.

37:47
Ohh, don't you love that? That's a great verse. Run in such a way that you may win it.

37:52
Athletes exercise self-control in all things they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable 1.

38:01
So I do not run aimlessly sometimes when I'm exercising. I feel like I'm running aimlessly.

38:07
Nor do I box as though beating the air. But I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified. This is the intensity of the apostle Paul. He wants to train his himself, not necessarily in running.

38:26
Or boxing or some other sport. But in evangelism and in making converts and in bringing the good news to the nations, he sees it with a certain intensity that athletes would also have.

38:41
Now, these analogies were uniquely appropriate for a city like Corinth because of the Isthmian Games.

38:50
On the right side here I have a carved stone of these different wreaths that the athletes would win.

38:58
And on the left side in that hole is where the person who started the the foot race.

39:04
Would be standing and you'll be holding all these different cords that were attached to wooden, horizontal wooden sticks that when he dropped them, it would open all the gates at once and it would start the race and the runners would take off.

39:22
So.

39:23
The the Games was a big deal in the time of the apostle Paul. In fact, the games were actually founded. I mean, we can verify this, but based on what we know from the year 582 BC.

39:35
So this guys been going for over 500 years, 600 years almost by the time.

39:40
Paul got there.

39:42
And they happen every couple of years every two years. So it's very likely that they happened while Paul was there. Poll could have gone to the ESPN games.

39:52
Which makes sense because he's he's picking out all their sports and he's saying, like, you know, how you guys think about the boxers and the racers and all these other things.

40:01
Think about the gospel like that.

40:04
Couple more things about the Isthmian Games. It was a major source of income. We've covered that in the past. It was held every two years in April or May. It was overseen by the Agana Fitte. If you remember that. That was the the highest position in the city of Corinth, was the supervisor of the Games.

40:19
And it was held at. There was a Poseidon temple complex with a stadium and a theater and a bath about 5 miles from Corinth, in a town called Isthmia. And that's where the games were held.

40:34
Events included foot races, throwing the discus, throwing the javelin, wrestling, boxing for boxing. They've wrapped their fists in leather straps.

40:45
And they had another sport called Pankration, which was a mixture of wrestling and boxing. So they had wrestling. And they had boxing. And then they had wrestle boxing, which is just what we call MMA. And then they had chariot racing and horse racing. And then they also had judges.

41:03
Determining who was the best musician and and the poets would compete, and the orators would compete as well. And then last of all there were boat races that would occur as part of the Isthmian Games.

41:16
In conclusion.

41:18
Paul was willing to give up his privileges.

41:23
For the sake of others, I think the term to use for this is other regard. The idea that you you regard another and not just yourself.

41:33
We'll transition to the word love once we get to chapter 13, but just for now, think of it as other regard. He's trying to just get these Corinthians outside of their own selves and into thinking about, like, how do my actions affect other people? Is it causing them to stumble?

41:50
Paul wants them to train.

41:53
And he wants them to think differently. And it takes mental training.

41:58
To do this.

42:00
He says yes. Exercise, self-control. Yes, work hard but also care about your brothers and sisters. Fight for unity and prioritize preaching the gospel over exercising your rights.

42:15
All right, enough for this one. Next time, we'll look at women in Corinth as we continue in our class 1st or at the ends in context.

42:26
Well, that brings this presentation to a close. What did you think? Come on over to restitutio.org and find Episode 594 and leave your feedback, questions and comments there.

42:39
Well, I did want to apologize because this episode is coming out a few days late. This time around, I will keep to my regular schedule later this week, so this week's actually gonna have two episodes.

42:52
Sorry for any of you who were just hanging on day after day Thursday, turning into Friday and then Saturday it's and now it's Monday waiting for this episode with bated Breath. So sorry to keep you.

43:05
Waiting on that, I actually was out of town all last week. I was down at the Atlanta Bible College teaching a class called Solutions to Bible text. So I have a good excuse and I actually was able to do a lot of the editing and production for this episode, but I didn't bring my microphone down with me, so I am recording this a little late.

43:26
But hopefully you will forgive me and we'll get right back on our regular schedule. Well, we got a new review.

43:37
This came in on Apple Podcast by Marcus Ebb titled Love it.

43:43
He writes absolutely my favorite podcast Sean with help of others, discusses or teaches about many different topics. Everything from apologetics you have to with the Christ Centered podcast to aliens. Yep, an in-depth class of science and the Bible, including three lessons dedicated to evolution just to make sure that.

44:05
Everything is presented as accurately as possible.

44:09
This podcast is full of historical references to provide context instead of just quoting a church mission statement variety, give it a listen.

44:19
Well, thanks so much for that kind review on Apple Podcasts. It is certainly a help to have more reviews. Each one does add to the credibility of the podcast. We're all competing with so many thousands or who even knows, 10s of thousands of other podcasts out there, even within just the Christian space. There's so many different podcasts.

44:41
Out there.

44:42
I've been doing this for a long time, coming up on 10 years now, over 500, almost 600 episodes in the can, and I've gone with a a free model. I haven't done the the paywall or the sub stack or the YouTube membership and so forth just had decided to to just make it available to as many as possible.

45:04
I don't know if that's a good idea or not, but that's what I ended up doing and I'm just going to stick with that for the time.

45:11
Thing.

45:12
And so that means that the entire past archive is freely available to anyone who would like to listen to it. You can listen to it on a podcast app like Apple Podcast on Spotify, on YouTube, or also have some transcripts now for those of you didn't know, we do have transcripts out for episodes. They are a little bit janky because.

45:32
The AI is not so great at always getting especially technical jargon correct, but sometimes even just simple words that either I mumble or if I'm interviewing somebody they say with an accent or something like that.

45:48
So the transcript is there and it can help you find something in the audio, but it's not 100%, but it's it. But but it might be helpful to you to find something in particular also on our previous episode, episode 593, which was where I did Christology in First Corinthians and really kind of just camped out in First Corinthians.

46:08
86 primarily.

46:11
Benny Elohim wrote honestly amazing video been struggling with for a few months with eight, six and being through Christ with those Unitarian brothers who believe Christ was the agent of Genesis creation. But you made this video simple and easy to understand. Thank you. Well, thanks for writing in. This is certainly something that's.

46:32
It goes different ways depending on what kind of Unitarian Christians you are.

46:36
With those of us who see Jesus as beginning with his birth do not believe first Corinthians 86 points to Jesus as the creator through whom God made all things, as in the Genesis creation, but instead the one through whom God brought all things in the sense of redemption.

46:58
So the question for First Corinthians 8/6, as I covered last week is is it cosmological or soteriological? So I tried to make a case that it was soteriological and not cosmological.

47:10
But I also did leave the door open for a new creation way of thinking about it, where you talk about redemption as if it's creation. And that's just pretty much what new creation theology is. We use creation language to talk about how God has brought salvation.

47:26
And especially reordered cosmic authorities and brought new life to individuals like the born again experience.

47:36
Or the new self, or the older translations would say the new man created in Christ Jesus for good works. All of this kind of language is the new creation theology that I think really colors a lot of what Paul is saying, not least in First Corinthians 86. But other places as well. So I think that's a pretty helpful approach.

47:56
And I am certainly not the one inventing this idea. There are quite a few others who see this as well.

48:03
Someone else named David commented saying Thanks, Brother, please do the Gospel of Mark Westhoff has over 300,000 views on his YouTube video and this guy is an amateur. I can't really comment much on Wes Huff. I have heard about him. He kind of has a strange accent. I don't know if that's a Canadian.

48:24
Next center what that is, but interesting guy from what I hear, he did pretty well on Joe Rogan trying to convince him of Christianity, but I I haven't honestly listened to any Wes Huff. Yeah, so David is asking for us to cover the gospel of Mark.

48:42
And I did want to mention that my colleague, Doctor Jerry Wherwell, is teaching a class on the Gospel of Mark. This is actually going to start tomorrow at the time of this recording, and I will. I'm going to release this today anyhow. So at so tomorrow, if you're listening to this live.

49:02
If you listen to this later, it will already be out, and that is a class that comes through lahim living Hope International ministries lahim.org. You can find it under classes there, resources, shim.org and then you go to resources and classes.

49:19
So there, there will be a live option for you to watch if you want to watch like the full hour and a half or so live Tuesday nights at 7:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.

49:29
And you can just do that on the Lim website or on the LM YouTube channel. If you search for Lihim on YouTube, should show up. If not, then type in Lahim video one word and it will 100% show up and then they would be edited and posted on the Lihim site later. So anyhow, my point is, if you want gospel of Mark.

49:50
Garry's about to do it and I haven't really talked to him much about what his intentions are for.

49:55
Class. But he is a bona fide New Testament scholar, and I'm sure that he's going to do a great job presenting who Jesus is from the gospel of Mark and and bringing a greater understanding of that gospel. In particular. I think Mark, honestly, is my favorite gospel at this point.

50:13
I I think early on I was a Matthew guy. I definitely went through a John phase in the early 2000s and then I think I was really into Luke, but anyhow, now I'm now I'm more thinking Mark because Mark is so raw, so unfiltered it's got all this Aramaic.

50:32
And I don't know. They're all great. Anyhow, take a look at that if you are interested.

50:38
Well, that's going to bring this episode to a close for this week, if you don't mind, please share this with your friends. If you found it helpful, if you haven't already, write us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Also allows for, I think ratings. At least. I don't know if it does reviews yet, and if you would like to help with the financial burden of this podcast, we could.

50:59
Certainly use the help and certainly appreciate it. That's available at restitutio.org. Got a little donate button there on the website on PC or on your.

51:08
phone. So take a look at that if you're interested. Thanks everybody who has contributed, I'll catch you next week. Actually, no. I'll catch you in a few days this week and remember, the truth has nothing to fear.