Imagine you are Saul of Tarsus. You have spent your entire life in devoted service to God, or so you believed. You are educated, zealous, respected. And then, on a road to Damascus, the risen Christ stops you dead in your tracks and asks you one question: “Why are you persecuting me?” Everything you thought you knew collapses in an instant. From that moment forward, one compulsion drives every decision of your life: I must preach this gospel. Not for a salary. Not for status. Not because anyone asked him to. Because woe to him if he did not.

That is the man writing to us in 1 Corinthians 9. Here is what Paul wants us to understand: The gospel is not one priority among many. It is the lens through which a Christian evaluates every liberty, every habit, and every comfort. We are going to see that in three movements: first, Paul’s compulsion to preach, because it wasn’t optional. Second, how that compulsion shaped the way he related to everyone around him. And third, the self-discipline required to keep from disqualifying yourself in the race.

But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case, for it would be better for me to die than have anyone make my boast an empty one. For if I proclaim the gospel, I have nothing to boast, for I am under compulsion. For woe is me if I do not proclaim the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That, when I proclaim the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my authority in the gospel. 1 Corinthians 9:15–18 (LSB)

Compulsion, Not Compensation

Paul had waived his right to financial support for the sake of the gospel. That was a matter of Christian liberty, he was free to receive support or free to go without it. But the preaching itself was never optional. “I am under compulsion”, the LSB captures it plainly. Woe to him if he did not proclaim it.

That word stewardship in verse 17 (the King James calls it a dispensation) indicates that someone has entrusted something of great value to your care, with an expectation that you will handle it faithfully. God had entrusted the gospel to Paul. Not as an option. As a charge. The best preachers understand this. Their ministry is not driven by a salary or a social standing. They answer to Christ.

What is this gospel that so gripped him? Not merely a message about living a better life or finding your purpose. It is the announcement that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, took on flesh, lived the life we could not live, died the death we deserved to die, and rose from the grave in triumph over sin and death. It is the news that God justifies the ungodly, not on the basis of their merit, but on the basis of Christ’s. That is what Paul could not keep quiet about. That is what made silence feel like condemnation. When you understand what the gospel actually is, you understand why a man would preach it for free, endure beatings for it, and count everything else as loss beside it.

Churches have an obligation to care for the preacher. Scripture is clear on that (cf. 1 Timothy 5:17–18). But the man who has sold out for fame or fortune will be afraid to say anything disagreeable. The fear of man brings a snare (Proverbs 29:25). Whether the preacher fears losing people or losing a salary, his ministry is crippled.

All Things to All Men

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, so that I might win Jews… To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. So I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. 1 Corinthians 9:19–23 (LSB)

Paul was not a chameleon or a hypocrite. He was a free man in bondage to no one, and yet he made himself a servant to others so that he might win more to Christ. John MacArthur put it well:

“In the gray areas of living, those that involve practices about which the Bible does not speak, Paul, as all believers, was free to do as his conscience allowed. But love would not let him do anything that the consciences of weaker believers would not allow. Love would not even allow him to do things that would be offensive to unbelievers to whom he witnessed. He would put every questionable thing in his life under the control of love.” — John MacArthur, 1 Corinthians (Moody Press, 1984), p. 211

Paul adjusted his life, his ministry, and his manner of preaching in order to identify with those to whom he ministered. This was not compromise. It was pre-evangelism. He was giving up liberties for the cause of Christ.

Practical examples: If you have a habit of drinking an adult beverage with your evening meal, but find yourself around those who think no Christian should drink, yes, you have a right to a drink, but in order to win someone to Christ you order a coke instead. If you are witnessing to a Jew or a Muslim and you invite them to dinner, you skip the pork, even if that is your favorite meal. You do this for the cause of Christ in order to win others.

There is a danger here, though, what Paul elsewhere calls the tyranny of the weaker brother. We cannot bend the whole church to the scruples of a few. The weaker brother is free to abstain; the stronger brother is free to partake. One does not dictate to the other. But neither uses his liberty as a stumbling block. Liberty is always placed under the control of love and the advance of the gospel.

Discipline Your Body

Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:26–27 (LSB)

The Isthmian games were held at Corinth and were familiar to every reader. Athletes trained rigorously for ten months. The last month was spent in Corinth itself with supervised daily workouts. Paul uses this image deliberately: the Christian race demands the same kind of intentional, disciplined effort. But there is a crucial difference. In the Christian race, every believer who trains carefully can win. We are not competing against each other. We are competing against the obstacles that can hinder us: spiritual, physical, and practical.

Matthew Henry observed:

“A preacher of salvation may yet miss it. He may show others the way to heaven, and never get thither himself. To prevent this, Paul took so much pains in subduing and keeping under bodily inclinations… Holy fear of ourselves, and not presumptuous confidence, is the best security against apostasy from God, and final rejection by him.” — Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible (Hendrickson, 1994), p. 2261

The crown Paul ran for was incorruptible, the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to all who have loved His appearing (2 Timothy 4:8). That is worth far more than any comfort or liberty we might be tempted to pamper ourselves with.

Conclusion

Be done with overconfidence. Use your liberty in a way that brings honor and glory to God. Never take your liberties to see how close to sin you can go. Keep the gospel in the forefront of your mind and your way of living. What have you sacrificed for the cause of Christ? Is there a liberty, a habit, or a comfort you have been holding onto that is standing between you and a more effective witness? Lay it down. The crown is worth it.