“Was I wrong when I humbled myself and honoured you by preaching God’s Good News to you without expecting anything in return? I “robbed” other churches by accepting their contributions so I could serve you at no cost. And when I was with you and didn’t have enough to live on, I did not become a financial burden to anyone. For the brothers who came from Macedonia brought me all that I needed. I have never been a burden to you, and I never will be. As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, no one in all of Greece will ever stop me from boasting about this. Why? Because I don’t love you? God knows that I do.”
2 Corinthians 11:7-11 NLT
While Paul was establishing the church in Corinth, he initially met up with a couple called Aquila and Priscilla, Jews who were expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius just a few years before. “Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was” (Acts 18:3). But Paul didn’t just spend his time making tents, the next verse reads, “Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike”. When he was rejected by most of the Jews, “… he left and went to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshipped God and lived next door to the synagogue” (Acts 18:7). So in those early days, Paul never asked for money from the embryonic church and instead supported himself with his work. Perhaps this became a point of contention among the early Christians in Corinth, because tent-making was not exactly up there with the more respected forms of employment, and they may have been a bit ashamed of him. Did Paul sin in their eyes by not asking for money or some other reward for his preaching? In those days, a visiting rabbi or some other man of God would be expected to be supported by the congregation he was speaking to. As in many other places, Paul challenged the status quo and introduced a new order in more ways than one.
In this situation, we see a bit of sarcasm from Paul when he said he “robbed” other churches. Of course, he didn’t do that literally, but he made the point that through his tent-making and donations from other churches, he was able to avoid being a burden to the Corinthians. In it all, Paul was not intent on making a living from the Corinthian congregation; rather, he wanted to avoid being a burden to them. Earlier in the chapter, Paul referred to men who called themselves apostles – he referred to them as “super apostles” – and who he was sure were seeking reward for their service from the believers, but perhaps Paul was pointing out that he was prepared to preach the word of the Gospel without reward, because by doing so it was reward enough. There was, and still is, no material value that can be placed on the Gospel. It is priceless, eternal and life-changing. Paul’s motivation was to do God’s work in leading unbelievers to faith in Christ. Since taking money from those unbelievers may have raised questions about Paul’s motives and the truthfulness of his message, he refused to do so.
Paul wrote that “the brothers who came from Macedonia brought me all that [he] needed”. We know that the Macedonian churches of Thessalonica, Berea, and Philippi were quite poor, and it was very humbling for Paul to accept money from them. He knew that those donations would have been given sacrificially by the congregations there. But while he was establishing the Corinthian church, he was preaching the Gospel, and he wasn’t prepared to take any reward for doing so. He never wanted to cloud the purity of the Gospel message with any niggling thoughts in the hearers’ minds that he was doing it for money.
What can we pilgrims learn from this message from Paul today? One thing is the importance of transparency in financial matters. In our established churches, the congregation supports their leader or leaders through the tithes and offerings collected every Sunday. Today, innovative ways of giving have emerged, including bank transfers, standing orders, and even phone apps that can transfer funds to the right place. One church I know displays a QR code on the screen at the front, and congregants can scan it to open a giving app where they make their offering. But regardless of the way money is collected, and in his first letter, Paul wrote, “In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it” (1 Corinthians 9:14).
So we pilgrims pray for and financially support our church leaders. We read in Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit”. The joy they experience may perhaps be linked to the meal on their tables.
Dear Heavenly Father. Please bless our leaders in all that they do and help us to do our part to support them in their work. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 