1 Corinthians Week #16 – Study Questions
Love and Rights
1 Corinthians (CGS#16) – 9:1-14
INTRODUCTION: 1 Corinthians is a letter. When you study a letter in the Bible, you need to regularly remind yourself of what has been said before. This is especially important with Paul, as he often builds on ideas from earlier sections. Let’s remind ourselves of a key thing. The Corinthian church was marked by arrogance and pride. They had established a pattern of demanding their rights and individual preferences that led to infighting, partisanship, and taking advantage of the poor (lawsuits). Paul has reminded them that they are in Christ and these things are to have no place in their lives or in the church. This truth is the foundation for his answers on marriage and eating meat from the Pegan temples, where he grants freedom and liberty, but also establishes the prescriptive principle to serve one another. He continues fleshing out this principle in chapter nine.
In chapter nine, Paul is going to confront some criticism that he has faced from a faction of people in the Corinthian church. This criticism has to do with both the way Paul pays his bills (tent-making) and whether he has the “authority” to be giving the Corinthians any pastoral instruction. Remember, the divisions from earlier in chapter one when they picked and aligned themselves with their favorite pastor? Well, those who didn’t pick Paul as their favorite had engaged in gossip and slanderous conversation to undermine Paul’s influence and character. Paul addresses this criticism directly, but also takes the opportunity to continue teaching about the importance of serving one another and the posture of humility. Commentator Andrew Wilson offers a helpful explanation of this section, “Paul is presenting his model of ministry—offering the gospel free of charge, despite the theological and practical reasons why he could accept payment if he wanted to—as a real-life illustration of what he was saying in 8:9–13: namely, that believers should renounce their rights if it will help other believers. Serving our brothers and sisters matters more than our “rights” to do this or that. Love trumps freedom. Chapter 9, in that sense, is an extended explanation of why the Corinthians should not eat idol food, based on Paul’s apostolic ministry.” [1] Love is at the core of Paul’s words in this chapter.
This idea of willingly and lovingly laying down our freedoms and rights for others is a tough pill to swallow. At best, it means that we have to deny ourselves, and at worst, it can leave us feeling like a doormat to be walked over. However, we must be reminded that for Paul, his model (and ours) is to be Christ. It was Christ who willingly and lovingly laid down his divine rights to become human, bear our sin, and give his life for us. Christ’s love and action were done with us in mind, and that is what drives Paul’s life and instruction. Here is how theologian Karl Barth expresses it: “Christian love turns to the other purely for the sake of the other. It does not desire it for itself. It loves it simply because it is there as this other, with all its value or lack of value. It loves it freely. But it is more than this turning. In Christian love the loving subject gives to the other, the object of love, that which it has, which is its own, which belongs to it. It does so irrespective of the right or claim that it may have to it, or the further use that it might make of it.”[2]
For both Paul and Barth, the model of this “rights sacrificing” love is Christ. It is what he has done for us, and calls us to extend what we’ve received. Paul’s words are just a defense of himself, but an important reminder that we have been served to become servants.
GETTING STARTED – As you begin your group time, take time to answer this question together: Who is someone who gave something up that they didn’t have to just for you? How did this impact you?
IN THE WORD – Let’s dig back into the passage. It is important to strengthen our muscles in reading God’s Word. On Sunday, we walked through the passage in the sermon. Hopefully, that helped you to see the landmarks of the passage with fresh eyes. Now, with your group, go back through it and see what God is saying to you specifically.
First, before you read the passage, take a moment to ask God’s Spirit to quiet your mind and heart and to illuminate the text to you. Second, read the passage aloud to the group. Then, follow the simple method below. (O.P.A)
Observe: Make 8-10 observations from the passage. Pay close attention to observe and note repeated words and phrases, names, places, and themes.
Principles: From your list of observations, what patterns or big ideas do you see emerging? Can you distill it down into 2-4 big idea truths?
Apply: Moving from your list of principles, it is time to apply God’s Word. Remember, we believe that God’s Word is living and active and that it can change the way we live Monday-Friday. What is one tangible way to apply a truth from your list above?
Note: Another way to approach your time together is to talk through the following questions about the article of faith we are studying that week.
- What did you hear God’s Spirit say to you through the passage this week? How does it encourage you? How does it sharpen you?
- How have you seen God at work in your life this week? Have you enjoyed him? Have you heard his voice and the leading of his Spirit? Big ways or small ways.
- How do Paul’s instructions in chapter nine invite believers into fruitful tension when we think about our “rights” in these spheres: at home, at church, and in the community? What is different about each sphere, and how does that impact my response? What should be the constant for Christians in each sphere?
- We defined love as “A persistent concern for someone’s greatest good and the willingness to serve them toward that end.”
- How do you see this in the person and example of Christ?
- What makes loving like this difficult?
- How does this help you think more clearly about love?
- Paul is committed to sharing the gospel (making Jesus known) as the goal of his life. What would you say is the goal of your life? How does the gospel and the things of Christ work into that goal?
[1] Andrew Wilson, 1 Corinthians for You, ed. Carl Laferton, God’s Word for You (The Good Book Company, 2021), 94.
[2] Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, ed. and trans. Geoffrey William Bromiley, First American edition (London; Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994), 173–174.