1 Corinthians 9:12 “If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more? But we did not use this right. On the contrary, we put up with anything rather than hinder the gospel of Christ.”

Paul did not collect a salary from the people to whom he preached. Of course, he had to have some kind of support. Sometimes he received gifts from people on the outside, Christians in other cities who wanted his mission work to succeed. Many times he worked with his own hands. Jewish rabbinical students generally learned a trade in addition to their theological studies. Their teachers recognized the ministry would not work out for all of them, and they needed to have a backup plan so that they didn’t starve. Paul learned how to make tents while he attended seminary with Rabbi Gamaliel. He used this skill to support himself when he began his mission work in Corinth.

So while Paul defended his right to receive a salary, and taught that this was the normal thing for those who preach, he confessed that the thing that really drove him was doing whatever it took to win people to Christian faith. “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law) so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law, I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:19-22).

The apostle is describing different kinds of people in these verses, the kinds of people he met in his mission work. Sometimes he preached to Jews. They still lived under the Old Testament restrictions that forbad pork or shellfish, certain kinds of cloth, and limited activities on the Sabbath. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection made these things optional. He set us free. But Jewish people who were new to Jesus didn’t know that yet. Paul continued to observe these laws so that Jewish people would not automatically dismiss him before he had a chance to tell them about the gospel.

Sometimes Paul preached to Greeks and Romans. They thought Jewish ways and customs were weird. They might be offended if they served Paul pork chops or shrimp scampi and he wouldn’t eat it. Keep in mind that for Paul, growing up Jewish, these foods had always been considered “unclean.” He might have had to work to choke them as we would struggle to eat certain insects or rodents common to other nations’ cuisines. But rather than offend his host and lose the chance to share his faith, Paul “made himself like one not having the (Old Testament) law.” He closed his eyes and swallowed hard “to win those not having the law.” He wasn’t going to let his tastes get in the way of someone’s salvation.

In one way or another, all of these people were “weak.” They did not yet know Jesus. They did not yet know grace and forgiveness. They did not yet know about Christian freedom. They did not yet know how Jesus united people from every culture and made them his own by faith. These were the main things. If it wasn’t sinful and it meant people would let him tell them about Jesus, Paul was willing to give it a try. “I do this all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.”

For this reason Paul even relinquished his rights to a salary, “for the sake of the gospel.” As long as the Lord was keeping him fed, clothed, and housed by other means, he didn’t want a little money to come between some blind soul and salvation. Religious hucksters were part of the religious landscape in his day, too–maybe more than our own. Paul had the truth: this incredible message of God’s love, that God left heaven to become one of us, died in our place, forgave all our sins, and gave us heaven as a guarantee. Maybe if Paul gave the message away for free, people would realize his preaching was sincere. So, he relinquished his rights. He hoped more people would believe.

Today Paul’s example applies to more than paying preachers. It is a model for how all Christians can approach the rights and freedoms Jesus has given them. In the Gospel Jesus has not only set us free from all our sins. He has given us great freedom about our food, our clothes, our worship, other matters of personal taste in various facets of our lives. By all means, defend your rights and keep the free things free. Don’t let anyone take your gospel freedom away. But indulging these rights and freedoms is never so important as loving others and saving their souls. It’s okay to set them aside if it means we can bring someone the gospel.