哥林多前書9:1-18

9:1 我不是自由的嗎？我不是使徒嗎？我不是見過我們的主耶穌嗎？你們不是我在主裡面所做之工嗎？
9:2 假若在別人，我不是使徒，在你們，我總是使徒，因為你們在主裡正是我作使徒的印證。
9:3 我對那盤問我的人就是這樣分訴：
9:4 難道我們沒有權柄靠福音吃喝嗎？
9:5 難道我們沒有權柄娶信主的姊妹為妻，帶著一同往來，彷彿其餘的使徒和主的弟兄並磯法一樣嗎？
9:6 獨有我與巴拿巴沒有權柄不做工嗎？
9:7 有誰當兵自備糧餉呢？有誰栽葡萄園不吃園裡的果子呢？有誰牧養牛羊不吃牛羊的奶呢？
9:8 我說這話，豈是照人的意見；律法不也是這樣說嗎？
9:9 就如摩西的律法記著說：「牛在場上踹穀的時候，不可籠住牠的嘴。」難道上帝所掛念的是牛嗎？
9:10 不全是為我們說的嗎？分明是為我們說的。因為耕種的當存著指望去耕種；打場的也當存得糧的指望去打場。
9:11 我們若把屬靈的種子撒在你們中間，就是從你們收割奉養肉身之物，這還算大事嗎？
9:12 若別人在你們身上有這權柄，何況我們呢？然而，我們沒有用過這權柄，倒凡事忍受，免得基督的福音被阻隔。
9:13 你們豈不知為聖事勞碌的就吃殿中的物嗎？伺候祭壇的就分領壇上的物嗎？
9:14 主也是這樣命定，叫傳福音的靠著福音養生。
9:15 但這權柄我全沒有用過。我寫這話，並非要你們這樣待我，因為我寧可死也不叫人使我所誇的落了空。
9:16 我傳福音原沒有可誇的，因為我是不得已的。若不傳福音，我便有禍了。
9:17 我若甘心做這事，就有賞賜；若不甘心，責任卻已經託付我了。
9:18 既是這樣，我的賞賜是甚麼呢？就是我傳福音的時候叫人不花錢得福音，免得用盡我傳福音的權柄。

Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the result of my work in the Lord? ² Even though I may not be an apostle to others, surely I am to you! For you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.

³ This is my defense to those who sit in judgment on me. ⁴ Don’t we have the right to food and drink? ⁵ Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas^[a]? ⁶ Or is it only I and Barnabas who lack the right to not work for a living?
⁷ Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? ⁸ Do I say this merely on human authority? Doesn’t the Law say the same thing? ⁹ For it is written in the Law of Moses: “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.”^[b] Is it about oxen that God is concerned? ¹⁰ Surely he says this for us, doesn’t he? Yes, this was written for us, because whoever plows and threshes should be able to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? 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.
¹³ Don’t you know that those who serve in the temple get their food from the temple, and that those who serve at the altar share in what is offered on the altar? ¹⁴ In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.
¹⁵ But I have not used any of these rights. And I am not writing this in the hope that you will do such things for me, for I would rather die than allow anyone to deprive me of this boast. ¹⁶ For when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, since I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! ¹⁷ If I preach voluntarily, I have a reward; if not voluntarily, I am simply discharging the trust committed to me. ¹⁸ What then is my reward? Just this: that in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not make full use of my rights as a preacher of the gospel.

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    保羅為了福音緣故連生活所需都不放在考慮中，就是盼望福音能夠廣傳。然而他如此的付出，上帝並沒有虧待他，仍然讓他可以享受到從上帝來的恩典，沒有因缺乏而喪命，反而能到處傳福音，為主宣教、建立教會。

    目前好像走在十字路口中，但是保羅這段話，清楚標示了上帝僕人該走的方向：「我傳福音原沒有可誇的，因為我是不得已的。若不傳福音，我便有禍了。我若甘心做這事，就有賞賜；若不甘心，責任卻已經託付我了。既是這樣，我的賞賜是甚麼呢？就是我傳福音的時候叫人不花錢得福音，免得用盡我傳福音的權柄。」

    福音有「聖」的一面，就是我們不可利用福音來達成自己的目的，正如我們不可以將教會的服事拿來作表現自己的舞台，榮耀是上帝的，不是我們的！同樣，我們要為福音奉獻自己，不是拿福音來營利豐富自己，這是許多自以為是的牧者沒有想到的，以致於跌倒了，不能繼續服事上帝。

    願保羅的話——『我傳福音的時候叫人不花錢得福音，免得用盡我傳福音的權柄。』——隨時提醒，好能久久長長忠心服事上帝！