In the previous verses that I shared with you at the end of
part one, Paul clarifies that we are not supposed to force
people to pay us in any way, before we are willing to share
the Gospel with them; yet this is exactly what some of these
modern preachers are doing, such as the person who inspired
this series. In their haste to justify their actions, some
of these unscrupulous people who commercialize our Christian
faith will quote the last verse where Paul says "Even so hath
the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should
live of the gospel". However, what they neglect to point out
is that a few verses earlier, Paul also states "Nevertheless
we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we
should hinder the gospel of Christ". In other words, Paul is
clarifying that while they could use their position as the
Lord's Apostles to force people to give them money, or to
provide them with whatever other needs they may have, they
refuse to exercise this Apostolic authority, because to do
this could hinder the furtherance of the Gospel.

A few verses later, Paul again verifies that it is better to
suffer personal need for the Gospel's sake, than to exercise
his power as an Apostle of Christ, and demand payment for his
preaching services. Rather than become a selfish shepherd of
the Word who will only share the Gospel with those who are
willing to pay for it, Paul clearly states that he prefers to
make the Gospel of Christ known "without charge", as we see
here:

"What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the
gospel, I may make the gospel of Christ without charge, that
I abuse not my power in the gospel."
1 Corinthians 9:18, KJV

Sadly, as we have already seen, to our shame, today there are
many of these money-making Bible hucksters who have chosen to
ignore everything below verse fourteen; and I suspect that at
least some of them do it because they know that those verses
expose their sins of selfishness and greed. I encourage you
to take the time to read the whole chapter so as to obtain a
better understanding of exactly what Paul is saying in these
verses.

One thing that is certain, is the fact that because Paul was
not willing to charge money for preaching the Gospel, he was
willing to "suffer all things", because he simply didn't want
to hinder the propagation of the Gospel of Christ. We know
from the Book of Acts, as well as from some of the Epistles,
that Paul and his companions often suffered as a result of
being ambassadors of the Gospel of Christ. Not only was both
verbal and physical persecution common, but sometimes, they
also lacked their own physical needs. This is made quite
clear for us in passages such as the following:

"We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ;
we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are
despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and
thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain
dwellingplace; And labour, working with our own hands: being
reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being
defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world,
and are the offscouring of all things unto this day."
1 Corinthians 4:10-13, KJV

"Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in
whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both
how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and
in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be
hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all
things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
Philippians 4:11-13, KJV

If Paul was charging money for his preaching services, if he
was earning filthy lucre as he shared the Gospel of Salvation
with people, why would he even make such statements? He would
have all of his needs met all of the time, right? It becomes
obvious then that he wasn't asking for anything in return. He
was seeking first the Kingdom of God, and simply trusting God
to touch people's hearts to share with him, just as he was
sharing his spiritual riches with them, as he stated in his
Epistle to the Corinthians. It was an exchange of spiritual
blessings for physical needs.

What a far cry from the glitzy, well-groomed, fast-talking
preachers of our current time! So we see then that people who
make such demands on their flocks are in contradiction to the
Scriptures. They are not following the financial plan of the
First Century Church, and they are abusing their position as
ministers of God's Word. In fact, this kind of behavior is
probably what Peter was referring to when he stated that we
should not be "lords over God's heritage", as we see in the
following verses. Please notice again that Peter states that
we should not preach the Gospel for personal gain -- or for
filthy lucre. Peter is clearly making a connection between
preaching for our own personal gain, and being lords over
God's heritage:

"Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the
oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for
filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords
over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. And
when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a
crown of glory that fadeth not away."
1 Peter 5:2-4, KJV

It seems then that Peter and Paul were very much in agreement
regarding this particular issue of commercializing our faith.
They shared the belief that fleecing the sheep was not God's
financial plan for the First Century Church. So exactly what
was God's financial plan for the Early Christians? Well, as
the old adage goes, "Where God guides, He will also provide".
In looking at the New Testament, we learn that the Disciples
of the Early Church made ends meet through a variety of ways.
Primary among these was their sharing of the goods or money
donated by new Disciples, as well as others who believed in
and supported their work. Consider the following verses:

"And all that believed were together, and had all things
common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted
them to all men, as every man had need."
Acts 2:44-45, KJV

"Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many
as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought
the prices of the things that were sold,"
Acts 4:34, KJV

In a later chapter, we discover that when a congregation in
one place had more than was actually needed, it would share
its surplus with a congregation in another city. For example,
consider how Paul and Barnabas were sent to help the Elders
in Jerusalem:

"And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified
by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout
all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius
Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his
ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which
dwelt in Judaea: Which also they did, and sent it to the
elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul."
Acts 11:28-30, KJV

Thus we see that the early followers of Christ practiced a
pure form of Christian communism. They lived communally, and
they shared everything according to each person's need. Yet
in spite of this straight forward financial plan that's laid
out for us in the pages of the New Testament, there are many
Christians today who will say "Oh, that was for back then; we
cannot possibly live like that today. Life has become far too
complicated."

While this may be partially true, I remain convinced that two
factors which contribute to this problem, is our own lack of
faith and trust in the Lord, as well as the extremely selfish
lifestyles that we lead. This makes Christian communal living
more difficult to achieve today. There have been Christian
and non-Christian organizations which have attempted it; and
they have been successful for a number of years. Eventually,
however, it seems that selfishness and materialism creep in,
and some of them don't last. What likewise hampers Christian
communal living is the fact that the secular world frowns
upon any group of people who choose to live in this fashion
due to their common religious or philosophical beliefs, or
simply to save money, or for whatever their reasons. Just try
it, and you will quickly be branded as a dangerous cult by
"respectable" civic and religious leaders alike. Before you
realize it, government agencies like the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Child Protective Services,
etc., will be after you, looking for reasons to discredit
you.

If you are interested in reading more about the Early Church
Plan, I encourage you to read my companion article "Where
Are The First Century Churches?" The point is, God can and
will provide today, just as He did two thousand years ago,
if we only have the faith to believe. After all, as we are
told in the Scriptures:

"Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may
be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the
LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven,
and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room
enough to receive it."
Malachi 3:10, KJV

"Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
Hebrews 13:8, KJV


Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS  Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23
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