No Purchase Necessary
1 Corinthians 9:13–15 - Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting.
In early 2020, Laura and I were in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic when the resort offered us a free couples massage. All we had to do was sit through a brief timeshare presentation. I believed the words “free” and “brief.” That was my first mistake. When we told one person no, they sent us to another person. We told that person no, and apparently someone else needed an opportunity to hear it too. Three hours later, we were still trying to finish the “brief presentation.” Then came the massage. They told us it was for one person. I argued that we were promised a couples massage, which ordinarily requires a couple people. After more discussion, we eventually got what they had offered. But by then, we had spent three hours saying no and arguing over the thing that was supposed to help us relax. Whatever that massage was, it certainly wasn’t free.
Experiences like that teach you to listen for the catch. The next time someone offers you something, you wonder what they actually want and how difficult it will be to decline. And some people bring that same suspicion to Christians. When we invite them to church or offer to help, they wonder whether our friendliness will eventually become pressure. Will we want money? Will every conversation become another invitation? If they say no, will we still care about them?
Paul’s concern about hindering the gospel helps us take those questions seriously. He spent much of this chapter establishing that those who proclaim the gospel deserve financial support. Receiving it would be legitimate. Yet in Corinth, he chose not to exercise that right, and he makes clear that this letter isn’t a roundabout way of asking them to pay him. He wants people to hear about Christ without his own financial claim becoming an obstacle. In verse 18, he describes the opportunity to present the gospel “free of charge” as his reward. That makes sense, because the message itself announces grace. Jesus bore the cost of our reconciliation when He gave Himself at the cross, and He rose to bring us into life with God. We receive that salvation by grace through faith, and there’s no payment we can contribute to His finished work.
Following Jesus will change our lives and call for costly obedience, but that obedience is our response to His grace. It’s never the hidden bill for being welcomed. This is easy to say, and it’s also surprisingly easy to obscure. We obscure it when we show interest in someone only while they seem likely to attend church. We obscure it when every conversation becomes a progress check on whether they’re moving toward the response we want. The person may begin to feel that our care has an expiration date. But genuine friendship has room for an honest no. You can invite a neighbor to church and still enjoy their company if they decline. You can answer questions without requiring them to agree by the end of the evening. You can bring a meal during a hard week and let it remain a meal, freely given.
That doesn’t mean we become indifferent to whether people trust Jesus. Their response to Him matters deeply. But we can’t produce faith by making friendship conditional, and we don’t help someone understand grace by attaching an obligation to every kindness. Jesus’ love gives us somewhere to bring the disappointment when an invitation is refused. We can ask Him to keep our concern warm and our motives honest, because He’s able to work in a life beyond what we can observe or arrange. Perhaps someone needs to discover, over time, that you really do care about them. The good news you hope to share says that Christ gives to people who can’t repay Him. Your next act of friendship can help make that generosity believable.
Head: Ministry deserves support, while salvation remains God’s gift and must never be presented as something to purchase or repay.
Heart: Does my interest in someone weaken when they don’t respond spiritually as I hoped?
Hands: Reach out to someone who has previously declined an invitation to church. Enjoy a conversation or offer practical kindness without making another invitation the condition of your attention.
Prayer: “King Jesus, thank You for bearing the cost of bringing me to God. Expose any hidden conditions I might have attached to my care for others. Give me the freedom to love without controlling the outcome. Make Your generosity visible through my kindness today. Amen.”
-PK