The Scripture readings I am doing right now are all from the letters of Paul. I am reading his letters and trying to put them into the context of the story told by Luke in Acts. I am presently re-reading 1st Corinthians. Any commentary I make is in italics.
1 Cor. 8 - Since “gods” other than Yahweh really do not exist, Paul is not troubled by eating food sacrificed to them. They are illusory. But if others are troubled, then one ought to refuse so as to preserve the good conscience of one’s brother or sister in the Lord.
The note in the NAB is very good: “Paul urges them to take a communitarian rather than an individualistic view of their Christian freedom. Many decisions that they consider pertinent only to their private relationship with God have social consequences. Nor can moral decisions be determined by merely theoretical considerations; they must be based on concrete circumstances, specifically on the value and needs of other individuals, and on mutual responsibility within the community.”
1 Cor. 9 – Paul insists that he is “an apostle”—he has seen the risen Lord; this church is his work “in the Lord.” People who work for the gospel have a right to be supported, but Paul does not claim it. In an exercise of the same “communitarian” ideal mentioned previously, he does not exercise this right because he thinks it might create obstacles to some he is attempting to reach. He is also still dealing with the boasting question—the boasting or self-inflation of those in the community who think their grasp of the gospel gives them a certain status or aura—grasping the gospel, embodying the gospel, representing it in any way puts a burden on you to serve it, not boast about it. His “freedom” in the gospel makes him want to be its slave, and that means he must try to be all things to all men—he must try to communicate the truth of the gospel to all manner of men so as to “win” them. We are after an imperishable crown, not an earthly one.
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