Grace Economics (1) (7)

Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown spiritual things for you, is ita great thing if we reap your material things? 1 Corinthians 9.8-11

A basic principle
In this text the Apostle Paul is taking the Corinthians to the woodshed because they failed to support him when he was ministering among them. He didn’t say anything about it while he was with them, but now he was trying to move them to give to the needy churches in Judea, and didn’t want their negligence or stinginess to lead them to rob their needy brothers and sisters as they had robbed him.

Paul served in Corinth for some 18 months, evangelizing the lost, teaching the converted, building the church, and training leaders. For the whole time he was there he was forced to hold a day job – making tents – because it didn’t occur to the Corinthians that they should support him in his spiritual ministry, even though many of those people were Jews and would have had at least a working knowledge of Old Testament Law and the requirement of supporting those who minister.

Now, in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul was trying to get the Corinthians to make a contribution to relieve suffering Christians in Jerusalem. As Paul later wrote to the Romans, after this gift had been collected and he was preparing to deliver it, it was altogether fair and proper for them to give it, since they had been blessed spiritually by the Judean believers (Rom. 15.26, 27).

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul was not auguring for them to catch-up with him on some unpaid salary; he had decided not to exercise his right to be paid for ministering. He was simply telling the Corinthians not to make the same mistake again.

Appeal to God’s Law
But notice how his argument proceeded: Paul appealed to the civil laws of ancient Israel, in particular, the law, in Deuteronomy 25.4, which says that you must not muzzle an ox while he is treading out the grain. The ox is working hard for you, so he should be allowed to munch on the grain in payment for his service.

It’s only fair, Paul went on to say, that those who work in sowing and harvesting should expect to reap some benefit from the crop. This in itself was an extension of the law from fairness to oxen into a general principle of fairness with respect to workers and their compensation.

But then Paul extended the principle even again, applying it to himself as a worker in spiritual sowing who should expect to be supported materially by those among whom he ministered.

Principles of law and economics
All the ancient laws of Israel contain principles like this, principles which, if rightly understood and faithfully practiced, could serve to bring more respect, fairness, justice, and love into the economic practice of a powerful nation such as The United States: more of grace and less of greed to our economic life.

Our approach as Christians must be, first of all, to demonstrate commitment and obedience to God’s Law as the Law of liberty, life, and love. We won’t have anything to say to the larger society if we continue to demonstrate indifference, or even scorn, toward the Law of God today.

Instead, we must take up daily reading and meditating in God’s Law, as the psalmist commends (Ps. 1). Then we can begin to isolate the various laws and group them under common headings, according to our economic situation and needs today.

Next, we should look to the prophets of the Old Testament and the teaching of the New Testament to observe any applications made of these laws; and then prayerfully discern the principles that have enduring application to economic practice in our day.

Now we will be put off by some of these ancient laws – such as those permitting the taking and keeping of slaves, as well as certain laws pertaining to capital punishment. But if we follow the principle of later revelation, as in the prophets and the New Testament, helping us to understand and apply earlier revelation, we will see that the New Testament, while it accepted the institution of slavery in its day, already laid the foundations for the abolition of this practice; and the death penalty, including the conditions of its use, is now the duty of the State, and not the believing community.

Learn from our forebears
Finally, we should look to the practice of our Christian forebears, to see how they understood the use of these statutes and rules in their day.

In every age of Christian history leaders within the believing community can be seen applying these laws in their day to address economic and other kinds of ethical questions. We can see in their practice both ways to derive the principles from those ancient laws as well as examples of how those principles might be put to work. By doing this diligently, faithfully, and prayerfully, we may prepare ourselves to make a positive contribution to the future development of the American economy, that it may be one based less on getting-and-spending and more on unalterable truth and love: less greed and more grace in our economic life.

For reflection
1.  Can you see why it is wise to read and meditate daily in God’s Law, as Psalm 1 recommends?

2.  How should we use the light of all Scripture to help us in ferreting out abiding principles from the laws of God?

3.  Meditate on Matthew 5.17-19, Romans 7.12, and James 2.8-12. Why is it so important that Christians begin to make better use of the Law of God, and not only for our economic life?

Next steps: Summarize in a few sentences what you have learned from this study, and from praying through the Law of God this week. Share that with a Christian friend today.

T. M. Moore

This week’s ReVision study is Part 6 of a 10-part series, “The Kingdom Economy.” You can download “Grace Economics (1)” as a free PDF, prepared for personal or group study. Simply click here. For a background study of Kingdom economics, order the book, The Kingdom Turn,  from our online store, and learn what it means to enter the Kingdom, not just talk about it.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.