Did Paul really mean that church workers should "make their living from the gospel" in 1 Cor. 9:14?

I had the privilege of presenting some of my research findings on how pastors were paid in the New Testament at the Free Methodist Church in Canada's General Conference Toronto, ON this weekend. My presentation focused on answering the question posed in the title of this blog post. My short answer is no, the text does not mean what we have assumed. 

In short, here is how I supported my conclusion:

The text says, "In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel." (1 Cor. 9:14 NIV)

1. The Greek text is better translated, "from the gospel, live." In other words, Paul was not saying that gospel workers were supposed to be paid to preach. Rather, they were to be sustained by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Jay Mowchenko

2. The surrounding verses and chapter are about eating and drinking. In those texts Paul specifically addresses the consumption of food sacrificed to idols. Therefore, I propose that Paul writes to clarify about receiving food and drink, and hospitality generally, not wages in this section of 1 Cor.

3. Referring to "the Lord's command," to which Paul refers, is somewhat unclear in it origins.  It could be oral tradition but it likely refers to Jesus' statement in Matt 10:10 or Luke 10:7. While these two texts vary somewhat, including the term used for "wages," the context appears to be related to receiving hospitality, including food and drink, for itinerant preachers. Whether Paul's Corinthian text is only related to itinerant pastors is a mystery to me right now. 

There is much more to unpack here; I'll save it for a future presentation. The conference was the first time I had the chance to expound on my tentmaking and multivocational ministry research for pastors and non-academics. I'm looking forward to future opportunities.      

Special thanks to my friend and Briercrest Seminary colleague, Dr. Jay Mowchenko with whom I had the honour of presenting. Our workshop was called CoVo: A History and Invitation to Thriving in CoVocational Ministry.

Multivocational Ministry Book Project

Back in November, 2022 I set out on a journey to research and write a book on multivocational ministry. This was my rough Table of Contents (without strike-throughs):

Chapter 1
Biblical accounts of multi-vocational ministry
Chapter 2
History of multi-vocational pastoral ministry
Chapter 3
The multi-vocational life: the types of pastors needed
Chapter 4
The multi-vocational church: preparing your congregation
Chapter 5
The multi-vocational denomination
Chapter 6
The multi-vocational seminary

Now, my first two chapters have become my whole project. After only a few months diving into the history of the pastoral vocation, I was excited to wake up early to read and write. I started with a book from my historian colleague, Alan Guenther, called God's Ambassadors: A History of the Christian Clergy in America, and worked my way backwards. In December of last year I arrived in the New Testament. I have unearthed fascinating findings that have lead me to question my previous assumptions about pastoral work and the early church. My current research question, did the apostle Paul intend for congregational leaders to be paid full-time by their churches? is being met with a tentative, not likely. But, I have more research to do. I'm not sure how far outside the first few centuries I will get but the biblical and contextual research I've already found are likely going to comprise my first two chapters.

 

My original ideas (chapters 3-6) could likely become part of a series of books on multivocational ministry. I am fairly confident that the biblical and historical story I've started to write, the evolution of the pastoral vocation from tentmaking to full-time profession, could easily be assembled into one book.

 

A few weeks ago I started listening to The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors by Laura Portwood-Stacer on Spotify. It is an excellent book and I am looking forward to implementing Portwood-Stacer's wisdom as I assemble my portfolio then reach out to presses to find someone to publish my work. I am hoping to start posting here more regularly about my progress toward the goal of finding a press to publish my work. Portwood-Stacer has an eighteen step process culminating in submitting a proposal to an academic publisher. This week I am working on Step 2: Research and Evaluate Target Presses. I have already signed up for press catalogues so I can get a good sense of my book's potential fit at each. Stay tuned and feel free to reach out and let me know if you find this helpful.