Pavao se odriče svojih prava
1Nisam li ja slobodan? Nisam li apostol? Nisam li vidio našega Gospodina Isusa vlastitim očima? Niste li vi u Gospodinu zbog mojega truda? 2Ako me drugi i ne smatraju apostolom, vama to sigurno jesam jer ste vi živ dokaz za to.
3To je odgovor onima koji osporavaju moje apostolstvo. 4Nemamo li pravo jesti za vašim stolom? 5Nemamo li pravo dovesti sa sobom ženu kršćanku,9:5 U grčkome: sestru. kao što čine i drugi učenici, Gospodinova braća i Petar?9:5 U grčkome: Kefa. 6Ili se samo Barnaba i ja moramo uzdržavati vlastitim radom? 7Koji to vojnik vojuje o svojemu trošku? Tko sadi vinograd a da ne smije jesti njegova roda? Koji to pastir napasa stado a da ne smije piti mlijeka? 8Ne govorim vam to samo po ljudsku, nego tako kaže i Božji zakon. 9Jer u Mojsijevu zakonu piše: “Ne zavezuj usta volu koji vrši žito.”9:9 Ponovljeni zakon 25:4. Mislite li da je Bog to rekao samo za volove? 10Nije li to rekao i za nas? Naravno da jest. Kao što žeteoci i vršioci rade u nadi da će imati udjela u žetvi, tako i duhovne radnike trebaju namiriti oni kojima služe.
11Zar je previše da mi, koji smo u vas sijali duhovna dobra, očekujemo požeti vaša tjelesna dobra? 12Ako drugi na to imaju pravo, nemamo li mi i veće pravo? Ipak, nismo se njime koristili, nego sve podnosimo da ne postavimo kakvu zapreku Kristovoj Radosnoj vijesti.
13Ne znate li da oni koji rade u Hramu dobiju od hrane koju ljudi donose u svetište i da oni koji služe pri žrtveniku dobiju dio žrtvenih prinosa? 14Jednako je tako Gospodin naredio da oni koji navješćuju Radosnu vijest od nje i žive. 15Ali ja se nikad nisam koristio tim pravom. I ne pišem vam to zato da bih to od sada činio. Radije bih umro nego se odrekao te odlike da propovijedam bez naplate. 16Propovijedanjem Radosne vijesti ne mogu se hvaliti jer mi je to dužnost. Teško meni ako ju ne propovijedam!
17Da to činim iz vlastite pobude, imao bih pravo na plaću. Ali ja samo vršim službu koju mi je Bog povjerio. 18Što mi je dakle plaća? Zadovoljstvo da propovijedam Radosnu vijest besplatno ne iskorišćujući svoje propovjedničko pravo.
19Iako sam slobodan i ne pripadam nikome, ipak sam svima postao robom, samo da ih što više pridobijem za Krista. 20Kad sam bio sa Židovima, bio sam Židov da ih mogu dovesti Kristu. Kad sam bio s onima koji se drže Zakona, i ja sam to činio, iako nisam vezan Zakonom, da ih mogu dovesti Kristu. 21Kad sam bio s poganima koji nemaju Zakona, bio sam poput njih koliko sam god mogao. Tako sam stekao njihovo povjerenje i mogao ih dovesti Kristu, ali nisam zanemario Božji zakon, nego sam bio poslušan Kristovu zakonu.
22S nejakima sam bio nejak da ih pridobijem za Krista. Svima njima bio sam sve ne bih li neke spasio. 23A sve to činim zbog Radosne vijesti, da i ja budem njezinim dionikom.
24Ne znate li da u trci svi trkači trče, a samo jedan osvoji prvu nagradu? I vi trčite tako da ju osvojite. 25Svaki natjecatelj živi suzdržljivo. Oni to čine da dobiju vijenac koji će istrunuti, a mi da dobijemo nagradu koja će vječno trajati. 26Trčim zato, ali uvijek prema cilju, a ne besciljno i uzaludno poput nekoga tko šakom udara vjetar. 27Stegom morim svoje tijelo i tjeram ga poput roba da ne bih, pošto sam drugima propovijedao, sam bio odbačen.
Paul’s Rights as an Apostle
1Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Haven’t I seen Jesus our Lord? Aren’t you the result of my work for the Lord? 2Others may not think of me as an apostle. But I am certainly one to you! You are the proof that I am the Lord’s apostle.
3That is what I say to stand up for myself when people judge me. 4Don’t we have the right to eat and drink? 5Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife with us when we travel? The other apostles do. The Lord’s brothers do. Peter does. 6Or are Barnabas and I the only ones who have to do other work for a living? Are we the only ones who can’t just do the work of apostles all the time?
7Who serves as a soldier but doesn’t get paid? Who plants a vineyard but doesn’t eat any of its grapes? Who takes care of a flock but doesn’t drink any of the milk? 8Do I say this only on human authority? The Law says the same thing. 9Here is what is written in the Law of Moses. “Do not stop an ox from eating while it helps separate the grain from the straw.” (Deuteronomy 25:4) Is it oxen that God is concerned about? 10Doesn’t he say that for us? Yes, it was written for us. Whoever plows and separates the grain hopes to share the harvest. And it is right for them to hope for this. 11We have planted spiritual seed among you. Is it too much to ask that we receive from you some things we need? 12Others have the right to receive help from you. Don’t we have even more right to do so?
But we didn’t use that right. No, we have put up with everything. We didn’t want to keep the good news of Christ from spreading.
13People who serve in the temple get their food from the temple. Don’t you know this? People who serve at the altar eat from what is offered on the altar. Don’t you know this? 14So those who preach the good news should also receive their living from their work. That is what the Lord has commanded.
15But I haven’t used any of those rights. And I’m not writing because I hope you will do things like that for me. I would rather die than allow anyone to take away my pride in my work. 16But when I preach the good news, I can’t brag. I have to preach it. How terrible it will be for me if I do not preach the good news! 17If I preach because I want to, I get a reward. If I preach because I have to, I’m only doing my duty. 18Then what reward do I get? Here is what it is. I am able to preach the good news free of charge. And I can do this without using all my rights as a person who preaches the good news.
Paul Uses His Freedom to Share the Good News
19I am free and don’t belong to anyone. But I have made myself a slave to everyone. I do it to win as many as I can to Christ. 20To the Jews I became like a Jew. That was to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one who was under the law. I did this even though I myself am not under the law. That was to win those under the law. 21To those who don’t have the law I became like one who doesn’t have the law. I did this even though I am not free from God’s law. I am under Christ’s law. Now I can win those who don’t have the law. 22To those who are weak I became weak. That was to win the weak. I have become all things to all people. I have done this so that in all possible ways I might save some. 23I do all this because of the good news. And I want to share in its blessings.
Training to Win the Prize
24In a race all the runners run. But only one gets the prize. You know that, don’t you? So run in a way that will get you the prize. 25All who take part in the games train hard. They do it to get a crown that will not last. But we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26So I do not run like someone who doesn’t run toward the finish line. I do not fight like a boxer who hits nothing but air. 27No, I train my body and bring it under control. Then after I have preached to others, I myself will not break the rules. If I did break them, I would fail to win the prize.
