The True Minister Sacrifices Self-Interest

The second trait of a true minister from Paul's defense of this own ministry in Chapter 11 is that a true minister of Christ does not labor for personal gain. For Paul this meant his decision to sacrifice his lawful right to receive money for the Corinthians for his service. It is obvious that the false teachers in Corinth worked for their own gain, which was not limited to the money they received. Those ministers who have a divine calling and are furnished by Christ for the performance of their calling do not enter the ministry for money, or because they want an easy life in preference to the highly competitive and often painful world of business, or because of their love of learning, or because they want to be respected by men. The sermon shows that as was the case in Corinth, there are many ministers today who are in the ministry for the wrong reasons--at bottom, reasons of self-interest. Such are not true men of God. Christians are exhorted in this sermon to be under the ministry of men who are disinterested in terms of personal gain, which may mean one's looking in out-of-the-way places.