1 Cor. 9:19-27, Using Our Inalienable Rights

For many, today is a day off from work, for the holiday (Independence Day in the USA) that fell on a Sunday.  Thus, I want to think on the matter of our “rights.”  The Declaration of Independence tells us that all men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” As followers of Christ, called to make disciples in all nations, how do we live this out?  We cannot help but notice that our Lord Himself, when enduring the numerous illegalities of His trials, before both the Jewish and Roman authorities, did not complain about them trampling His rights. 

If we look at the Apostle Paul, we get a better picture of this matter, as he had several opportunities to use his rights as a Roman citizen.  In that regard, he is like American citizens.  Let us review some of these situations, all taken from Acts.

·       13:50-52: At Pisidian Antioch he was run out of town.  He did not exercise his right to be there, but just shook the dust off his feet (something Jesus had told His Apostles to do, Mt. 10:14), and went on to the next town.

·       14:4-7: In Iconium he again encountered violence and fled.

·       14:19-20: At Lystra he was stoned (certainly a violation of his rights) and left for dead, except he wasn’t dead.  Again, he and the team moved on.

These first three incidents were on Paul’s first journey.  Barnabas, who may not have had the same rights as Paul, and yet shared the authority in decision-making on the team, so that may have been why they did not engage in a legal fight.  However, all that to me is unlikely.  The question of “rights” is not even raised in the text.  It would have been counter-productive to bring legal moves against the very people they were trying to reach with the gospel.  Christ promised persecution, and it was happening.

·       16:35-40: At Philippi, after being beaten and imprisoned for a night, Paul then used his rights as a Roman citizen to put fear into the local authorities.  If he had exerted his rights to prevent the beating, the jailer and his family would not have been saved.  By using his rights before they left town, Paul helped the church that would be left behind, giving them standing with the authorities.

·       17:5-9: The persecution at Thessalonica shows the value Rome put on keeping the peace.  These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.  The city rulers would do anything necessary to prevent this.

·       18:12-17: At Corinth, the Jews brought the Christians to court.  But the judge ignored the matter, determining it was a religious and not a judicial issue.

·       19:23-41: At Ephesus there was a riot.  The Roman way was to defuse the situation and to let it play out in the courts.

Again, in the second and third journeys. Paul did not use his rights to avoid persecution.  But you do see that Roman justice provided some protection for the Christians, since their troubles came mainly from the Jews.

·       21:37-40: Here, Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen so that he could have an opportunity to speak of Christ to the Jews in the temple area.

·       22:23-29: Again, Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen, this time to prevent abuse by the Roman commander.  This was good for Paul; it was also good for the commander who would have been in trouble had he proceeded.

·       25:9-12: At Caesarea, Paul exercised his right to appeal his case to Caesar.  It is conjecture as to why he did this, although I am confident he did it because he knew God’s plan was that he go to Rome. 

·       28: 16,30-31: While in Rome, in prison, Paul was allowed much freedom.  This was not because of his citizenship but because he had proven himself during two years in Caesarea as well as on the voyage.  He used this freedom to preach the gospel, both to the Romans and the Jews who came to hear him out.

I encourage you to think these things through.  But for me, I see that Paul did not particularly use his rights to secure better treatment.  Rather, he used them to gain more and better opportunities for declaring his gospel message.  In the use of our rights, we should make ourselves servant to all, that we might win the more.