Quote:
Originally Posted by good samaritan
Did Paul work his entire missionary journey’s to support the poor, or was he speaking to the elders of Ephesus specifically.
2 Corinthians 11:7-8
7...... Have I committed an offence in abasing myself that ye might be exalted, because I have preached to you the gospel of God freely?
8......I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service.
Was Paul working with his hands or receiving wages for ministry.
Just like Paul, ministry must use wisdom and also remain flexible.
Wisdom tells me, that I should teach established saints to support the work of God. It is not a teaching I would use to evangelize the lost.
Flexibility tells me I need to adapt to the abilities and resources of my present field of labor. I would give up the small salary I receive tomorrow if my church family had need for me to do so.
I think these where essentially the things Paul was teaching |
Brother, take a look at the Greek words for "robbed" and "wages".
Robbed means "to plunder, as in spoils of war", and wages comes from two Greek terms that mean "meat" and "to purchase". Later, the term came to refer to ration-wages for soldiers, that is, the monies, like a stipend, given to Roman soldiers by their commanding officers so they could buy themselves food.
Paul therefore meant that he demanded and collected foodstuff, i.e., rations and supplies from other churches to share with and support the Corinthians.
We must be careful not to anachronistically take the modern definition of English language terms, and apply those modern definitions to 16th century English, or worse, to 1st century Koine Greek.
2 Corinthians 11:7-8 therefore has nothing to do with income.
See:
https://biblehub.com/interlinear/2_corinthians/11-8.htm
https://biblehub.com/greek/4813.htm
https://biblehub.com/greek/3800.htm