⁷Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the gospel of God to you without charge? ⁸I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you; ⁹and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.

Tongue in cheek, Paul continues his rebuke of the Corinthians, adding satire to his repertoire of teaching methods, all with the goal of getting through to them. The intensely personal tone here reflects the intimate love he has for the Corinthians. The one who wrote, “Love … is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant” (1 Cor. 13:4) has been showing them how ridiculous the clothes of anti-love look when he, the apostle, puts that suit on. He also wrote, “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor. 13:7). Paul continues to love the Corinthians.

So he asks the silly question of whether he sinned by being humble when he was with them. His humility was evident in that he preached the gospel free of charge, with no financial support from them. Things then were just like our world today. A person who spent as much time as Paul did visiting Corinth and writing letters surely must be expecting a financial remuneration of some sort. How often today do we expect to hear the financial appeal at the end of a radio or TV preacher’s message? But Paul took nothing from the Corinthians! Everything he did was for their benefit. Other churches supported him, and he satirically called that robbing them so he could minister to the Corinthians.

To be sure, an apostle or preacher needs financial support or else he could not do the job God has sent him to do. Paul admits he suffered need when in Corinth, but he adamantly refused to be a “burden to anyone.” Yet like all of us, Paul needed to eat; he had daily expenses of life. We do know that while in Corinth Paul hooked up with Aquila, a fellow tent-maker, the implication being that their occupation drew them together (Acts 18:1–3). And in Ephesus, Paul said to the elders from there, “I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me” (Acts 20:33–34). But in Corinth, the Macedonians abundantly “supplied [his] need” (vs. 9).

Paul’s rebuke was intended to prompt the Corinthians to repent of the fleshly boasting and their resistance to his apostolic authority, and to spur on their generosity to give to the needs of the suffering saints in Jerusalem.

Lord, I commit to supporting Your workers and those who are suffering.