§26 The Need for Discipline in Ministry (1 Cor. 9:24–27)
These verses form a transition in Paul’s writing. In these verses, Paul brings his discussion of apostolic rights to a conclusion; at the same time, he begins to reorient the subject matter so that he may return to the issues related to idol meat—eating and participating in pagan temple cults—in chapter 10. The lines are vivid and for the most part clear. Yet, Paul’s metaphors are inexact and should not, despite past practices in the life of the church, be allegorized or pressed beyond reasonable limits. In the context of this letter, Paul’s images and instructions form a pointed polemic. In brief, Paul takes up a set of athletic images as metaphors, explaining and advocating discipline. The problem elements of the Corinthian congregation assumed they “had arrived” and that they were correct in their thinking, but to these people Paul writes using athletic images to tell them to “run” (or, “fight”—see below) and to stay focused.
9:24 / Paul takes the readers on an imaginary and instructive trip to the games, a popular setting in antiquity for both participants and spectators. The Corinthians were well-acquainted with athletics and high-level competition since the important Isthmian games were held in their city every other year. (See the discussion of the city of Corinth in the Introduction to this work, pp. 3–5.) In this imaginary context, Paul writes of runners. He recognizes that runners race for a prize; that is, they run for a purpose. Yet, despite the intensity and effort of all the runners, only one wins the prize. Using this picture, Paul admonishes the Corinthians to an active and disciplined life. This is not a simple motivational speech to encourage people to happier existence. Paul’s call to purposefulness itself has a purpose.
9:25 / As Paul calls for the Corinthians to live purposefully, he moves back to the image of the race and recognizes how all those competing enter into strict training in preparation for competition and in hope of winning. Then, he turns the image to make an argument from lesser to greater: Athletes exercise discipline in their training and competing so as to win perishable crowns; Christians exercise discipline in the life of faith so as to get a crown that will last forever. In the ancient games, victors were awarded a wreath of leaves, pine, or celery to be worn as a temporary crown, and statuary from antiquity often presents persons wearing such an ornament and striking a victory pose. Paul’s concern is elsewhere. The contrast he makes is obviously between simple prizes and life itself. To import a phrase into the interpretation, one may say that Paul is referring to eternal life. He will return to the topic of the resurrection and resurrection life in chapter 15, but in this verse he alludes to that issue as the goal of current Christian living.
9:26 / Paul shifts images, moving from the runner to the boxer and saying that he does not “fan the air” in the style of an untrained fighter. In other words, Paul’s efforts are not aimless or futile. In their lives as Christians Paul’s readers are not to waste time and effort. They are to act with purpose. Appropriate Christian living takes definite direction.
9:27 / As Paul develops the metaphor of boxing, he says that rather than box the air, he works like an expert pugilist whose punches count because they hit their mark. In the exercise of his God-given life and commission, Paul is focused through discipline. His images and metaphors are engaging for many. Nevertheless, Paul’s final comments on boxing are almost shocking. He reveals that his opponent is himself. Surely this startling revelation is a lesson for the Corinthians, whose attitude leads to the kind of easy, self-indulgent living that merely presumes upon God’s grace and does not relate in obedience to God’s saving acts. Paul explains that he “blackens the eye of [his] body” lest he be disqualified himself—a sharp, strong word of warning to the readers about the necessity of devotion and steadfastness.
This tone of admonition and warning registers heavily at the end of chapter 9. Paul does not end his emphasis at this point, however, for the same tone and many of the same emphases reoccur immediately in the new images and lines of chapter 10.
9:24 / The vocabulary of this verse and the accompanying lines is somewhat technical, coming as it does from the world of the games. The last phrase in this verse, translated in the NIV with the words run in such a way as to get the prize, is ambiguous in spite of the analogical nature of the sentence. The Gk. phrasing (houtōs trechete hina katalabēte) may be rendered either “run in the same way [as the athlete] in order that you may win” or “run in such a way that you may win.” Whether they run like the athlete or with a purpose (the ideas are not antithetical), Paul wants the believers to conduct their lives with alacrity and deliberateness.
9:25 / Cf. 7:9, where one finds the only other NT occurrence of the verb egkrateuomai, translated here goes into strict training and at 7:9 as “control themselves.” It is important and instructive to note that in Gal. 5:23 the noun form egkrateia (“self-control”) appears in Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit. Moreover, see R. Garrison, “Paul’s use of the athlete metaphor in 1 Corinthians 9,” SR 22 (1993), pp. 209–17.
9:27 / The verb translated I beat (Gk. hypōpiazō) is related to the word ōps, which names the part of the face under the eye. Thus the verb means “give a black eye,” or when used metaphorically, “to deal a severe blow.” Given the picture quality of Paul’s language and discussion, perhaps one should translate with the English idiom “to beat black and blue” (so Orr and Walther, 1 Corinthians, p. 240).
The phrase translated so that after is also translated “lest after” in other versions; in any case the Gk. phrase mē pōs is strongly negative or prohibitive and should be understood to indicate strenuous objection. Moreover, the word translated be disqualified (Gk. adokimos) means “not pass the test”; such vocabulary and urgency suggest possible apocalyptic tone and emphasis for Paul’s directions in these verses—much like the emphasis in 7:25–31.