to keep calm and to do nothing

1Cor9 shows the humanity of Paul. Yes, he claims himself the least of the apostles, but really. You create flocks and bring the Good News to much of the known world, and that humility (while not false), not true. So one might think of Paul as a saint without struggle, one who -- unlike the ball-dropping post from yesterday -- asks for his props to be set on fire.

But 1Cor9 gives a small glimpse of human frustration. The rhetorical start seethes with underlying tension. The defense he begins in v3 reads more like rant than instructive epistle. But what's amazing is that by v17, he has focused his frustration to the reason he does what he does. Given that he always has the opportunity to stray from the path and embrace the world, why does he do what he does. And v19-27 is the answer in some of the most poetic prose in the Word, and a call for all to focus and persevere, and to do what he has done -- leave the frustrations to this world, breathe, breathe, leave the frustrations to this world and focus on the reason for all.