But I buffet my body, and lead it captive, lest [after] having preached to others I should be myself rejected.
Paul pictures himself as an athlete in the games. He runs, he boxes, and above all he masters his own body. The verse ends with a hard word. The ESV calls it "disqualified"; older translations say "castaway." Does a preacher who lives carelessly risk being lost, or only lose approval as a servant?
The Athlete's Discipline
Paul takes his picture from the training ground.
The athlete is careful not to let his body master him. That was true in the Greek games of two thousand years ago. It is true in the contests today. The very opposite happens: he masters his body. He brings it under a very strict routine. He even buffets it with continual exercise. And all this to win a crown that quickly fades. Let us aim at the same things, only of a spiritual sort, so that in due season we may receive a crown that never fades.
What "Castaway" Means
The word behind it turns up elsewhere in the New Testament too.
In the New Testament the word is adokimos, "disapproved." It describes the wicked. It also describes those who enter the race and fail to reach the goal… It is translated "castaway" in 1 Corinthians 9:27. This seems to show that a man may preach the gospel to others and then be disapproved himself, failing to reach the goal through lack of self-discipline.
Two Readings of the Word
Commentators differ on how heavy that disapproval is. One reading takes it in the fullest sense: the person rejected, not just his work.
It means disapproved on trial, which may be absolute or relative… It seems to me very plain what the apostle means. He means a disapproval of the person, in the strictest and fullest way. This is not a mere condemnation of his service, but stands in contrast with it. He supposes that a man might preach to others with no flaw or drawback named. The work is all right — but the person is disapproved.
Others read it of service, not salvation. They divide what a man is as a child of God from what he is as a workman.
I believe the expression applies not to his future but to his present service. It applies not to his heavenly home but to his earthly path. It applies not to his eternal privileges but to his present responsibilities… The body is a good servant but a bad master. If a man does not keep it down, it will completely disqualify him as a servant of Christ from his high and holy work. A person may be a child of God and yet be "disapproved" as a servant of Christ.
Not a Threat to the Believer's Security
Even those who take the word at its strongest deny that the verse puts a true believer's safety in doubt. The point is not that a Christian may perish, but that talking and living must go together.
What Paul means is that he is not only a believer but is living like a believer, or he might be cast away like other people. I have not the slightest doubt that God will keep His people. They shall never perish… The point is that you must compete lawfully and by the rules. Now the rule of Christ is, you must live as well as talk, or else be afraid of the consequences. "For if you live according to the flesh you will die."
Why Paul Says "I Myself"
Paul could have aimed this at the Corinthians. Instead he puts it on himself.
Notice the tact of the apostle. When he has something unflattering to say, he prefers to say it about himself. When he has something pleasing to say, he loves to say it about others. So here he says, "Lest I myself become a castaway," not "you." He meant their profit, no doubt. He wanted the words to search their own consciences. If even Paul trained himself to keep a conscience free of offence, if Paul kept his body in subjection, how much more did these men need it?
Preaching Is Never the Proof
Paul ends with a warning to anyone who speaks for God.
Let us beware of preaching without practice, for the apostle warns us that it is possible to preach and yet be a castaway… Preaching to others is not everything. First we must be a Christian, and then a preacher, if called by the Lord.
Summary
- Train — Paul takes the athlete's discipline: master the body, do not indulge it, for a crown that never fades.
- Test — "castaway" means disapproved on trial, the opposite of "approved." A man can fail that test through lack of self-discipline.
- Debate — commentators differ. Some read it as the person himself rejected. Others read it as a child of God set aside only as a servant, as John Mark was for a time.
- Transfer — Paul puts the warning on himself, not on them, so that it would search their consciences.
- Practice — preaching proves nothing on its own. You must live as well as talk: first a Christian, then a preacher.