The Christian's Inescapable Obligation to Proclaim

Paul's assertion that he preaches under compulsion—anankē (necessity)—reveals a principle far deeper than apostolic privilege. The commission 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature' was not spoken to the eleven apostles alone, but to all generations of Christ's Church. Every Christian man stands under the same binding obligation that Paul experienced on the Damascus road.

Maclaren argues forcefully that this duty does not rest upon apostolic dignity but upon the explicit commandment of Jesus Christ. The permanence of the obligation mirrors the permanence of the accompanying promise: 'Lo! I am with you alway, even to the end of the world.' The promise and the precept are yoked together—where one operates, so does the other. To sun oneself in the light of Christ's perpetual presence is simultaneously to be bound by the precept of perpetual proclamation.

Yet Paul reveals a second motive transcending mere obligation: the desire to offer glad service beyond what duty demands. His laborious preaching, though toilsome and miserable, constituted only the minimum—his day's appointed work deserving no special praise. But he yearned for something more: voluntary service springing from love of the work itself, service that would give him 'somewhat to boast of' before his Master.

Here lies the transformation of obligation into joy. The Christian who grasps that proclamation is not an optional extra, but a binding charge from the risen Christ, discovers liberation. This very constraint becomes the framework within which authentic love operates—the framework within which service ceases to be burden and becomes delight.