1 Corinthians 9:1

Am I am not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord? (KJV)

Then: So who was Paul? Was he a person worth following? Rhetorical questions (self-evident and Fee, p. 392). The Corinthians already knew the answers, but Paul spent the next section of his letter explaining what his own rights were, why he gave them up, and how he conducts his life as a servant of Christ. Corinthians needed his "work in the Lord" as examples so they could go forth and do likewise.

Now: The harvest today is as needful of workers as it was in the time of the Corinthians. More and more people do not know the Lord or misunderstand the teachings. More and more publicly the Lord's person and work are scorned. His followers still desperately need leaders, teachers, and Paul's letters.

Extra source: The First Epistle to the Corinthians by Gordon D. Fee (Eerdman's 1987) online athttp://books.google.com/books?id=XlBp10nUTXAC&dq=Gordon+Fee+Bible+commentator&printsec=frontcover&source=in&hl=en&ei=SwLNSu3nA4v6Mf2XlDo&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=12#v=onepage&q=&f=false \