Whatever does the apostle mean? He means, we are like road sweepers. We don't have eminence, us preachers.
What preachers today should look for is self-mastery, making no provision for the flesh, sacrificing all for Christ, following the simple lifestyle of preachers. God enables pastors to be supported by the people of God, not to have to make tents, not to need to work with their hands. But that does not mean we go to the other extreme, and swing like the pendulum and become rich, and have fine cars and multiple homes. That is not Biblical behaviour for preachers. Simplicity and reasonableness is the standard.
And it goes for all Christians. Are you rich? Do you have a big salary? Don't give it up. Oh yes, there are Abrahams in the Scriptures, and many other wealthy people; don't give it up. Be a great steward; stick to simplicity, self-mastery, self-denial. Stick to what is reasonable. Run your business, whatever it is you do. Take your big salary, but be great steward. Don’t be ensnared by it. I knew very well a very wealthy farmer who had many farms, and farmed on an industrial scale, and was very successful, but he always said, ‘I pray constantly and daily to run my farms, and to run my wealth, and not let it run me.’ And he lived that way too. He was reasonable. You would have thought him, had you known him, reasonably prosperous, but you'd never have known he was a multimillionaire. He was a great steward too. That is the standard for us. Think of the apostles. Think of the example of Paul: simplicity and reasonableness.