Paying Pastors

I used to struggle with the idea of pastors and preachers getting “paid” for their services. I used to think that because the gospel is free, then those presenting the gospel should do it for free. I even felt strange about paying Christian artists and authors for their music and books. I thought they might be using Christianity as a marketing gimmick; a method of making money off of a very specific, sensitive and passionate audience; an audience who is so hungry for God that they are quick to shell out loads of cash to experience more of him and to learn more about him. But Paul helped me to adjust my thinking about such things. He said in First Corinthians, chapter 9, verses 7, 11 and 14:

“Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink the milk? (verse 11) If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? (and verse 14) In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.” 

Paul is clear. He said, “the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel”; that if they have sown spiritual seeds among you, is it too much if they reap a material harvest from you? I can attest that over the years, my pastors have sown spiritual seeds in my heart. The words that God speaks through them has helped correct me, teach me, and encourage me. The passion that they bring to the pulpit and the hours they spend pouring over the Bible is distilled in a way that is relatable is powerful. And when we pay our tithes; once we put our money into the offering plate it is no longer ours, it is Gods. And it is God’s plan that those who preach the gospel should be compensated. They should receive their living from the gospel. Most believers don’t have a problem with this model. But others may. It could even be a stumbling block to those who are seeking God. To them, I would say that we need to read, and understand, the words of Paul. When God calls believers to give their lives to the mission and ministry of preaching the gospel in a powerful and effective way, they do not have time to earn a living apart from the ministry. And the Bible reminds us that they shouldn’t have to.

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“The Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.” Though this is true, and I no longer struggle with the concept of pastors being paid to preach the gospel, it can still be a stumbling block for me. I’ve said it before and I still hold to this line of thinking, that money always muddies my perception of someone’s motives. Because I can find myself asking questions like, “are they doing what they are doing only because they are getting paid to do it?” “Would they choose to volunteer their time, like they ask the congregation to do, if they weren’t getting compensated?” “Is pastoring just a job to them?” “What are their motives?” When believers evangelize or use their talents for free, I never question their motives. In fact, their motives are crystal clear because they are doing the work of the Lord without getting anything in return. But God has given us a pattern to follow. Paul said that, “the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel.” So if you struggle at all with this command, I challenge you, as I challenge myself, to trust God’s plan. Regardless of their motives, God can use them as a vessel to train, encourage and correct us. Even still, we should always practice spiritual discernment like the Bereans did, who when Paul preached, “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”

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Join Together Constantly

In Acts, right after Jesus ascended, the first church was “hardcore” in its mission, and the people of God were fervent in their efforts to stay connected with the Father. They constantly met together and prayed together. Their lives revolved around their common faith in Christ our savior. Today, many believers meet once a week for church. Some may be a part of a Bible study or a youth group. Others may be a part of a prayer group or participate in some form of ministry. While others may find it not important to meet at all. But I would argue that the body of Christ should examine what the early church did and try to incorporate some of the practices that helped them, as a community, to have a healthy relationship with God and with their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. After Jesus ascended, it goes on to say in Acts, chapter 1, verse 14:

“They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” 

Has group prayer become a forgotten, or unimportant, practice within the church? One of the main activities highlighted after Jesus left the disciples was the importance of gathering constantly in prayer. If you and your church gather often for prayer, that is great. No matter how often you do it, it would likely help to do it even more, not less. And for those who aren’t gathering at all, I would encourage you to examine the early church. I believe that we, as a body, need to return to prayer, understanding the power behind it and the necessity for it. When we don’t pray, it is as if we are saying to God that we don’t need him, that we can handle things quite well on our own. Because it isn’t only when things are falling apart that we should pray to God. Jesus prayed constantly, Paul said that we are to pray continually, and the early church understood that joining together constantly for prayer should be a priority. So I would challenge you, as I challenge myself, to reverence individual prayer, and to pursue group prayer. Press into God by speaking to him often. There are prayers that are most appropriately prayed in private, but there are also prayers that are likely most effective when prayed in a group. In either case, it is every believer’s mandate, and privilege, to constantly communicate with our Father, much like the church of old.

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If you have a spouse, significant other, or someone in your life that you love, I’m sure you would agree that it would be difficult to go even a day without communicating with them. When you are separated by distance, you may call, text or FaceTime them just so that you could see their face, hear their voice, or know that they are safe. Why, then, does it often times take a catastrophe for us to talk to our heavenly Father? Why don’t we purpose to meet together often and pray to our God? Might I suggest that it is because we are not following the pattern set by the early church; that we have become too busy and preoccupied with life; or that our dependence on God is growing cold? Meaningful and lasting change takes time. So I would encourage you, me, and every believer, to take steps toward a more consistent personal prayer life, and to engage in every opportunity to join together with others to pray. Because if it was modeled for us by the early church, it might just be important enough to practice today.

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Likeness

If you were to reflect on your life up ’til now, would you say you are proud of who you’ve become? Is who you are now the person you want to be? I’m not referring to whether you have the job, family or popularity that you’ve been striving for. I’m talking about your inward man or woman; who you are as a person. I would guess that for most of us, the answer would be “no, we are not the person we’d like to be”. The first step in taking the journey of reinventing or modifying yourself is to consider who want to be like. Who do you currently respect? Who do you want to emulate? My hope is that your answer is Jesus. He is our teacher and our master. He modeled how we are to behave, how we are to think and how we are to live. None of us will be carbon copies of Jesus, but we can take what we know about him and pattern our lives accordingly. We can choose today, and make efforts tomorrow, to be like him. Jesus said in Matthew, chapter 10, verses 24 and 25:

“The student is not above the teacher, nor the servant above his master. It is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebul, how much more the members of his household!” 

Who is the head of your household? It is typically the father who sets the pace in most homes. But each and every one of us can decide which teacher and master to follow. Even if Jesus isn’t modeled by those in your house, you can still take on his likeness in your life and your heart. So, who do you want to be? Who is your role model? Jesus said that, “it is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters.” I hope and pray that your teacher and master is Jesus himself, and that it is your goal to be like him. Because when referring to Jesus, God the Father said, “this is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Do you want to please God? If so, the simple answer is to be like Jesus.

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Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” If Jesus is the way, then we should follow his path. We should follow his example. We should be like him. Because in Matthew 10, Jesus explained that, “it is enough for students to be like their teachers, and servants like their masters.” What does it look like to be like Jesus? Step one is to find out who he is. Read the Bible, especially Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, the first four books of the New Testament, and examine the words and deeds of Jesus, himself. Because to be like someone, we must first get to know them. Step two, is to ask the Holy Spirit to help you to be transformed into his likeness. It is counter-culture and counter-human to be like Jesus. We can’t do it on our own. That is why Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit, to help us in our journey to be like our teacher and master on this earth. So I would encourage you to take steps to becoming like Jesus. For you, the first step may be allowing the Holy Spirit to birth that desire in you; to show you that a life in Christ should be the end goal for all of us. Because each and every one of us, whether we are a believer or not, would like to hear the words the Father spoke when referring to Jesus when he said, “this is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

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Know The Times

Todays meteorological technology can warn us of several types of natural disasters before they hit. It can map out storm patterns, predict when it will rain, and forecast conditions days in advance with a great deal of accuracy. Even without equipment, we are able to sense when it will rain and make educated guesses about when it will be hot, muggy, chilly or freezing. We know these things because we can interpret the signs. In Luke, Jesus explains that there are others signs that we should be able to interpret as well; signs of the time as it pertains to our spiritual present and future. He says in Luke, chapter 12, verses 54 through 56:

“He said to the crowd, ‘When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot.’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” 

When we read the Bible, sometimes we forget that the story isn’t over. There are many events that haven’t happened yet, but have been prophesied. By paying attention to the news and changing culture, we can also discern where our nation and world is heading in the short term. Just like we are able to sense when it is going to be hot, we should be able to discern the spiritual temperature of the times. We should be able to see the warning signs threatening believers in our nation and around the world. When you hear the words that Jesus spoke in Luke 12, what comes to your mind? How do you see the world evolving spiritually? We know how the story ends. As believers, we can pray for Jesus’ swift return, or we can pray for him to delay so that others might be brought into the fold. In either case, we should be able to discern that the time is short, that for the most part, the church is drifting further away from God, and that the rate of our spiritual destruction will either hasten Jesus’ return or bring about revival.

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In Luke, Jesus helps us understand that we should not be ignorant of the times. He also told us that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. There is work to be done, even in these times. Some might say, especially in these times. This is not the time to grow apathetic, distant and cold toward God. It is time to rekindle our relationship with him, to press into him and to be about his work. Whether it is your prayer that he hastens his return, or that he delay for the lost, our mandate doesn’t change. How do you interpret this present time? What signs are you seeing that would indicate the spiritual temperature of our nation and our world? As the body we need to wake up. If a frog is put into a pot of water and the water is brought to a boil, it will slowly die without even knowing it was in danger. But if a frog is thrown into a pot of boiling water, it will jump out and save its life. Are you slowly boiling to death, not realizing that our culture is drawing you away from God. Or will you allow the Holy Spirit to shock you with the truth of the time in which we live so that you can be on point for the kingdom? Ultimately, the choice is up to us.

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Forgiving God

The God of all creation is faithful, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. He loves us with a jealous love, which is one of the reasons why he will correct us when we sin against him. You may have heard the phrase, “don’t bite the hand that feeds you”, meaning that we shouldn’t hurt the one who helps us. Though this is a wise sentiment, it is in our nature to sin against God, our redeemer. But thankfully, it is in God’s nature to love us and to ultimately forgive us even when we’ve disobeyed him or have made him angry. I believe this applies to us in our personal relationship with God as well as collectively as a nation. The book of Lamentations highlights this truth this way in chapter 3, verses 31 through 33 which says:

“For men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief on the children of men.” 

Though individually, thousands of believers faithfully follow Christ, as a nation we have turned our back on God. We are not the only nation. There are several others around the world who have all but abandoned the faith, have worshipped other gods, or have embraced paganism. But God loves us. And in his love he may correct us in ways that are uncomfortable. He has done it in the past, in many ways he is doing it now, and if we persist, he will do it in the future. It is to our benefit that God loves us so much that he will not leave us to our own devices. He will give us every opportunity to repent. This is also true for us individually. The Bible reminds us that it is not his desire that any of us perish. In our disobedience, he may turn his face from us in our rebellion, or he may show compassion on us in our brokenness. But one thing is for certain, he is for us, he does love us, and it is his desire to be in right relationship with us. Lamentations says, “for men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief on the children of men.” So I would encourage you to pray for our nation and our world. And if you are away from the Lord, I encourage you to pray for forgiveness, because God is compassionate and his love is unfailing.

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It is true that God is slow to anger and abounding in love. But it may take God’s hand of correction to bring us back in right relationship with him. None of us wants to feel the disappointment or anger of the Lord. But tough love is still love. And there are times when that is exactly what we need to save us from destruction. But Lamentations reminds us that “men are not cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief on the children of men.” So I would challenge you, as I challenge myself, to embrace these verses as a warning to us individually and a call to prayer for our nation. We need to humble ourselves before the God who loved us so much that he sent his son to die for us. We do not want to bite the hand that feeds us, so to speak. True believers want to love him, honor him, worship him, and obey him.

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