I found an article on Crown.org and this snippet reminded me about a few situations I have seen in the past.
In our present American society, although some pastors and evangelists make extravagant salaries or raise huge sums of money to support an excessive lifestyle, ministering brethren for the most part are generally forced to live on far less than those in the secular world. Why shouldn’t pastors’, evangelists’, and missionaries’ incomes be comparable to those in the business world? Do we as Christians believe that God’s worker is not worthy to receive an adequate salary? “It is written in the Law of Moses, ‘You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.’ God is not concerned about oxen, is He?” (1 Corinthians 9:9).
Based on the Word of God:
- The requirement of every Christian is to supply the needs of those ministering for the Lord.
- We are to send them out in a way worthy of God. As such, pastors should be paid as much as the average member of their congregations. If pastors feel that they are being overpaid, it is their responsibility to distribute the surplus. “So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14).
- The church is admonished by God not to borrow money from non-Christian sources (3 John 6-7). The body of Christ is responsible for providing the funds that churches need to operate and to pay their staffs. “They have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. For they went out for the sake of the
Name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles” (3 John 6-7).
I have seen both sides of the situation. I have seen pastors struggle to keep up with their church because they are forced to work day jobs to pay their bills. And while working at a bank I saw the other side with a pastor misappropriating church funds to finance an extremely lavish lifestyle. It was interesting to see how God moved him out of that position.
Personally, my pastors have done so much for me and my family that I don’t think I could ever repay them. They have laid down their lives for the call and have been a tremendous example of living the life the way it should be lived.
I can’t imagine anything other than wanting them to be blessed and seeing them prosper in every area of their lives.
What about you?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
I saw a preacher one time ask the guy who collected the checks, “what was the biggest check you deposit each week?” The money man said, “$350″, and, the preacher asked, “Who’s is it?” He said, “It is yours!” The preacher said, I know there are many of you here that make much more than I. He easily made his point.
I think for the most part that pastors are underpaid for the great work they do. My wife was just sick and while she was in the hospital 2 of our pastors came to visit or were checking in with us. They were also actively praying for my wife constantly. It’s good to know that when you need them, they’re there. It makes tithing and supporting your church a whole lot easier when you know that the money is being used wisely by Godly men.
If we agree to the model that a pastor is a CEO, then yes, certainly pay him an executive’s salary.
However, have we gotten away from the Biblical model of what a pastor should be; keeping in mind that Paul was also a tent maker?
Consider this, as we’ve continue to move more and more towards the CEO model, the Church seems to be having less and less effectiveness in the areas of health, growth, conversion goals and retainment that were enjoyed adhering to the Tent-maker model.
Again, if we agree – and burden – pastors with a full-time set of duties, then pay them their full wage. However the downside of this is that the individual church member effectively “offshores” their duties as a believer onto the shoulders of the full-time pastor; creating a situation we have now where Church numbers are more based on shifting bodies from building/congregation A to B rather than making new disciples.
Paul also pointed out that he deserved the kind of support that Peter and the other apostles received, but he would not take it from the Corinthians so as not to be an obstacle to them. (I Corinthians 9). Yes, he deserves to be paid commensurate with his responsibilities. If he (or she) oversees a small church, then a small salary is in order. If a large congregation, then a large salary is order. I dare say a pastor of a large flock is more likely to be a large giver also as opposed to a secular CEO. (At least I would hope!)
Good comments everyone…
I am pondering the idea of paying pastors with smaller flocks less than pastors with larger ones… I haven’t really formed an opinion, I am just thinking it through…
I know when I was a member of a church of about 80 people, the pastor also worked as the sound guy, decorator, window cleaner and about 100 other things – where as a pastor of a larger congregation typically (I assume – I have never been one) could delegate more tasks and focus on leading and pastoring the congregation. Both are important, but the job descriptions of each are quite different…
I don’t know – I am just thinking out loud (or actually on keyboard
)
My problem with paying more for pastoring more bodies in the seats is sort of like paying programmers by how many lines of code they write, or journalists by the word.
An emphasis on quantity w/out measures of quality create a situation where pastors are encouraged to continue building mega churches by sucking the life and resources out of smaller churches … until they become so big they’re compelled to create satellites & groups … which are then cherry picked by other neighboring mega churches.
I’m still not entirely sure the CEO model fits, nor am I entirely convinced that Paul was making arguments towards creating full-time CEO like pastors. Otherwise, why all the surrounding writings about the rest of us pitching in w/talents and gifts through various titles of stewardship?
@Mean Dean
Good point.
I believe that God calls us all to succeed in life, but the difference is that it is not necessarily the world’s definition of success. For example a pastor’s success is not necessarily based on how large his church is. I think some churches are supposed to grow to be “mega” churches and some are to remain smaller (while still growing and thriving) …
As a seminary student (35 years old) with a wife and 3 kids to support, I’m looking towards a future expecting that life will be fiscally challenging. I also expect that like the lily’s of the field, God will provide for my family and that we will never go hungry. I don’t hope to drive a new car or own a big home, I expect to live life to its fullest and help teach others to live in the freedom that Jesus provides for us. I pray that I become an instrument for Christ’s will in this world.
Pray for your pastors, provide for their needs both now and in retirement, and if you love them, help them achieve some of their personal dreams (e.g. I’d love to travel to the holy land.) That’s all they really want.
Pastors should be paid in the same manner as those in the secular business world. Our pastor’s pay is determined by the span-of-control (he has a staff of 40) and budget outlay (our church budget is currently near $10M). He receives what we, as a church, feel is commensurate with anyone with those responsibilities.
We need pastors salary support us $ 5000 per month
1 Corinthians 9:14 – In the verses that follow, because you cut Paul off before he was finished with his point, he goes on to say that if he taught of his own free will he would deserve pay, but because he was compelled by the holy spirit to do God’s work, accepting pay would hinder his point.
3 John 6-7 – Not sure why this is brought up, it appears to be speaking about supporting missionaries. Your assumption in using this verse to support salaries is that it takes a lot of money to operate church functions. It takes 0 money if you operate church the way it was done in the new testament, which is how we are exhorted to continue via 2Th 2:15.
Often also cited is 1 Timothy 5:17-18, which says elders are worthy of double honor, which has nothing to do with money. Jesus referred to money as “unrighteous mammon” (Luke 16:11) and so to use it to honor someone would be kind of strange.
Old testament references are also often used, and to that it makes no sense to accept the free gift of Jesus’ sacrifice and then try to pay it off by going back to the same rules we were freed from. For one who is a prisoner of Christ, all money should be for God. Not under obligation toward a salary, but a free gift for those in need as directed by the holy spirit, just as Jesus freely gave his life.
Do you not give your whole life to God? Or do you just pay unrighteous mammon to one human being trusting him to use it instead of trusting God to direct you by the spirit? The veil was torn and we all have access to the spirit that Jesus sent after He ascended. All humans are equal under Christ.