Subscribe to Every Post:Should Pastors be Paid?
This past Sunday I taught a message from the first half of I Corinthians 9. In this section of the letter Paul makes a case as to why pastors should be paid but then explains why he gave up that right while ministering to the church in Corinth.
I don’t think I would ever specifically choose this passage to teach on if I was randomly selecting passages. However, when going through a book study, you cannot just skip an entire section because it seems awkward. This is both the beauty and the difficulty of teaching through a book of the Bible.
I have to admit I was very inspired by Paul’s willingness to relinquish his rights to compensation for a greater good at the church in Corinth. I spent some time really thinking and pondering this thought. What if the church didn’t pay anyone for the purpose of some greater good?
I probably should not be asking these kinds of questions because it is somewhat self-incriminating. Throughout Scripture, and certainly within this particular passage, pastors who devote their time to minsitry should be paid by the ministry.
Has the church today become too professional, however? What if as an experiment I didn’t get paid for a year? I would certainly have to seek income elsewhere, probably work a different job on the side, and I would spend far less time in ministry. Would this hurt or help the church? Hmmm …
This line of discussion is getting a little uncomfortable for me. I better get back to my senses. After all, isn’t the Christian life about comfort and conventional wisdom?
May 8th, 2008 at 8:47 am
“Isn’t the Christian life all about comfort and conventional wisdom?”
Ouch.
Great post. Definitely makes you think.
Brad Ruggles
http://www.bradruggles.com
May 20th, 2008 at 8:15 am
It’d be an interesting experiment. My prediction is that a.) you’d get another part time job and be bi-vocational and b.) the community would fill in the major gaps financially for you and your family. What a humbling challenge.