S. Michael Houdmann Supporter Got Questions Ministries

A church should definitely provide for the financial needs of its pastor(s) and any other full-time ministers. First Corinthians 9:14 gives the church clear instruction: "The Lord has commanded tha...

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July 01 2013 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Kelli Trujillo Supporter Loving Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Teacher, Musician

I whole-heartedly agree with everything that Mr. Houdmann presented as biblical support for pastors being paid a salary. He provides ample support from the Bible, so I won't belabor the points he made.

I do, however, want to offer my views as a former pastor's wife as to how difficult the job of a pastor is. I think that if people truly understand the incredible challenges that a pastor faces, those who don't think tithes and offerings should be spent on paying the pastor of a church a salary just might think twice.

First of all, whenever my husband was pastoring full-time, the job FAR exceeded a 40-hour work work. We never had a huge congregation, and we rarely had enough staff to help with a lot of the emergency calls we received in the middle of the night, when we were trying to enjoy a relaxing evening with our kids, when we were on a date, etc... We were basically on call 24/7. 

People expect the senior pastor to be available, and when you don't have enough qualified people on your leadership team to help with managing the various issues that arise at any given time, then it falls to the pastor to do so. 

Not only can caring for the congregation involve the pastor's personal time, it takes an emotional toll on him (or her) if he actually cares, which we always did. I can't tell you how many couples we carried in our hearts who were having marital issues; or how many sick people we interceded for; or how many suicidal people we counseled and prayed for; or how many people in need we arranged help for--often at our own expense, and the list could fill this whole page if I went on to tell you about EVERY personal need we addressed in our almost 40 years of ministry. 

When you truly love people and care for them, their burdens become YOUR burdens. I often think this is what ultimately caused my late husband's early death at 61, that he cared for so many people so deeply for so many years, and it took its toll on his heart and general health.

If you've never tried preparing a sermon and you think it's an easy task, I challenge you to do so. My late husband--and just about every serious, Bible-teaching pastor I know--spent DAYS getting ready for a 30-minute sermon. When he didn't have an office, he would need to go to a coffee shop where he could get away from the distractions of TV, the fridge, or people in the house, put his ear-buds in, and drown out the rest of the world so he could think clearly enough to study and rehearse his sermon.

But remember--he was on call 24/7, so often those study times would be interrupted by someone in need, or something would happen at home and he would need to set aside his study time and hope he could get back to it with enough time to finish it. 

James 3:1 warns that teachers need to be extra careful in how they handle the word: 

Not many [of you] should become teachers [serving in an official teaching capacity], my brothers and sisters, for you know that we [who are teachers] will be judged by a higher standard [because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly]. (AMP)

For this reason, taking the time to study the Word of God and preach it accurately is VITAL. Just this task in itself is MONUMENTAL, and VERY hard to do if a pastor has to work a layman's job to support himself as he tries to fulfill all of pastoral duties.

There is more I could say, but I will stop there. The bottom line is that serving as a pastor is a job like any other job--and perhaps much more difficult than others. It just doesn't make any sense that a pastor shouldn't be paid a decent salary and benefits for all that he or she does. I don't think they should be paid excessively, as some pastors are, but a caring pastor who preaches the truth is WORTHY of a wage that aptly cares for his/her personal and family needs.

October 14 2024 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Paula Fether Supporter Lifelong student of the scriptures

Consider 2 Cor. 12:14
"Look, for the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not be a burden to you, because I do not want your possessions, but you. For children should not have to save up for their parents, but parents for their children."

Then 1 Cor. 9:4
"4 Do we not have the right to financial support?" Yet in verse 12 Paul adds, "But we have not made use of this right. Instead we endure everything so that we may not be a hindrance to the gospel of Christ."

As for 1 Timothy 5:17-18, if "double honor" isn't about honor but a salary, who gets "single honor", and how much is that? The context goes on to refer to charges brought against elders, so if Paul wanted to talk about literal honor, how should he have expressed it?

We often backload our traditional "church" ideas into scripture. There was no "head pastor" but a group of elders (e.g. Acts 20:17, 21:17). The support Paul wrote about seems to refer to what we'd call missionaries today, people who have given up their means of income to spread the Gospel to the lost (not to the saved, i.e. a church service for the same people every week). We might also ask why only one spiritual gift is to be financially supported by all the others, who are all using their gifts free of charge. Not even the religious leaders of Israel were paid a salary, but supported themselves.

The scriptures simply never present any of the gifts of the Spirit as vocations. But by making one gift (pastor) into a job, the people have abdicated their own responsibility to "search the scriptures" as did the people of Berea (Acts 17:11). Were we all to return to a time when we were participants rather than spectators, questions of jobs and salaries would evaporate.

October 14 2024 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report