Make Tents or Make Disciples
This entire passage of scripture is something I've been meditating on for months now. Paul gives a treatise to the Corinthians about paying him for preaching. While he was there with them, he worked a job. In Acts 18 we find he met two people - Priscilla and Aquilla who were "tent makers." Paul apparently had this skill as well so they became room mates and worked together making tents.
The Corinthians must have asked about Paul's rights as an apostle (missionary/sent one) and pastor because he explains he has all the same rights as the Apostles in Jerusalem. As a visiting missionary leader in the church he has the right to a place to stay and eat among the people, he can be married (the Corinthians were really confused about marriage - read chapter 7) and he has the right to earn a paycheck for his work among them - actually getting paid from their tithes and offerings. Apparently the Corinthians must have thought Paul and Barnabus were no different from with respect to their status as Pastors and Leaders (elder/shepherd/bishop-Apostle) than any other person in the church and therefore had no right to get paid.
Paul appeals to the scriptures and common sense: The NLT reads:
7 What soldier has to pay his own expenses? What farmer plants a vineyard and doesn’t have the right to eat some of its fruit? What shepherd cares for a flock of sheep and isn’t allowed to drink some of the milk? 8 Am I expressing merely a human opinion, or does the law say the same thing? 9 For the law of Moses says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” Was God thinking only about oxen when he said this? 10 Wasn’t he actually speaking to us? Yes, it was written for us, so that the one who plows and the one who threshes the grain might both expect a share of the harvest.
11 Since we have planted spiritual seed among you, aren’t we entitled to a harvest of physical food and drink? 12 If you support others who preach to you, shouldn’t we have an even greater right to be supported?
Think about it. What if our Army was in Iraq and Afghanistan working in the markets, stores, and oil fields to earn money to pay for their uniforms, food, and combat gear? I worked on farms. We ate part of what we grew. It was cheaper than selling everything and then purchasing those items again at the grocery store. But these are human things - so Paul appeals the the scripture to get the spiritual side of things. He actually quotes Deuteronomy 25:4
" 4 “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain."
It would be unfair and inhumane to an ox to force it to toil on a grindstone without allow it to eat to gain strength. Paul then goes on to say likewise he and Barnabus as pastors in Corinth have the right to be paid. In fact because of who they are and the time they spent there, they had more of a right than say Peter or James who might come through for a visit from time to time.
He again appeals to the old testament scripture showing that the temple priests made their living off the offerings of the people - and likewise those who labor in the gospel should be supported by it. In fact he says it this way:
14 In the same way, the Lord ordered that those who preach the Good News should be supported by those who benefit from it.
It is a commandment of Jesus Christ to be financially cared for by the Church that gets the benefit. WOW! Paul refused this right - even saying so that he would rather die than take money from the Corinthians and lose his right to "boast" about it. He wore the fact that he was a "tent maker" and worked for the church for free as a badge of honor. In fact in 2 Corinthians he chastises them again over this and says he "robbed" other churches so he could preach to them!
2 Corinthians 8: Was I wrong when I humbled myself and honored you by preaching God’s Good News to you without expecting anything in return? 8 I “robbed” other churches by accepting their contributions so I could serve you at no cost. 9 And when I was with you and didn’t have enough to live on, I did not become a financial burden to anyone. For the brothers who came from Macedonia brought me all that I needed. I have never been a burden to you, and I never will be.
I think Paul genuinely loved the Corinthian people. He gave up everything to see them come to Christ. Its such a shame to see how they returned the favor. But thats another story.
So what about today. Bi-vocational pastoring or "Tent Making" is what I have done since we started Crosspoint in 2002. I didn't take a dime in salary until 2007 when we moved to the theater. I went full time for a while but the church was unable to sustain supporting me and growing. I volunteered to go back to work without taking a salary and did so for quite some time. Then I took a small "stipend" to help pay for transportation. We had only one car and working was hard that way. Then I found a job where I could work half time and get insurance and the church took on roughly 45% of my salary.
We are now at the position where the church has grown so large it is virtually impossible for me to continue to work 20 hours a week in the workplace AND lead the church through it's next phase. At some point the church must do what Jesus commands and I must make my living from the tithes and offerings of the people. Not only myself. We also have a few "Barnabus'" on our team who must earn a living.
I think this is one of the biggest traps of a bi-vocational church planter/pastor. It is rarely ever clear when and how a transition from part time to full time should be made. Depending on the church planting model and the organization that planted the church (denomination, mother church, church planting network) there can be a lot of factors that have to be considered. Mostly it comes down to this though: Are the people willing to be obedient to scripture in tithes and offerings and at what point is there enough income to support the pastor and his family. If not this will be a never ending thing.
The next question will be how much do you pay a pastor? Shouldn't he live modestly among the people - even showing piety. Perhaps. Perhaps not. This is very much culture driven and mission driven. The question for the church isn't - "How little can we get away with paying our pastor so he won't leave us?" The question is "how much do we believe in our pastor and his vision and how well do we want to care for his family?"
Using the same passage in Deuteronomy 24, Paul writes to Timothy in 1 Timothy 5: (NIV)
7The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."
"Double Honor" - What is that? Double should be clear. Honor is the greek word "timhv" or transliterated "time" (Pronounced Tee-may") It means price. In other words the Elders over the church are worthy of double pay. There is no command to pay them twice the average salary of their congregation or community but thats basically what it says! The NLT says it this way:
17 Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” And in another place, “Those who work deserve their pay!”
Pastoring is one of the most stressful and challenging jobs on the planet. Fewer than 10% of people entering vocational ministry retire from the ministry. The stress and low wage coupled with the high expectation and quite literally living in a "glass bubble" take its toll like no other job. I'm not saying other jobs are not stressful. CEO's of companies, business owners, Head Coaches, Physicians and even home school moms who save money cutting coupons all have a level of stress. But there is something about the pastorate that is different. The spiritual warfare and accountability to God for the lives of each individual is a heavy burden to bare.
That said - I really believe that eventually in the life of a church that grows, the pastor moves from bi-vocational (maybe a tentmaker taking no wage even) to part time to full time and eventually if he is getting the job done to a role much like that of a CEO or Head Coach of a football team. And his pay should reflect that. And if that pastor is truly getting the job done and making more and more disciples - the stress will go up - his leadership level will have to rise ahead of the organizational structure and size of the church - and the way he is compensated will adjust too.
To use the football coaching analogy - a high school coach probably earns some for coaching and teaches in the classroom for the rest of his pay. In larger schools with bigger programs he may have a larger staff and therefore smaller classroom duties. He gets paid more - because he is able to lead a larger staff, and build a more talented football team. Same with a Division 1 coach vs. a Division 2 coach. Nick Saban earned $400,000 for winning the BCS Championship this year. That's on top of his 4 Million dollar salary. Is Nick over compensated? The return on this investment in a high caliber leader pays off for the university in attracting the best faculty, students, athletes in turn bringing research dollars and revenue from other streams that increases the capacity of the University of Alabama to turn out quality graduates that make our state and nation a great place.
The same thing is true of a Pastor. High caliber leaders in effective churches cranking out leaders and disciples who change communities and even impact the globe are worth paying "well" - in fact I would say their salaries, bonuses, and benefits should probably be at least on par with other highly compensated people in the community - doctors, lawyers, CEO's etc...
I doubt as a Pastor I will ever be worth 4 Million dollars. There may be some who are - and I bet they give way more than 10% and way more than 40 hours to the ministry too. But I'll close with this. I firmly believe that as a Pastor, when the church can support it, he should at least be paid what his skill and leadership level would earn in the marketplace. We have a long way to go at Crosspoint. No one on our team gets paid this way. In 2010 we will begin a shift however to make sure this happens. It starts with the lead pastor. Then as we can sustain it, we will work to ensure that every single person who works at Crosspoint are paid a fair wage with benefits. It will take time to get there but according to scripture, this is a commandment of Jesus - and not an option.
My time as a tentmaker is drawing to an end. I would not trade it for anything and have no regrets what so ever financially. The sacrifices I was able to make freed up funds to do ministry like no other in Decatur and hundreds of people have been impacted. I believe we are just beginning and 1000's will have their lives changed. But we have reached the transition point. In fact we went way past it. The lesson I did not learn is how to sabbath and rest so that the workload would not make me sick and ill. I have learned that lesson the hard way recently and I am taking the steps necessary to be worthy of taking a salary from God's people. The future excites me and I cannot wait to see what happens as we follow God's plan for His church and make heaven a little more crowded!
Created over 2 years ago
