Should a pastor that spends most of his time preaching and teaching get paid for what God has him to do? I know what the scriptures says about this, but would you pastor for free?

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Amen I agree to this.
Overseer the first year where you did not receive an offering where you working or just believing in God for what you needed?
You had some very good points God Bless
No Sir, i was not working. It was a complete walk of faith. A stressful & sometimes frustrating time because it was, and in some ways, still is a new experience for me.

Thanks
I just notice this discussion and would like to add a few things to it. Yes if a church is able too it should compensate not only the senior pastor but the pastoral staff as well.

Every pastor and church no matter the size would benefit from having ministry job description. The reason is as someone has stated before it aids with the expectation. As to can a pastor be laid off or fired that should be spelled out in the Bylaws of the church or ministry and also can be a part of job descriptions.

The next reason for a ministry job description is as the ministry grows you will not have to go back and look at what should or should not be happening and it is a great tool to use in the evaluation process for pastor and staff compensation. The reason that many churches don’t pay the pastor is that we pastors look like we live high on the hog. While many of the members struggle just to make it. If one is a bi-vocational pastor or tent maker as someone said, and the growth of the church is steady then there needs to be a move (slow a best) to bring the pastor on full time.
I used to be real laxed concerning pay for my role as pastor; but I realize now that I was doing more harm than good. Not only is it okay to be paid, but it is a duty for the church to ensure that their pastor is provided for. The problem however is with the term pay as perceived by most. It is not as much pay as it is provision. And, it is God who provides out of the finances the members are obligated to bring to him.

Of course, there is also the matter of tapping into the prophet's reward by sowing into the life of the man/woman of God. In economic crisis similar to ours today, the widow of Zarapeth found a solution in giving to the man of God - not withholding. God was doing a good job providing for Elijah, so he didn't need to retire the ravens and dry up the brook. However, he often creates opportunities for people who would trust him and benefit by sowing their insufficiency into the soil of his sufficiency.

I have been preaching for 21 years, most of them for FREE. And, I am passionate enough to preach even if there was no money to be gained. But, I would not pastor for free and thereby confirm that God will inspire a church he can't support with faithful people who reverence him.
I believe that a pastor should get paid for the word; however I don't think he should charge. What could a man pay them for saving there life.I believe if your teaching what thus saith the lord; he has no choice but to bless you. Ministry is not a job this is a way of life. If you are walking the walk then god knows what you have need of. Be Blessed.
You pose an interesting question.
Historically, Bible teachers were not paid, they volunteered their services out of love for their Creator and His word..

1 Tim 3:2 gives us this insight for our elders:

Therefore, an elder must be blameless, the husband of one wife,[b] stable, sensible, respectable, hospitable to strangers, and teachable.[c] 3He must not drink excessively or be a violent perklson, but instead be gentle. He must not be argumentative or love money.

Also, since NO congregation was lead by ONE elder, but a plurality of elders, who held jobs to support their families,
the work load of the congregation was split between the different elders, so there was no need to pay one to Pastor
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The current Protestant church leadership is patterned after that of the Roman Catholic Church, from which they have their spiritual roots. Pastors today are like the Catholic Priest who governs the church with much more authority than was Biblically authorized.

If churches would return to the multiple elder model, then there would be no need for a paid ministry, and each believer would take more responsibility for much of the "work of the ministry" upon themselves, doing more personal evangelism, discipling new members, visiting the sick, helping those in need etc. The tithe they spend to support a pastor, could be used as the scripture details for the widows, fatherless and stranger.

Where are the Biblical texts that indicate that a church should only have one Pastor who can expect to be fully supported by the membership's tithes. Remember the tithe, according to the Word, is not for New Testament Pastors, but from men who are blood line descendants of Aaron, who have no other inheritance on which to live. You won't find Jesus or any of the apostles asking for or collecting Tithes, since they were not of the seed of Aaron. Pastors have found that if they misinterpret scriptures and coerce people to tithe, that they are more likely to get the salaries that they want.

Check out my Group on tithing and you will see that the tithe, the way it is taught today is a false teaching from which those promoting it should repent.

If you disagree, please share with us the texts that indicate that a pastor who is not of the Aaronic bloodline should recieve a tithe. Also share with us where the tithe is from a person's wages.
There are just a few things that we should clear up first. Were did you fine the information that you stated? I would love to read it for myself. Next the Pastor or pastor/teacher is described by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 4:11 and “he” is to be the spiritual leader of the church. But you are right when you say that the Bible teaches that the church is to be governed by a plurality of elders as its leadership.

It must be understood that with in that plurality there is still one person where the buck stops. That man is called the pastor/teacher. The fact is that there are three books in the Bible written to the lead elder or pastor/teacher and should make the point very clear. The books are known as the Pastoral Epistles 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. Dear sister you stated that “The current Protestant church leadership is patterned after that of the Roman Catholic Church” This is not true nor is it from the Word of God. Church leadership is laid out for us in the in the New Testament Books such as Acts and the Letters of Paul, James and Peter. It is a fare statement to say that some in the church model their leadership after the Church in Rome but not all. Also to add that the Elder/Pastor should come from the Aaronic bloodline, then that cuts out the Disciples/Apostles and every one preaching today. As to the tithe it is before the Law.
Ge 14:19-20 He blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth; [21] And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand. "He gave him a tenth of all. NASU
Not only that but the Lord Jesus endorses the tithe when he said "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. The word others has in mind not neglecting the tithe.

The last thing that I would like to point out to you is the Biblical mandate to compensate the pastor and staff. Let me say this first I have been preaching now for over twenty three years and I have been a part of paid staff as assistant pastor, youth pastor and senior pastor. I have also worked hard at preaching and teaching and did not get a pay check. As a church planter I pastor my church now and do not ask for nor get a check. Am a school teacher and I love it.
But I teach that it is clear that the church help to meet the needs of the pastor and his family as the Bible teaches in “1Tim 5:17-18 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching. [18] For the Scripture says, "YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING," and "The laborer is worthy of his wages." This word (wages) (‎misthos) look it up in your concordance means just what is says: ‎pay for services. To God be the glory.
Pastor Sweet:
It looks as though we have to include the name of the person to whom we are writing, otherwise they might miss your response.
Regarding the tithe, lets go back to all the instructions regarding it.
It was in the Law of Moses, which you probably do not keep the rest of it, teaching that it was nailed to the cross, that the tithe was for the Levites:

Numbers 18:26 (King James Version)
Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even a tenth part of the tithe.

Since Jesus, nor Paul, nor Peter etc, asked for a tithe, since it would have been illegal for them to, why do you feel that people today should tithe to pastors who do not fit the Biblical mandate of being a Levite?

The tithe was also to be given to the widow, orphan and stranger. Do you divide the tithe between these categories of people as the Lord has commanded?

Tithing also, was not practuced in the Early Church:

Encyclopedic References regarding the history of Tithing as understood and practiced in the NT church:

The Encyclopedia Americana (s.v. "tithe"):
"It (tithing) was not practised in the early Christian church but gradually became common (in the Roman Catholic church in western Europe) by the 6th Century. The Council of Tours in 567 and the 2nd Council of Macon in 585 advocated tithing. Made obligatory by civil law in the Carolingian empire in 765 and in England in the 10th Century... The Reformation did not abolish tithing and the practice was continued in the Roman Catholic church and in Protestant countries (until it was) gradually replaced by other forms of taxation. The Roman Catholic church still prescribes tithes in countries where they are sanctioned by law, and some Protestant bodies consider tithes obligatory."

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Catholic Encyclopedia of 1912 p. 259 (s.v. “tithe”):

In the beginning [provision] was supplied by the spontaneous support of the faithful. In the course of time, however, as the Church expanded and various institutions arose, it became necessary to make laws which would insure the proper and permanent support of the clergy. The payment of tithes was adopted from the Old Law, and early writers speak of it as a divine ordinance and an obligation of the conscience. The earliest positive legislation on the subject seems to be contained in the letter of the bishops assembled at Tours in 567 and the Canons of the Council of Macon in 585.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia (s.v. “tithe”):
The early Church had no tithing system ... it was not that no need of supporting the Church existed or was recognized, but rather that other means appeared to suffice.

The New Catholic Encyclopedia (p.12):

"In the Deuteromic code the tithe is limited to grain. wine and oil (Deu. 12:6, 11, 17; 14:22). These texts more or less equate the tithe with other ritual offerings and sacrifices." [223] "No law of tithing is found in the New Testament, although the principle of church support is laid down in Matt. 10:10 (see also Luke 10:7) and echoed in 1 Corinthians 9:13-14."

The New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia (re: tithing history):
In the Christian Church, as those who serve the altar should live by the altar (1 Cor., ix, 13), provision of some kind had necessarily to be made for the sacred ministers. In the beginning this was supplied by the spontaneous offerings of the faithful.

[Please note that according to Catholic sources based on historical documentation, the saints including any leadership were supported solely by freewill giving, not the tithe, from the time of the Apostles and for about 500 years, until the Catholic church reinstituted it. They in fact became the appointed priesthood and in many places that were controlled by the Catholic church. It became a state or provincial law that tithing was required.

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According to can. 222 §1, in the Code of Canon Law, "The Christian faithful are obliged to assist with the needs of the Church so that the Church has what is necessary for divine worship, for the works of the apostolate and of charity, and for the decent support of ministers."
My dear brother I do not know what comment you mean!
Pastor Sweet:
I have further responded to your questions regarding the plurality of elders as the Biblical model in my blog:

One Man Pastors, Is this Biblical?
Sister Anna, I will read it and comment there, It may take me some time I'm at work. But what do think about the proof that was given! You ask for it but never address it.

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