Should a Pastor, Pastor a Church for free

[Pastor Lorenzo Edwards]

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?

[Archbishop Trevor 'Elihu' Greene]

Amen, thats so true. However, my standpoint is not "Pastor, will you work for free", my standpoint is to address the people and ask "will you be faithful and take care of the Shepherd?", because Pasturing for free should be optional. 1st Corinthians 9 shows that Paul had the option because as an Apostle, it was his right.

The people should be willing to take care of the leader. The fact of "if the provision is present" is not the question, but "if the hearts of the people are for taking care of the leader" is the all-too-often unaddressed matter.

[Archbishop Trevor 'Elihu' Greene]

I TOTALLY agree. Missionaries get the LEAST amount of funding. According to a report I read (Understanding The Five Fold Ministry by Matthew Green), in I believe 2002 the Western Church (thats us) had an annual revenue of $18 trillion. 1% was given towards missions.

[Minister A.D. Belfor]

True.

[Pastor Steve Robinson]

I was a bi-vocational pastor for 7 of the 10 years since I have become a Sr. Pastor. In those prior years to me becoming full time I received a modest stipend. Money received was always contingent upon the overall financial health of the church. As our church grew they we are able to pay me a salary at which time I left my secular job. The salary the church was able to afford was 1/2 of my corporate salary without benefits.

I have a wife and a young son at home and it was very difficult that 1st year of being full-time. Even today it is difficult as the church pays me 60% of what I was making and still without benefits. If I wanted to make money I would never have left my secular job.

The amount of people and their willingness to give determines the level of care offered to the pastor. I have also seen pastors say that the church should take care of him and his family before they pay the bills at the church. That is a recipe for disaster.

One of the statics I recently read is that only about 4% of born-again believers pay a tithe. I believe if the church members actually practice tithing most churches would not struggle financially. Whenever I hear people say that tithing is Old Testament it tells me that have a problem giving. In fact the New Testament teaches everything belongs to God. Are we willing to sell what we own and bring it into the church?

Believe me tithing is the minimum we should give. The government takes a double and triple tithe from our salaries, doesn't God and His church deserve the same consideration.

[Prince Danny]

Are the Kings and Priests of Christ, anointed to be paupers? No.. If the Church is not supporting their Shepherd, they are not being fed correctly..

[Eric Hancock]

that makes since

[Archbishop Trevor 'Elihu' Greene]

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Believe me tithing is the minimum we should give. The government takes a double and triple tithe from our salaries, doesn't God and His church deserve the same consideration."

Almost the exact words that I said, and yet it was argued against!! Hmmmmm.....

[Prince Danny]

Yes, for even the Ox gets to eat some of the grain, from the grounds to which it labors...I would labor for free but If I sow the seed, I expect a harvest..

[HILARY B. WIAGBE JR]

The Tithe Belongs To Ministers
If the tithe belonged to the ministers of the Old Testament (and it did), then 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 makes it clear the tithe belongs to ministers under the New Testament, also.
1 CORINTHIANS 9:13-14 NKJ
13 Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar?
14 Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.
The key phrase is "even so" in verse 14. This refers us back to the way it worked under the Old Testament.
NUMBERS 18:21 NKJ
21 "Behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tithes in Israel as an inheritance in return for the work which they perform, the work of the tabernacle of meeting.
A main reason for the Gospel of Jesus Christ not spreading further, has been a lack of funds in the hands of those who had the most desire to see the message spread: the preachers.
Preachers, God has made provision for you to have an abundant supply. More than enough to do all that God has put in your heart to do. But the devil has been stealing it. Whose fault is that? Ours. We have allowed him.
God gave ministers the tithe. Because we have not preached prosperity and tithing enough, so people have faith to do it -- we have been robbed of it.
Some say preachers would get too much money if they got the tithe. That is exactly what the devil thinks! The devil fears, maybe more than anything, God's workers having much money. He knows what they will do with it.
God's attitude is much different. Look at these verses.
PSALM 35:27 NKJ
27 Let them shout for joy and be glad, Who favor my righteous cause; And let them say continually, "Let the Lord be magnified, Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant."
1 TIMOTHY 5:17-18 TEV
17 The elders who do good work as leaders should be considered worthy of receiving double pay, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
18 For the scripture says, "Do not tie up the mouth of the ox when it is treading out the grain," and, "The worker deserves his wages."
Will you preach and practice what the Bible teaches, or will you, because of fear, stick with tradition?

[Archbishop Trevor 'Elihu' Greene]

Tradition in fact goes AGAINST not supporting the ministers of GOD my brother! Tradition was that the priest, monk, minister or whatever lived within the very house of GOD, and all that the people brought forth was for the care of the house of GOD and the ministers that lived there. Tradition says that the traveling Evangelist practically held up a sign saying "Will preach for food"!

Ministry according to the Bible is not even salary based.....its COMMISSION BASED. If a man does not work, he does not eat. Give, and it shall be given unto you. These are the very verses and more that empower a person to eat from their ministry. To work for free sounds nice and good and righteous, but its not Biblical at all. GOD will not let anything you do go unnoticed and without compensation here and in the Kingdom to come.

Good post my brother/friend....

[FITZGERALD]

I WORK FULLTIME FOR GOV, AND I PASTOR FREE.

[Archbishop Trevor 'Elihu' Greene]

Well thats all good for you, my brother. I work for the government too: Ambassador for the Kingdom of Heaven. As an Apostle, I see that I have the right to actually be paid for my line of work. In fact, it serves as an advantage for the ministry, because I do not have to divide my time between ministry work and secular work.