Why don’t preachers follow Paul’s example and not accept pay for preaching?
Question:
In I Corinthians 11:1, we are commanded to follow the example of the Bible, so why don’t preachers today follow Paul’s example and not take money for preaching so as not to hinder the Gospel of Christ?
Reason I ask this question is because from 1950s-1970s preachers were ranked by majority of people to be the most trusted profession but today is at an all time low! Mostly due to the public perception that most preachers today only do it because it’s an easier job than working a regular job. For the money, in other words. The way the public perceives preachers directly impacts the church's witness and the spread of the gospel. (The very people the church should be trying to reach)!
Now I’m not putting all preachers in this basket because I’m sure there’s some who work a job, support themselves and their family, and don’t charge the church. The Bible teaches us that just because we have the right to do something doesn’t mean we should!
Thank you.
Answer:
So did you offer to work for free? "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 7:12). I suspect that you saw that your efforts had value and were worth payment.
Thus, you completely missed Paul's point:
"Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock? I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things? For it is written in the Law of Moses, "You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing." God is not concerned about oxen, is He? Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope of sharing the crops. If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar? So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel" (I Corinthians 9:7-14).
Paul argued forcefully from several directions that preachers should be paid for their efforts. You, sitting on the sidelines, want to insist that a preacher who accepts pay is not a good preacher. That position contradicts what Paul stated.
Your position also ignores the fact that Paul did receive pay for preaching (Philippians 4:15-18). Paul preferred working in places where other preachers had not reached (Romans 15:20). When working in a new area, Paul declined pay from those he was teaching so that it did not look like he was preaching solely for the money; however, he still received pay from other congregations that he taught in the past. "But I have used none of these things. And I am not writing these things so that it will be done so in my case; for it would be better for me to die than have any man make my boast an empty one. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me. What then is my reward? That, when I preach the gospel, I may offer the gospel without charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel" (I Corinthians 9:15-18). Paul saw this as a way of thanking Christ for his salvation. He was ordered by Christ to preach (Acts 9:15-16). He had no real choice in the matter. But, by declining to be paid by those he was directly teaching, he could turn his assignment into a voluntary effort. You want to turn what Paul did voluntarily into a required hardship.
What Paul did doesn't apply to preachers today. For example, I took a severe paycut when I left programming to become a preacher. Most of the preachers I know could make far more money in the secular world and have a much more stable job situation; yet, for the love of Christ, they dedicate their lives to spreading the good news. None of us is preaching because Christ directly ordered us to preach. I work two jobs to make ends meet. I know many other preachers who do the same. So, where is your appreciation of these men? "But we request of you, brethren, that you appreciate those who diligently labor among you, and have charge over you in the Lord and give you instruction, and that you esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Live in peace with one another" (I Thessalonians 5:12-13).
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