by Perry Hall<\/p>\n
Men should not preach to get paid; men should be paid so they can preach. There is a fundamental difference in that statement:<\/p>\n
Supporting a preacher is not about paying for a sermon – if it were, I would have been paid more per half hour (or 45 minutes!) than most plumbers make in an hour! Supporting a preacher is about freeing a man from other means of working so that he has the time to devote himself fully to the ministry. That is what Acts 18:5 means:<\/p>\n
“When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself to preaching the word<\/em>” (Acts 18:5 CSB).<\/p>\n
“It seems likely that they brought gifts of money from Macedonia to Paul which relieved him for a while from having to work at tentmaking for his living. Instead, he can give all his time preaching the gospel” [Reese, Acts, p.642].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Paul stopped making tents with Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:1-3). While working a “regular job,” he still preached. He “reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks” (Acts 18:4). With financial support, he could expand his preaching from just one day a week to “full time” to use a modern phrase.<\/p>\n
Congregations who think:<\/p>\n
\n
- “If you go on vacation, you aren’t ‘working,’ so no ‘paid vacations,'” are thinking fleshly. Yes, I have heard this said. That model can work in the business world because businesses only pay for the time “on the job.” I’ve held bible studies via text while standing in line at Disney World. I didn’t say, “Nope, I’m on vacation.”<\/li>\n
- “If you preach a gospel meeting and are paid by the other congregation, you aren’t working for us, so no salary that week.” Again, yes, I have heard this said. That congregation thinks they are paying for sermons instead of supporting a preacher (I Corinthians 9).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Preachers who think:<\/p>\n
\n
- “I will be happy to hold you a gospel meeting,” thinking that as long as I am paid, I also have the wrong attitude. If you are already being paid for your time by a home congregation, this frees you to preach – even for others for “free.”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
If the first line still doesn’t make sense, try this: Men don’t preach so they can be paid for the time delivering the sermon. Men are paid to have free time to study, prepare, and preach in the pulpit and elsewhere. When asked where I preach, my favorite answer is, “Anywhere and everywhere; any time and all the time.” I can say that because I am paid so that I can preach.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Perry Hall Men should not preach to get paid; men should be paid so they can preach. There is a fundamental difference in that statement: If someone preaches to get paid, the emphasis is on the preacher wanting to receive money from the congregation for the time that he preached. If someone is paid…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1511],"class_list":["post-68556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-preachers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":27630,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-preacher-be-paid-through-accounts-payable-or-payroll-and-how-are-his-taxes-handled\/","url_meta":{"origin":68556,"position":0},"title":"Should a preacher be paid through accounts payable or payroll, and how are his taxes handled?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Should a preacher be paid through accounts payable or payroll, and how are his taxes handled? Answer: \"Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel\" (I Corinthians 9:14). Paul argued in I Corinthians 9 that those who preach the gospel\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7841,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-preachers-only-be-supported-if-they-are-in-need\/","url_meta":{"origin":68556,"position":1},"title":"Should preachers only be supported if they are in need?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: This subject came up in our budget meeting last night. The brethren proposed to increase the pay for our gospel meetings and our spiritual weekend events. I objected. I am in agreement with the scriptures used in\u00a0your address\u00a0regarding supporting the work of the Gospel. I stand on this: It\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34711,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-a-man-be-picked-as-a-preacher-who-is-pouting-because-he-wasnt-picked\/","url_meta":{"origin":68556,"position":2},"title":"Should a man be picked as a preacher who is pouting because he wasn’t picked?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The preacher of a congregation developed some health problems and one of the men who served as song leader stood in during the preacher's absence. He thought he would be chosen after the death of the long-time minister, but he wasn't. He then has refused to do a talk,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":93183,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-dont-preachers-follow-pauls-example-and-not-accept-pay-for-preaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":68556,"position":3},"title":"Why don’t preachers follow Paul’s example and not accept pay for preaching?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29246,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-purpose-of-preaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":68556,"position":4},"title":"The Purpose of Preaching","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 30, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: Nehemiah 8:1-8 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the past, we have talked about various positions or duties in the church (elders, teachers) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Today, I would like to address the purpose of preaching. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There seems to be much confusion about what a preacher\u2019s duty is \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Many denominations refer to their ministers as pastor,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":20258,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/when-hard-hearts-need-hard-words-of-truth\/","url_meta":{"origin":68556,"position":5},"title":"When Hard Hearts Need Hard Words of Truth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry W. Benton The preacher was all alone in his stand for truth and right because the assembly had become so worldly, and now he was the \"troubler in Israel\". He was so discouraged that he decided to quit preaching. He was miserable when preaching the truth because no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/02\/HardHearted.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68556\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}