PAID

1 Tim 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." NASU
** It’s amazing how far we have come in the church today considering paying our pastors and workers. When I was younger and also depending where you are located in the country, people expected pastors to be bi-vocational. That means to have a job outside of the church to meet their financial needs because the church shouldn’t be burdened with the pressure of paying the whole pastors salary. They often wondered why their pastor burned out so quickly and then just ushered in the next poor sap that was ready to move in to the church prison…. I mean parsonage and pastor. Notice that all church parsonages were located right next door to the church so the church could work the pastor and his family 24 hrs a day and they could be available at anytime. OUCH! Even when I worked as a pastor in Alabama, that idea was still swarming around. Now I know a pastor is to be dedicated to the ministry but let me share some things with you from a pastors life. First of all, there is rarely any privacy at all in a pastor’s family’s life. EVERYTHING we do is usually visual or will be visual in one way or another. I can’t buy a car or a house or anything that may show how I spend my money without knowing that someone is thinking something about my decision to buy it. No close friends. There is no way I could share everything that is on my mind with anyone in the church I pastor because they will either try to fix me or would judge me and think different of my ministry position. Ministry is a very lonely place. I do however thank God for a wife that stands beside me as my best friend and also a friend in another town who I can share most everything with. Our pay for most of my ministry life is so below poverty level that I we didn’t go and get an outside the church job, we would not be able to go anywhere or do anything for enjoyment purposes or for relaxation.
OK….. so you know a few things but not because I expect more but because people just need to know. I now pastor a church that has honored me with the freedom to receive a good salary and have some privacy where they are not calling or knocking at my door every minute. Thanks CFC for your honor and faithfulness to me and my family.