To The Tithe Challenging Preachers Paul Had A Job: I may not be a trained speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have shown this to you clearly in every way. I preached God’s Good News to you without pay. I made myself unimportant to make you important. Do you think that was wrong? I accepted pay from other churches, taking their money so I could serve you. If I needed something when I was with you, I did not trouble any of you. The brothers who came from Macedonia gave me all that I needed. I did not allow myself to depend on you in any way, and I will never depend on you. (2 Corinthians 11:6-9 NCV) --Besides preaching the Gospel of Christ in Corinth, Paul had to work daily to pay for his living expenses. This is praiseworthy! He did not ask for money from those he was ministering to. He gave freely just as Christ did. He came to serve, and not to be served. He was industrious and diligent. He was excellent in his preaching and writing ministries even though he was not being paid. He knew Whom he was serving! The King of kings and the LORD of lords. He could not do anything lesser or inferior. The wages of love are not paid in dollars and cents! • Paul Not Being A Burden To Christians Financially [1 Thessalonians 2:1-16]: Brothers and sisters, I know you remember our hard work and difficulties. We worked night and day so we would not burden any of you while we preached God’s Good News to you. (1 Thessalonians 2:9 NCV) • The Duty To Work [2 Thessalonians 3:6-15]: When we were with you, we gave you this rule: “Anyone who refuses to work should not eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:10 NCV) • The Apostle Pauls Trade [Acts 18:1-4]: Because they were tentmakers, just as he was, he stayed with them and worked with them. (Acts 18:3 NCV) Commentary: So, the pastor at the last church I attended and tithed/gave [ignorantly] over $33K [plus gifts] to, would tell the people (us) that God told him not to work when he came here to Gainesville and also that he had told his wife shed never have to work. However, he shared that he had to recant that statement to her and send her back to work time while he focused on HIS ministry, but promised if she did shed never have to work again. Now, due to the fact that I didnt know any better I was like thats cool makes sense. However, it wasnt biblical! I now KNOW that ALL Christians have a duty to work. This can range from being an investor, business man or day laborer [9 to 5er]; you cant just do nothing [Matthew 25:14-30]! Okay here are some questions you can ask yourself and if you CAN NOT you got a money problem: • How much does the pastor pay himself, his wife and payroll? • How much are all the mortgages? • Whats the monthly utility bill? • How many loans are there? • How much is in savings? • How much is in benevolence? • How much is in the building fund? • How much debt has been paid of? • How much is giving to the widows, poor and the orphans? Pastors are placing the burden on the people and using a defunct law to fuel their need of money. Now, with that being said, what scriptures back up a pastor not working when his church is deep in debt? I will wait. That debt is his responsibility, just like my business debt [mortgage] is mine. Carry on. -KJH #EagleLife
Posted on: Sun, 22 Jun 2014 18:27:40 +0000
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