Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” (1 Timothy 5:17, 18 ESV)
What is it about some people in the church that they are never happy with the pastor. Oh, they may like him for a while but then they get tired of him and start nit picking.
I have been in two different churches where this has been the case. Both occasions the pastor has been good. He has faithfully preached the Word of God, but certain church members have become disgruntled for one reason or another and have begun to stir up a following against him or have found someone else who also is disgruntled and joined forces.
Usually, the real reasons they want to be rid of the pastor are not said, because their real reasons can not be justified, so they come up with something else to accuse the pastor of.
Then they set about to withhold their tithe money to put the squeeze on the pastor and the church in an effort to gain control over both. They justify keeping back their tithe because they say the pastor doesn't work enough to earn it. They think he should be implementing programs, bringing in entertainment, running the music program and the children's programs and doing theatrics during the worship service. Or maybe they think his sermons are too short and the breaks too long. Maybe they don't like that he spends time reviewing over last week's sermon points before going on to this week's sermon. It can be any number of things that upsets these people.
If it gets bad enough, the poor pastor may have to implement the Matthew 18 model for dealing with disagreeable church members. Then because he brings one or two others with him as witnesses to establish every word, they accuse the pastor of slander. He can't win.
It's all very ugly and it's in direct contradiction to this Scripture. The question needs to be asked. Does this pastor faithfully preach the word of God? Is his life a life of integrity in the community and among the rest of the congregation? If yes to both questions then he is worthy of double honor. Yet many think he does nothing all week and only works on Sunday, therefore he should live on pauper's wages or be put out.
That is so unBiblical! The laborer in the Word is worthy of his wages! He does far more than stand up and preach on Sunday. He spends hours in preparation, and prayer. He spends time trying to put out grass fires among the congregation. He spends time visiting those of the congregation who are sick or infirm. He sits up almost all night in the emergency room with the family when one of his congregation is taken there. He is on call basically 24/7 if he is not required to hold an outside job to make ends meet. He spends time discipling new converts. He spends time answering emails from the congregation. He spends countless hours trying to settle those who have turned against him in the congregation and often he has to work a second job in order to have health insurance and make ends meet or his wife has to work outside the home for those things making her unable to be the help meet she should be.
In my mind, the pastor who lives a life of integrity and preaches the Word of God as it is, faithfully....he is worthy of his hire for what he has to deal with.
We can expect persecution from unbelievers, but I find it particularly sad when persecution comes from believers in the pew! We are living in the last days. When a pastor is faithful to the Word, we need to support him in it!
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