(This page has line space configuration issues which has currently locked the page in this regard).
Thus, the beginning of paragraphs have been emboldened)
Some thoughts and advice for the believer seeking to enter any Christian ministry that could potentially ‘pay’ or provide a material benefit.
This is also for those currently in ministry.
For instance, don’t get into or engage in preaching ministry with a desire to get “paid” or to make money. Otherwise, this could easily become a, or the motivating factor in doing ministry and thus it may deceptively and even consciously leave your spirit and mind open to being influenced by money which can become a priority and a ‘god’ (Exod 20:3).
Every believer is in ministry to the lost (Luke 19:10; Luke 9:62; Matt 28:18-20). And, the lost do not owe the believer anything.
These are the among the chief factors that should influence how believers undertake their ministry and which should be done without covetous expectation of financial reward. In this regard, the word states, ‘for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs’ (1 Tim 6:10).
This is very true, of course. However, this isn’t to say that a worker is not ordinarily worthy of their wages, because one is (Luke 10:1-5). Nor does it mean that one’s ministry should not be financed in the biblical context especially because the Bible contains ‘financing’ imperatives for certain ministries and activities for the present time (1 Cor 9:13-14).
No, this is not what I am saying. Rather, that, if a believer ignores the overriding biblical truth that preachers for example are not people who ‘charge’ for their services per se, but rather, could obtain a ‘benefit’ of some sort as a consequence of their work (Luke 10:1-5; 1 Cor 9:13-14), then one sins against God. That is, for instance, as preachers, and non-preachers alike, fundamentally we are to provide many and certain Gospel-related ‘services’ for ‘free’ and without the internal motive of desiring to capitalise in doing so in financial terms.
In this regard, Jesus Christ, in sending out His disciples to preach said, ‘freely you have received, freely you shall give’ (Matt 10:8). He said this to teach the disciples that God Himself has provided the Gift of Salvation to them ‘freely’ by grace and His love and thus without any hint or condition of financial or some other material reward or dubious or misplaced motivations. That, therefore they should do the same.
Examples are that preachers and gospel singers are not to ‘charge’ for their services upfront nor to conduct their services upon a specific and stated financial ‘reward’ or other benefits from others. Rather, by faith, they are free to ask for or accept material ‘reward’ after a ‘service’ has begun or ended.
This can occur by way of ‘offerings’ which should be facilitated by a ministry or preacher that is authorised in God to receive offerings (1 Cor 9:14) or ‘wages’ (Luke 10:1-5). This can then by discretion be distributed to those that have provided the service. In doing so, this ensures that certain believers who are engaged in “frontline-type” activity like preaching and worship are able to legitimately in God receive some sort of ‘reward’ (Mal 3:8-10/offerings) in terms of satisfying 1 Corinthians 9:14 which states that a called preacher is authorised by God to make a ‘living from the Gospel’ (1 Cor 9:14).
In short, and strictly speaking, not every believer has been called to ‘make a living from the Gospel’. That is, through the principle above that preachers are to receive money for their ‘gospel’ services provided, it is important that those who do receive money for kingdom-related purposes are biblically authorised by God to do so.
An example of this is a Christian author, who, while, let’s say they may not be a ‘preacher’, may have been personally authorised by God (Mark 13:34) to in a sense “make a living from the gospel” in terms of their ‘services’ being their called profession or vocation in God. This in effect also means that believers should not seek to establish or be engaged in certain kingdom-related business or activity for the purposes of making money, or, which has the effect of earning money if they are not scripturally permitted to do so as well as not personally authorised by God (Mark 13:34) as this is a serious offence against Him.
To be sure, it is critical that believers are aware that God has ‘already’ assigned each person with a specific job or task(s) to do in and for His kingdom (Matt 13:34; Eph 2:10). This is what Jesus Christ calls ‘work’, or one’s ‘assigned task’, in Matthew 13:34 which He Himself gives to every believer to do before He returns.
Then, it is important that if one is unsure what ‘job’ or roles they are to be undertaking, then he or she should earnestly seek God and His guidance in revealing or unfolding what His specific Will is. This would enable understanding and revelation of which tasks to do and those not to do in both a ‘financial’ or non-financial context.
In saying this, I am not suggesting that God may not have already revealed aspects of one’s calling and in any event He may not have even revealed them yet. What it does mean is that by seeking God in ongoing prayer you will be ongoingly be better assured in His guidance and revelations in what He is doing in your Walk as well as what He desires you to do (John 4:34; Matt 7:7; Psa 119:105).