Abounding Grace

Guest (Male): Should a pastor receive a salary from the church? Join us as we look into that today on Abounding Grace.

God has called some to serve full-time in the ministry, but is it okay for them to receive a salary from the people they serve at church? And are there times when the pastor may need to pick up a job on the side to meet their financial needs? We'll talk about that today on Abounding Grace as we near the end of our study in Second Corinthians.

One thing that jumps off the page in Chapter 12 is the Apostle Paul's heart for the people he served. He didn't want to be a burden on them, not seeking what they had, though he gave everything he could to serve them. Here's Pastor Ed Taylor with more.

Pastor Ed Taylor: With your Bibles open in Second Corinthians Chapter 12, we left off in verse 14. We don't often associate strength with weakness. Really, as you say that, strength and weakness, they sound like polar opposites. The question is, how can I be my strongest when I'm my weakest? But that's exactly what we learned last time as Paul was giving us an insight into what it was like to have this thorn in his flesh.

Whatever the thorn was, the Bible isn't clear and doesn't tell us what the thorn was, but we know from the original language it was a great, enduring pain that required perseverance. It was so difficult and not removed that God, when hearing the cries of Paul to have it removed, He answers not to remove the pain but to insert Himself. What a difference between my strength and God's strength, what a difference between God's faithfulness and my faithfulness, and what a difference between the reality of my trusting in Him and God sustaining me.

I like how Alan Redpath put it in his commentary. He says, and I quote, "Do you see the humor of the situation? God's grace and me. His grace is sufficient for little me. How absurd to think that it could ever be any different. As if a little fish could swim in the ocean and fear lest it might drink it dry. The grace of our crucified, risen, exalted, triumphant Savior, the Lord of all glory, is surely sufficient for me." Well, that's what He said in verse 9. He said, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness."

Paul came to terms with this thorn in the flesh. It never says that he likes it or that he approved of it. The Bible doesn't even say that he never wanted it gone again. It just simply says there in verse 9 with the answer and the clarity from God, "Therefore, most gladly I'll boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. I take pleasure in infirmities and in reproaches, in needs and persecutions, distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Really, we didn't leave off in verse 14 last time. We actually left off, pick up with me in verse 11. "I have become a fool in boasting; you've compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you, for in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though I am nothing. Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and wonders and mighty deeds. For what is it in which you were inferior to the other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong."

Paul's just about done. Not only is he just about done with the letter, but he's just about done defending himself. He didn't like it to begin with, and as he was doing it, he doesn't like it, and now getting into the end, you get a little dig, a little bit of sarcasm in his voice there in verse 13. "Forgive me for this wrong," when he knows full well he didn't do any wrong. This whole thing of having the answer to defend, to remind them of the truths, back in Chapter 10, verse 1, he said, "I don't want to do this, but I will."

They should have been, it says in verse 11, commending him. They should have been encouraging him. But instead, they were yielding to the false teachers and coming against him and turning on him. It was pretty sad. He was the one, after all, that brought the Gospel to this godless city. He was the one that put his life on the line. He was the one that committed himself, not knowing if he would ever leave Corinth.

He's the one that invested eighteen months of his life there. He was the one that was there when they were sick, and he was the one that was there when they were struggling. He was the one that was there when they were caught up and their leadership was all messed up, and he wrote the first letter to them and said, "You've got to deal with this, you've got to stand up for what is right, you need to get your church back on track." He was the one that lived a life above reproach. He was the one that had a testimony. I mean, on and on and on. And yet he's still in this place where he says, "I feel like a fool. Why are you making me do this?"

They put him in the position of defending himself. When these liars, these false teachers, came in, the church shouldn't have received them; they should have rejected their false claims right then and there. Hold your place here and go over to Romans with me, would you? Romans Chapter 16. We can look back at our lives, and it would be very easy for us to look at a list of should've and could've.

The good news is we can learn. Learning by example is one of the best tools, and learning by experience is one of the best tools for you and I to grow in the grace of God. But here's the thing: we don't have to live by our own experience. We can live and learn by someone else's experience, someone else's success, and even someone else's failure. Here, the church just received anyone that came in and undermined their own pastor, and Paul is standing up and going, "I won't have any of that; this is wrong."

Notice verse 17 of Romans 16. "Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses." This is what they should have done. With those that are causing division, those that are causing offense, note these ones that are doing these contrary to the doctrine which you learned. Notice, this is what they should have done: they should have avoided them, stayed away from them.

Why? Verse 18. "For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. For your obedience has been known to all. Therefore, I am glad on your behalf, but I want you to be wise in what is good and simple concerning evil." Why? Verse 20. "God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen."

Now, what a difference what he wrote to the Corinthians. When he wrote to the Corinthians, he said, "I feel like a fool. Why are you guys making me do this? Why did you listen to them?" For the Romans, he's like, "Look, there's going to be people coming in, they're going to try to cause divisions and offenses, mark them, note them, avoid them because they just want to do damage."

Paul lived his life with the true signs of a true apostle. He lived in perseverance, he was there for signs, wonders, mighty deeds. It's almost as if you can hear Paul say back in Second Corinthians, "And you think I'm not an apostle? You really believe these guys?" And then at the end, he gets a little sarcastic. What is he sarcastic about? Notice in verse 13, he says, "For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except that I gave my life to you and I wasn't burdensome to you?"

Remember, Paul told the Corinthians, "I didn't take from you; other churches supported me so that I could serve you." These false teachers that had come in had taken the attention of the church in Corinth and took for themselves, literally, money. They took for themselves money from the people. Even though the Bible is clear, the Bible's crystal clear on the church, us, we as a body of believers, supporting financially those that are dedicated to serving in the ministry. That's biblical. That's a biblical thing, that those that are serving in the ministry are to be supported by the ministry, collectively through our tithes and offerings unto the Lord.

It's something that goes all the way back to the very beginning when the tabernacle and the temple, the priests, the Levites, were to be supported by the people. But be careful what the Bible doesn't say. The Bible doesn't say that ministers then are to take advantage of the church in the giving, that ministers and servants are then to become relying upon and requiring the church to serve them. Let me show you what I mean. Paul's already touched on this. Turn back to First Corinthians now, Chapter 9.

Paul made a choice for other churches to support him so that he could be a servant to the church in Corinth in those early days so that he might not be a burden to them, and they used it against him. They're using even something that was good and honorable. It's amazing how scheming the devil is, using even something good against Paul. Well, he's already taught this. Look at First Corinthians with me, Chapter 9, verse 9.

First Corinthians 9:9. Just because there is the need to support the workers and the servants in the ministry doesn't mean that they take advantage of the congregation. Verse 9 says, "For it is written in the law of Moses, 'You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.' Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes?" For our sakes, verse 10, no doubt this is written, "That he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of this hope."

"And if we've sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? And if others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless, we haven't used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the Gospel of Christ. Do you not know," verse 13, "that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? Even so, the Lord has commanded that those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel."

Verse 15, "But I've used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me, for it would be better for me to die than anyone should make my boasting void. For if I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity's laid upon me. Yes, woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel." Now turn over to Galatians Chapter 6. This is nothing new for the church in Corinth, but it's come up again.

You'll find as you systematically study through the Bible, verse by verse and chapter by chapter, there are specific themes that seem to be repeated. There are things that come up over and over again. Lest we get weary of being reminded, we want to be careful to receive the teaching as it comes. Notice verse 6 of Chapter 6 in Galatians. Again, the principle of what the Bible says and what the Bible doesn't say. The principle of pastors and leaders and ministers being supported by the ministry.

Verse 6, "Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." Did you know that phrase we often start quoting verse 7 when it really should start at verse 6? The idea of sowing and reaping has everything to do with the supporting of those that God has used in your life to encourage you, disciple you, and grow you as the opportunity arises.

Those who give to you spiritually are to be blessed and given back to materially. That's a mark of living in the spirit, a desire and the decision to give and support the ministry. Again, be careful what the Bible doesn't say. That doesn't mean that those that are giving you spiritually are then to take advantage of that because at times Paul would even say, "You know what? I had a right and I purposely did not use this right in order so that nobody would point a finger at me."

But what happened? He didn't use the right, and what did they do? They still pointed the finger at him because the Bible says accusations will come. The best thing to do in your life is to live a life above reproach so that when accusations come, they have no truth to them. There's nowhere that the devil has a place to hang his hat of accusation on; it just falls to the ground because your life is different than the accusation. It stands in righteousness.

It's a blessing to be a part of a family of believers. Through this family of believers, I love to be able to brag on God's faithfulness through your life. In 14 years of ministry, a little bit over 14 years now, there hasn't been a need that has ever gone unmet in the congregation here, of any size proportion. Any need, God has always provided. Week after week, month after month, and year after year now, God has provided for far above just the needs of this congregation.

It spreads out all over into various places. Some things are known, but most things are very anonymous, just encouraging and supporting others in the ministry. Now, God has called me and many others here at Calvary Aurora to serve the congregation in a full-time capacity. It wasn't always that way. Calvary Aurora wasn't always that way. There was a season here in the beginning of this church when there were a lot of people serving full-time, but no one able to take a salary or anything from the church because we didn't have anything.

Every little bit that we had was going to pay the rent at the school or some of the things that we needed for outreach or ministry. The pattern has always been the same here. We work to provide for the needs of our family, and we serve the ministry to provide for the obedience of the calling of God upon our life. So a very, very small percentage of the servants at Calvary Aurora, we have the privilege of serving in such a way where this is our full-time attention.

Full-time is very much an emphasis upon that phrase, where you live and you breathe and you're living full-time. Now, remember the context of full-time ministry, that we're all in the full-time ministry, every single one of us. But some of us, we have the privilege of receiving a paycheck from Calvary Aurora. We're blessed. We're here, we're available to serve you in your needs, your prayers, and your concerns.

That's why I'm here, why there's a pastoral staff here, and why there's administrative support here. That's why there's a whole other side of ministry support in our school where we have teachers and childcare workers. It's amazing. We have come a long way from printing the bulletins at a brother's garage and me studying in my basement with those gloves. It was so cold in my basement the first winter, which was where my office was, that I went out and I bought those gloves that the fingers were cut out of them.

At least I could type, because we didn't want to turn that electric heater on because then the— anyway, I'm down there. I just want to let you know in case you wondered, you can't type with those things. You can't even move your fingers. I remember having to take them off. The Lord has blessed; we've come a long way. My office is not in the basement; I've graduated to the first floor now.

I have the opportunity to spend a lot of time when I'm here in the office, but I don't do any studying here because when I'm here I don't want to lock myself in the office and avoid people. My life is to serve people. So I get to spend some days during the week studying at my office at home and being able to study and focus and attention. We've come a long way, and for that, we're very grateful.

I want you to know the people on staff here, as we refer to them, we live by faith, depending upon the fellowship, you guys, to help supply for our needs through the ministry. It's your faithfulness and your obedience to the Lord. We didn't make this up; the Bible's very clear. It wasn't something that this group of people said, "Let's go ahead and take advantage of the people and we'll just gather their money and use it for ourselves."

No, not at all. This is something that the Lord has established, and because of your faithfulness, because of your loving and giving heart, you have full-time attention from so many people here. Here's how it works here: if the giving ever dips down or it ever goes below what our needs were at the current level, the people that are serving currently already know.

It's the discussion we have when they come in the door, and it'll be the discussion hopefully we never have to have, but if it ever happens, we'll go get a job. That's what we'll do. We'll go do what we were doing before. We'll get a job to provide for the needs of our home. My heart hopefully with that kind of challenge we'd never have to, but it is the discussion we have deeply with any pastor who comes on or any of the administrative staff. We just say, "Look, we depend on the giving of the church."

We believe this position and this opening is from the Lord, and we believe we have the resources. But if anything ever happened, if the economy tanked or something happens and we have to make difficult cuts, we're not going to cut the missionaries. They need our support. They're out there on the front lines, and in a lot of the countries that we have people in, they can't work there.

The visas and the things don't allow them to work. When we have people up here and we're praying and they're going full-time, most likely they're going to a place where they can't work. They won't be allowed to work. Their visas are different types of visas: educational visas or even religious visas. We're not going to cut the missionaries, and we're not going to cut things that are of necessity. A lot of us would just go get a job.

That's what we were doing before, serving the Lord. That's what we can do again. It's perfectly okay. That's the discussion that we have. We don't want to be a burden like Paul says. We don't want to be in a place where, because of the finances, we put some heavy hand on you. What we'll probably do is we start praying. We'd start praying like we do to bless those that are giving and Lord, stir those that don't.

The Bible tells us that we should give. I would say this: if you decide you just think, "I don't need to give or I don't need to tithe," then God always provides someone else to make up the difference for your lack of faithfulness. He always does. Your giving and my giving is between you and the Lord. If we fail to participate in obedience with God, He'll always provide. He owns a cattle on a thousand hills; He can take care of needs.

We have to be careful because we can come up with so many different reasons why we don't give. Maybe we were burned in another church and you go, "I'm not getting burned again, so I'm going to change my habits and now I'm not going to give." I'm sorry you got burned. I hope you never get burned again. I hope you never get burned here, but that's no reason to disobey God.

I remember having to talk with someone not too long ago, it's actually more common than not, but we're talking about giving and in the topic of giving this brother said, "Well, you know what, Pastor, I tithe my time so I can use my money however I want." I'm like, "Where's that in the Bible?" It's like First Me, Chapter 5. You tithe your time? What does that mean? I thought Jesus died for my life. I thought every hour, I don't tithe my time, He owns 24/7 in my life.

Everything of mine is His. I can't be looking at this, and there's always good challenges, an unexpected bill, or misusing credit cards. There's always things. But listen, Paul says that it is biblical. It is right. It's the right thing to do to use the tithes and offerings for those that are serving you full-time and the families and the children. They live, we live, by faith.

It's a good thing to live by faith. I know many of you live by a deeper level of faith even in that, where you're working hard and you're serving in the church and you might have to pick up an extra job and then you're losing sleep over here. I just want you to know all of your giving, all of your service, all of your sacrifice is not being done unto a church or unto a man. You are serving your Father in heaven, and He will reward you openly one day.

I know you're not serving for rewards, but I'll tell you what, there are rewards awaiting you. I don't know how God works it all out. I know He doesn't want to carnalize even motivation for us, but spiritually He's the one that taught us about rewards. He's not using them like the world does. But the reality of rewards are what? We're just going to lay them down at the feet of Jesus anyway. But I want to take an armful.

I don't want to just flip a little reward there, a little gold nugget. I want to lay these crowns before the Lord and say, "These belong to You, Jesus. The only way that I could have them is because of Your grace and Your goodness." Be careful because although Paul had to defend himself, even though he didn't take from the Corinthians, even though he could have taken more in the life of this church plant, he decided not to.

The guys that are going out and planting churches from here are getting a job. They were serving here, this was their job, but in order to start that ministry out by faith, they're getting a job. That's how they're going to start laying the foundation for their congregation. They're working to provide, put food on the table, take care of them, and then at the same time plant the church. Over time, the Lord is just so faithful and they get to pray and maybe go half, maybe take a little bit of a salary. Before you know it, it's such a glorious day when they put in their two-week notice and saying, "In two weeks, I'm going to be fully committed. I have all of my time and attention because God has provided the needs through this congregation."

Guest (Male): We have been in Second Corinthians today on Abounding Grace. Pastor Ed Taylor is leading us verse by verse through the book, and you can hear today's study again by visiting our website aboundinggraceradio.com. There you'll find our podcast, Pastor Ed's blog, a place to contact us, and even donate to the ministry as the Lord leads. That's aboundinggraceradio.com.

Here at the beginning of a new year, we'd like to recommend a helpful 100-day devotional from Jim Cymbala. This daily devotional, called "Jesus Every Day," will inspire you to experience Jesus anew each and every day, find strength in the promises of the Lord, place your trust in Christ alone, and discover hope, encouragement, and fulfilling purpose on a daily basis. Learn how to live by God's unshakeable promises in "Jesus Every Day."

When you give a donation of twenty-five dollars or more to Abounding Grace, ask for a copy. Give us a call at 877-30-GRACE. That number again is 877-30-GRACE. You can also order online at calvaryco.store. And even if you're not in a position to be able to give to the ministry, we'd still like to hear from you. Pastor Ed loves to read listener emails and letters. It's easy to connect with us through our website at aboundinggraceradio.com when you click on Contact and leave a prayer request or send Pastor Ed a question. That's aboundinggraceradio.com.

Glad you've taken time out for our study in Second Corinthians. We'll pick up where we left off next time we get together on Abounding Grace with Pastor Ed Taylor.