To charge or not to charge.....

[ejected]

Are traveling preachers free to charge or are they charged to serve for free?

Is an offering suppose to be the preacher's idea or the idea of the giver?

What is the connotation of the word serve? My humble opinion is that it means to help without negotiating for something in return. Like feeding the homeless on the street. Jesus did that but didnt submit a tab after they ate.

Come to think of it, where can we find Jesus taking up an offering for an honorarium? 

He obviously accepted secret donations, for Judas carried the money poke. But you hear nothing about fund raising, offering plates, or church auctions, or chicken dinners to raise cash. Why is that?

Taxes were due at one point. Jesus didn't turn to the crowds for a 'love offering'. Why do you suppose? He looked to the Father for the need. Does that sound a little 'fishy' to you? A bit of humor to break the tension that i feel building. Smile!

 

 

Edited August 16, 2018 by ejected

[Still Alive]

Paul tells us to pay preachers, but he doesn't seem to tell preachers to charge. It seems to be a love offering sort of thing.

[ayin jade]

You seem far too concerned about any income the preachers make, whether its traveling ones or ones in a church. 

1 Timothy 6: 10 For the love of money is a root of all evils, of which some having lusted after, they were seduced from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

 

 

[The_Patriot21]

I would say its up to the preacher and God.

[ejected]

6 hours ago, ayin jade said:

You seem far too concerned about any income the preachers make, whether its traveling ones or ones in a church. 

1 Timothy 6: 10 For the love of money is a root of all evils, of which some having lusted after, they were seduced from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

 

 

So let me help you. When a man charges for his ministry, the great temptation is to leave out or twist scripture so as not to offend. The less offensive the message, the greater probability of receiving bigger offerings above and beyond the initial honorarium. 

Back in the day rabbis did not charge for their teaching for this very reason.

Besides we are commanded to 'rightly divide the wird of truth.' Paul said 'we don't corrupt (twist) the word of God as some do'.

There  are precious few who are willing to spot light apostasy and heresy anymore.. they know their ministry will be soundly rejected. The cost is to high for most.

And about methods being between a man and God is ludicrous. There is only one method. God's method. And it is not up for debate. Hope this clarfies things. God bless. Be encouraged. Be free.

[Estrella]

Well, reality check: The world do not function the same way now as it was during Jesus time, or maybe it was similar but now it is way more complicated.

Everything involves money, of course, the service the preacher does (preaching / spreading the Gospel) alone should be done out of reverance for God and not due to the amount he is being paid. But i believe it is only fair, or rather practical that certain amount is collected for travel expenses, accomodation or other administrative arrangements.

You see, in the midst of doing anything or going anywhere now, you have to go through some form of system where it involves certain monetary funding. And in the journey of it all, we dont just deal with believers alone but non believers too, so it's not like these preachers would be exempted just because they are traveling to preach the Gospel. So i see nothing wrong with love offering or collections, PROVIDED, the money is used for the good of the church or to do God's work. I believe where money is concerned, there should also be transparency on how the collected or raised money is used to avoid unnecessary accusations of financial scandals, as we already see happening in some churches.

The LOVE of money is the root of all evils. Not money itself...if one is a good steward of it. 

Edited August 17, 2018 by Estrella

[Sower]

10 hours ago, ejected said:

Are traveling preachers free to charge or are they charged to serve for free?

Is an offering suppose to be the preacher's idea or the idea of the giver?

This is not an attack, just asking.      I would ask, what is your calling? Your ministry? How do you support yourself? At the end of the week, do you ask for a love offering? Or a pay check that you depend on. Or is it done for the Lord, as a " means to help without negotiating for something in return", as you say. Just because someone surrenders to God to preach the word, does not mean he has no need for food, home, car, etc. You average pastor-evangelical is not like the ones you see n TV.  Should we keep him poor, to keep him humble? One of my closest friends, who was an asst pastor, stepped out on faith and started his own ministry along with his wife and family.For thirty years they  live each day going to the mail box to see it there might be a love offering, or not, to pay bills, and support his family. He receives no pay check.  He has worked with me in the early years in construction part time to supplement his income. He has gone over seas several times for missionary work. He is a police chaplain in the city, the most sought out one, and does it for NO PAY, lest someone complain (?) or try to tell him to compromise the word.    He will preach anywhere as a stand in for a pastor on vacation or emergency leave, not asking for a dime. Sometimes the collection/love offering does not cover his gas, food, and motel room.
Every year we have a ministry picnic and golf tournament to help raise money for his ministry, which help support monthly devotionals, which go out to whoever wants them, like the prisons and shelters. All these various outreach methods cost money. But! His ministry is by faith. And God has been faithful. It has been my family's PRIVILEGE to support his ministry, along with others who wish to be a part of a great blessing. You cannot out give our faithful God! 

[Neighbor]

3 minutes ago, Gary Lee said:

This is not an attack, just asking.      I would ask, what is your calling? Your ministry? How do you support yourself? At the end of the week, do you ask for a love offering? Or a pay check that you depend on. Or is it done for the Lord, as a " means to help without negotiating for something in return", as you say. Just because someone surrenders to God to preach the word, does not mean he has no need for food, home, car, etc. You average pastor-evangelical is not like the ones you see n TV.  Should we keep him poor, to keep him humble? One of my closest friends, who was an asst pastor, stepped out on faith and started his own ministry along with his wife and family.For thirty years they  live each day going to the mail box to see it there might be a love offering, or not, to pay bills, and support his family. He receives no pay check.  He has worked with me in the early years in construction part time to supplement his income. He has gone over seas several times for missionary work. He is a police chaplain in the city, the most sought out one, and does it for NO PAY, lest someone complain (?) or try to tell him to compromise the word.    He will preach anywhere as a stand in for a pastor on vacation or emergency leave, not asking for a dime. Sometimes the collection/love offering does not cover his gas, food, and motel room.
Every year we have a ministry picnic and golf tournament to help raise money for his ministry, which help support monthly devotionals, which go out to whoever wants them, like the prisons and shelters. All these various outreach methods cost money. But! His ministry is by faith. And God has been faithful. It has been my family's PRIVILEGE to support his ministry, along with others who wish to be a part of a great blessing. You cannot out give our faithful God! 

My pastor/elders are not to be poor! For that will be a terrible testimony to the unsaved world looking in and upon the church. I want my pastor to be motivated, his wife and children to be well tended to by him. I want him to have an automatic cost of living increase plus opportunity for a merit based increase to be decided upon by a finance group as approved by the church body for the general finances and not the specific pay of any employees  the specifics I want figured by a close group a deacon a CPA and a church officer. It has been our policy for as long as I have been with my local body of Christ to never hold the pastors nor any employee to the same salary,  but to always increase it at least as much as cpi increase plus a little more.

 I do not go into a restaurant give praise and prayer and thanks to God for my food and then leave my server a measerly tip. I make sure it is at least 25% as testimony of the appreciation of Christians for the hard workers that serve us food. I might even tip a line cook or chef on occasion especially if we are a large group and get really fine service.

So I sure am not wanting  our testimony to be one of being misers at church. And I sure don't want to be so coveting nor envious that I will not want my pastor to make more than I do, nor more than the average income of the congregation- a number we would not know anyway, but one that some here have suggested they would limit a pastor to. That makes no sense to me. He should be paid for doing weddings and for funerals and for any special  travels and presentations.

 The more a pastor receives the more he can give sacrificially  back to God in weekly offerings, special gifts, benevolent offering, and gifts of appreciation to others for their special kindnesses including to food servers when  he is out dining.

[ejected]

The pastors are suppose to work secular jobs. 

But i'm not talking about them. Im talking about the traveling preachers. 

God has provided for my ministry. No begging, no charging. I worked a job for years as the word tells us to do. 

I had to stop as an evangelist because of jealous 'pastors' but i continued other ministries on my own dime and distributing  our film without charge, my recorded songs without charge. 

As far as other ventures like teen challenge, sure it takes money. But i say that begging is not the best way. Trusting God is.

Trying to think of the guy in Enland, i believe, that started an orphanage in the 1800's. Never solicited, begged, tooted a horn. Trusted God for the needs.

God always provided. One guy approached him when he had about 12 children waiting on God for supper. They had nothing. This guy asked 'could you use some money?' 

The brother said 'we're doing fine'. He would not accept an offering that way. Only if they gave it without question.

Before the day was out, food came through the door.

I guess i'm asking....does anybody ever operate in faith anymore? 

 

 

Edited August 17, 2018 by ejected

[angels4u]

9 minutes ago, ejected said:

The pastors are suppose to work secular jobs. 

1 Corinthians 9:14

In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.

Even so hath the Lord ordained,.... That is, the Lord Jesus Christ, in Matthew 10:10 it is an order and appointment of His that His ministering servants, who labour in preaching his Gospel, should be sufficiently taken care of, as to a comfortable livelihood; He has not indeed fixed it in the same way as the priests and Levites had theirs under the law; but as the one was just and right, that they should be maintained out of the things belonging to the temple and altar, and live on them, so it is his will and pleasure, 

that they which preach the Gospel; that continue to do so, that labour, and not loiter in the word and doctrine, who do the work of the ministry fully and faithfully, and not bear the name only of Gospel preachers: should live of the Gospel; not the Gospel itself, which is spiritual, and not corporeal food; but the sense is, that in consideration and because of their preaching the Gospel, they should be supplied with the proper necessaries of life: the learned Mr. Mede has proved, by various instances, that the word here rendered "Gospel", and which signifies good news and glad tidings, is in other writers used for a reward, given to such that bring good tidings; and has rightly observed, that the Hebrew word which signifies the same, is used in a like sense in 2 Samuel 4:10 and accordingly the sense here will be, that it is the ordination of Christ, that such who faithfully bring the news and glad tidings of salvation to sinners, should, as a reward for such good news, be provided for with a comfortable maintenance, on which they should live. 1 Cor 9:14