"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).
There is a time and a place for full-time ministry. In the Bible we find the apostle Paul talking about the workman being worthy of hire, and he applies this to his apostolic ministry (and, by extension, that of evangelists) as well as to church elders. Clearly, most modern Western churches don't follow the Pauline orientation where "lay elders" are concerned, preferring to finance the salaries of paid professional full-time "pastors" whose work extends beyond biblical limits into the roles of evangelists and deacons as well.
My experience in independent Christian Churches/Churches of Christ is one shared by many who consider themselves Protestant and/or evangelical. A minister resigns from Riverbrook Christian Church and moves on, leaving the church of 250 members looking for a new preacher. A committee is selected which then puts out ads in the brotherhood magazines, online and through Bible Colleges. Sifting through the ads and making phone calls and trading e-mails, they agree on certain "candidates" and schedule a visit for each. The prospective ministers visit, one per weekend, until they've interviewed several and heard them preach, or else until they find one they all have a good feeling about. The committee votes, then the congregation votes. A man is called to minister for the church.
This method is the one most familiar to many of us, but it really seems strange when I stop to think about it. How is it that a church got to have 250 members, but no member qualified to minister? How is that possible? What was the former minister doing?
He was doing what was expected of him. He was satisfying the vendor-expectations of the congregation.
Let's push it up a notch. The former minister of Riverbrook Christian Church, Pastor Sam, actually moved on because he was hired away by Southern Lakes Community Church to be its Youth Pastor. Total membership: 2000. Pastor Sam had been with Riverbrook for five years, having arrived there from his first ministry with a church of 60 members that he saw grow to 120 during his three years there. This has been a story of career advancement for this minister, and his "success" has come from being able to guide churches into knowing how to respond to the religious market of their community. Many new members were from other congregations in the area, but the growth enlivened every aspect of the church and makes the church feel quite successful in ministry.
Southern Lakes, Pastor Sam's new church, already offers a wide range of services, including a daycare program, coffee shop, fully-equipped gym with volunteer and staff trainers, and many other attractive offerings. In his new role, Pastor Sam with be responsible for coordinating a staff of youth workers in expanding the youth program, and he is already working out plans for a skate park on the church campus.
Pastor Sam is "advancing" in his "career" of ministry.
From what I've written you may get the idea that I hate full-time ministry and mega churches. In fact, I don't. As I said at the beginning, I believe there is a time and place for full-time ministry. And, as I have said in the past, I do not deny the right of mega churches to exist. I just think there are other ways, closer to the ways of Jesus and the early church and farther from the systems of power and hierarchy, that we can follow.
Again, there is a time and a place for full-time, paid ministry. It's just not all the time and everyplace.
Steve and Lisa Stone have been with First Church for several years, where Steve preaches and Lisa directs the church school. Steve and Lisa are both paid for what they do, with time off and some medical benefits.
Steve actively recruits young men, both high school age and adults with families, to preach from time to time. When he goes "calling" to prospective members or does any active evangelistic work, he takes one of these men with him. He's preparing them to be ministers in the order of Timothy and Titus. He's training evangelists.
At the same time, there are other men, older than he is, who are of good repute and who have raised or are raising children in solid homes. These men he takes with him to call on sick members, and he regularly meets with them alone and as a group to discuss the needs and concerns of the church, praying with them about these matters and for one another. These men are being prepared for pastoral work as elders, though some may become deacons if they are more gifted for practical service than ministerial oversight.
Steve does all this because he has a plan. One day he won't be with First Church any more, and they'll need a minister. How much better it would be for the health, stability and future of the congregation if that day arrives with a full staff of Christian workers ready. He hopes and dreams that rather than forming a pastoral search committee, the men he has set apart as elders will continue to shepherd the flock, and the young men will carry out their tasks for the sake of Christ and His earthly reign with ongoing vigor.
This may seem idealistic, but I know people who have done it. My brother-in-law in Marcelo is still planting churches, but at the same time training men (and women) for ministry roles. It's not all about him. It's about the Good News. It's about Jesus.
When I worked for Sunrise Christian Church in Farmington, New Mexico I was a "hired gun." Somehow they expected that within a year or so I'd have the church grown up dramatically so that when the money they'd saved up to pay me ran out, I'd be supported from the offering. The check controlled me in two ways. First, I couldn't take any radical steps without worrying that I'd become unpopular and possibly lose my income. That's not something I felt good about risking, especially with a family to support. Second, I felt as though I was racing against time to "grow the church" so I'd not only "prove myself" (a foolish endeavor) but keep the money flowing. The check controlled me, enslaved me to fear and kept me from just doing what I was called to do.
On the other hand, when I was in Brazil most of my support for mission work came from churches in the United States. Though I worked teaching English as a foreign language at a school, the core support for my family came from congregations in the U.S. that believed in the mission and wanted to see it go forward. This, I would argue, is a far better model.
If we have hired ministers, they should be preparing the church to have no paid ministers, or else to provide some stipend to their elders and others who do well in ministry. We could thus focus our monetary plans on supporting missionaries in other domestic and international locations.
Frankly, after what I've seen, almost anything would be an improvement over the present system of salesman/marketer, one-man show pastors.
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Check out these other synchrobloggers talking about church and money!
Pushing The Camel: Why there might be more rich people in Heaven than in your local Church at Fernando's desk
Sally Coleman at Eternal Echoes
Lord, Won't You Buy Me a Mercedes Benz at Hello Said Jenelle
Zaque at Johnny Beloved
Walking with the Camels at Calacirian
Greed and Bitterness: Why Nobody's Got it Right About Money and The Church at Phil Wyman's Square No More
Wealth Amidst Powers at Theocity
Money and the Church: A Fulltime Story at The Pursuit
But I Gave at Church at The Assembling of the Church
Moving Out of Jesus Neighborhood at Be the Revolution
Money and the Church: why the big fuss? at Mike's Musings
Coffee Hour Morality at One Hand Clapping
Bling Bling in the Holy of Holies at In Reba's World
Magazinial Outreach at Decompressing Faith
Money's too tight to mention at Out of the Cocoon
Bullshit at The Agent B Files
The Bourgeois Elephant in the Missional/Emergent Living Room at Headspace
When the Church Gives at Payneful Memories
Who, or What, Do You Worship at at Charis Shalom
Greed at Hollow Again
Silver and Gold Have We - Oops! at Subversive Influence
The Church and Money at Khanya
Tithe Schmithe at Discombobula
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