StudyGrowKnow

Coming Economic Hardships for Pastors and Christian Workers

August 8, 2011 at 2:01 PM 2 comments

I was heading to bed last night and a thought struck me.  The thought was about pastors and those in the employ of churches and para-church organizations and all I could see ahead was hardship.

Let me make clear that I am not a prophet.  I am simply making a comment based on what I know (from the Bible and the news) about the trying times ahead for everyone.  In fact, though we are living in difficult economic times, we have not come to the end of it by no means.

This morning, Mr. Obama gave what he likely thought would be a rousing speech about the resiliency of the United States.  His comment that this nation will always be a triple A (AAA+) rating went over like a bad act on the old Gong Show.  It simply isn’t true and he seems either unwilling or unable to see and admit it.

The Dow has – last I looked – fallen below the 11,000 mark with a drop of 635 points. [1] I know little about the how to play the Stock Mark and have never done it.  We have some investments, but I leave that up to people who have a far better clue than I regarding such things.  However, I do know that when the Dow drops like this, successively over the past few days, things are not good.  This is a direct result of the S & P reducing our nation’s credit rating from AAA+ to AA+.

Of course, people have come out from under every rock to castigate those in the Tea Party and other conservatives who prefer smaller government, less spending and less taxation.  That’s one way to hide the fact that a person has serious Socialist or Communist tendencies by blaming everything on the people who want to reign in the tremendous waste and overspending of our government.  What can you do?  Aside from presenting the facts and voting, not much.

But the real matter at hand is the state of our economy and since day 1, Mr. Obama seemed determined to spend more and more, than to responsibly look at ways to cut spending in the Federal government.  This has helped get us where we are now.

Mr. Obama’s response to this is to lie to the American people.  His insinuation is that S & P operated from fully political motives.  Frankly, I think they gave this country the true benefit of the doubt, but I have no real idea about that.  For all I know, it could have been politically motivated.  If so, that tells me that even Mr. Obama’s handlers are tired of having him as a puppet and are most likely right now scanning the horizon for a new puppet to replace him in 2012.  But I digress.

This economy is where it is because of multiple failures and those failures are mostly affecting the average person, the person on the street who grinds out a weekly paycheck with little to no hope of seeing things improve any time soon.

The larger issue for me has to do with those within the pastorate and those who work in para-church organizations.  If you consider it, most of these people receive their paychecks because people donate to their organization.  Whether it’s a pastor or some other Christian worker, they are dependent directly upon the people who send in checks.  When that begins to slacken, some of those individuals will also find themselves out of work too.

For some time, my wife Silvia and I have believed that the Lord may use us to plant a church after we relocate.  As I have mentioned before, I have a difficult time when I think about getting paid directly by the people who sit in the pews each week.  Some may call that pride or arrogance.  In my case, I don’t think so.  Psalm 139:23-24 comes to mind.  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.”  I have dealt with that issue and it isn’t pride that causes me to think this way about pastors and their pay.

What causes me to think this way is that in this day and age, with the economy as it is, why should I place myself in a situation where the temptation might be great to start preaching what people want to hear  and to do so out of fear that they might fire me?  I know pastors – and maybe you do too – who are in this position.  They refuse to deal with some problem child in the congregation because that person is a “tither” or because that person is involved doing ministry that they (the pastor) either does not want to do or has no one else available.

I’m certainly not saying that all pastors come up against this, or that those who do, succumb to it.  For myself, I simply believe that I would be a more effective preacher and pastor if I was not beholden to anyone.  For this reason, we have thought that if the Lord ever calls us to plant a church, it would be as tentmakers, a person who does not derive any or all pay from the church he shepherds.

As time progresses and it gets far more difficult for people to make ends meet, they will reduce their giving.  It stands to reason that if a person loses their job, they are not going to be able to give the amount they normally give.

At the same time, others will succumb to fear because of their circumstances and reduce or even stop their giving because they are afraid of what might happen.  It is a fact that during tough economic times, charitable giving goes down.

Those pastors who are comfortable with their large salaries, their 401ks, their housing allowances, their expense accounts and more, may find that when push comes to shove, the temptation to placate people may seem to be more than they can bear.  Because of that, they may give into the temptation to change things up with a more “positive” approach so that they start emphasizing love as opposed to God’s holiness, or His patience as opposed to His coming wrath.  All of this should be taught – both sides of the coin – without worrying about how it may affect the church’s financial intake.

As time progresses, I fully believe that to be disassociated from the cares of this world is the way God wants us to live.  When we relocate, our house will be sold.  We do not plan to buy another home, unless we receive clear direction from God on that subject.  We would rather rent.

If God chooses to use me to start a church, with my wife at my side as the best helpmeet there is, then I believe (as does my wife) that He will do it without us having to rely on what people can donate to bring it about.  It is a shame that so much within Christian ministry these days seems to be Christian “business.”  I have really grown disgusted with it.

Every time a church has a building project, it is now in vogue to hire a professional fundraising group that will guide the church through the process of acquiring the needed funding.  Isn’t that something?  So, now churches are taking at least some of the offering provided by the congregants and using it to pay people to learn how to attract more money.  Apparently, the Lord isn’t capable of such a large and death defying feat, so it’s best to call in the “professional Christian fundraisers” for the job.

There are Christian “Internet Providers,” Christian “Brake Repair” Shops, Christian “Hobby Shops, the aforementioned Christian “fundraising” organizations, and of course, Christian bookstores.  I hate going to our local bookstore that allegedly sells Christian materials.  There are few commentaries, but a ton of CDs, movies, and pabulum for every age.  When you check out, you can expect to hear “Do you have your (Blank) Awards Card?” or “We’re running a special. Anything on the table can be purchased for $5.”  If you pay with a check or credit card, they still need to see your ID.

The other day, we had to go to this bookstore.  It was unavoidable.  While standing in line to check out, we could not help but hear the conversations of those around us.  Directly in front of us was an older couple.  I heard the man say that he was one of those “transitional pastors,” that helps churches go through the process of finding a new pastor after their current one leaves, dies, or is fired.  The man seemed sincere and was soft-spoken.

The conversation between him, his wife, and the cashier continued with all of them agreeing about how difficult it is when that happens to a church.  The cashier shared her own brief story about what happened in her church.  Apparently, after the pastor left, one guy stood up and announced that he wanted to be the pastor, while another one did the same thing.  The cashier stated that she left the church in search for another.  She also said that churches should create a “will” of sorts, so that when one pastor leaves, they will have already decided who his successor should be.  I was floored.  Nothing like leaving God completely out of the picture!

The “transitional pastor” stated something to the effect that it would be nice if people in churches relied more on the Lord during the difficult times like finding a new pastor.  Everyone nodded in agreement at the man’s appropriate, soft-spoken, and sincere statement about how the Lord should lead.

Later on that same day, we were coming out of another store at a strip mall, and lo and behold, here was this same older couple walking in our direction.  They weren’t that close to us, but I noticed them because this same soft-spoken man was now sounding like he was in a bar.  He was probably a couple hundred feet or so away from my wife and I and I distinctly heard him complaining about someone in a church.  Where was his soft-spoken demeanor?  His Christ-like attitude?  I guess that was reserved for “Christian” places, not the great outdoors or in public.

People have said what I’m going to say before.  They note that the Church is asleep and falling over, while evil marches onward.  I don’t believe it, unless they are referring to the VISIBLE church, which is made up of wheat and tares.

The true Church that Jesus is building is doing fine.  The true Church reminds me of Noah’s Ark.  It would not have mattered how often Noah talked to people about the coming flood.  It would not have mattered if he spent every moment when he was not building the Ark, praying for everyone alive at that time.  None of it would have mattered, because none of them were saved.  I really do not know what Noah did.  Some commentators have stated Noah didn’t preach to anyone at all.  In fact, they believe that God called him to build the Ark away from major civilizations.  This is in spite of 2 Peter 2:5, which tells us that God, “did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly.”  They take the phrase, “a preacher of righteousness” not in the actual sense, but in the spiritual sense, meaning that his life preached righteousness.

I’m inclined to believe that Noah actually preached to people and I’m also inclined to believe that people saw what Noah was doing.  Who knows, but they could have made a day of it with a picnic lunch, using Noah as the latest entertainment, with fun for kids of all ages.

When Noah entered the Ark, only seven other people entered with him.  No one from civilization entered the Ark.  They may have certainly been religious to some extent.  They probably had their gods and their rituals, just like the people of Lot’s day did.  But none were “righteous.”

Up until the time Noah entered that Ark, he was part of that civilization that existed at that time, but in reality, he was not honestly part of it.  They were human beings (to an extent) and he was a human being.  This is where it ended.  Noah is a type of church because though he was in the world, he was not part of the world, just like authentic believers.

The true Church is made up of only authentic Christians who delight (or who are learning to delight) in God’s Word and His will.  The visible church, the one that we can clearly see is made up of many people and certainly some of them are like the people of Noah’s day and Lot’s day.  They follow a certain aspect of religion, but it never takes hold of their lives.  They say they follow Jesus, but will turn away as soon as the going gets rough.  That includes some who currently pastor churches as well as those who work in para-church organizations.  For these people, what they do is simply a job.  If this church doesn’t work out, there’s another one on the next corner, or over there that might.

Paul tells us that in the end times, we will see apostasy as we have never seen it before (cf. 1 Timothy 4:1).  Like many, I believe that is happening now, but I think we are, for the most part, still on the front end of it.  I don’t believe the real bulk of the apostasy that Paul warns us about is here yet.  We’re certainly getting there, but we have a ways to go.  Apostasy is growing exponentially, but like our economy, apostasy has not bottomed out yet.  It will though because God’s Word says it will.

So what is a pastor, a worker in a para-church organization, or merely a Christian who works in a secular job to do?  I think the answer is extremely easy to know, but it is difficult to put into action.  We should get rid of everything that keeps us bound emotionally to the things of this earth (cf. Hebrews 12:1).  All of these things simply weigh us down and wind up distracting us from the task at hand.  Anything that does that is worthless to us.  It might not necessarily be worthless in and of itself, but if it keeps us from fulfilling God’s will, then it is most assuredly worthless to us.

Since we are readying ourselves for our big move, it is absolutely astounding what we have tossed or given away!  So much “stuff” that we did not need, or simply bought because we thought it would make our home better and didn’t even realize we had it.  Three dumpsters were filled and emptied and we still had a lot to give away to charitable organizations, including our church.  We are whittling things down to the barest of necessities because we do not want to be encumbered with things that will weigh us down or cause us to think twice about a following the Lord in a certain direction.

The more we have, the more reasons we have for not following the Lord.  Pastors who have gotten satisfied and used to what they have will – I believe – be hit hard, both emotionally and spiritually.  They have grown used to getting what they want/need and they have a sense that the particular church they lead cannot live without them.  When giving decreases, things will have to go.

I know of another church that had a building fund for the addition they wanted to add.  They believed the Lord led them to add onto their building so they did.  They had to take out a loan for the addition, but it all turned out nicely at first.  The addition itself looked very nice and every space was used as wisely as possible.

A few years later though, they had not recovered financially from the loan and were becoming hemmed in on all sides.  Something had to give.  One pastor left.  The remaining pastors (including the senior pastor) all voluntarily took pay cuts.  They cut other programs as needed and then they began a campaign of asking the congregation each week to give beyond what they normally gave.  Every month, they sent out letters specifically requesting that people give more to help ease the financial burden.

I’m not sure how that church is doing now financially.  I’d like to think that God provided for their needs, but I have no idea.  I do know that shortly after they finished their addition, they became immersed in the postmodern theology of the Emergent Church.  Gee, would that have any connection?

God wants us ready to move out for Him at any time because the time is growing short.  We really cannot afford to put down roots here in this world because our roots are in heaven.  I truly appreciate my wife.  She is as excited for our upcoming move as I am because we both know that God is directing.  Once we relocate, we do not at this point know His plan.  What if He wants to send us to Somalia, or some other nation in Africa or another part of the world?  The more we own and the larger our roots, the more difficult that becomes.

I always want to be ready to “move out” at a moment’s notice.  Fortunately, the Lord is so gentle, revealing His will to us over time.  The only time He seems to do something on the spot is when we haven’t been paying any attention.  When that happens, it seems like His direction came out of the blue.  In reality, His direction and nudging was there all along.  We just failed to notice.

I never, ever want to look at the ministry as an opportunity to receive a paycheck or to have a 401k account.  I want to look at the ministry as the opportunity He has given me to serve the Lord.  If He chooses to pay me within it, or provides me a job outside of it so that I can effectively minister to those over whom I shepherd, that’s His business.  He is the Master; I am the bond-servant (literally, slave).

There is a tremendous danger today.  The danger is that we come to a point where we fail to recognize that God will provide.  It certainly affects those within Christendom and the danger – if we are not careful – is that it will also affect authentic Christians too.

Pastors, you need to ask yourself why you are getting paid what you are being paid.  Ask yourself what, if anything, you would do differently if you were not dependent upon church goers to provide your income.  Ask yourself why you are in the ministry in the first place.  Is it to give yourself the illusion of serving the Lord while you faithfully meet your own needs, or are you there to truly serve the Lord?

When I stand before Him, I know there will be things in my life that I won’t be proud of and I also know His love will wipe away any tears I shed because of that embarrassment.  I’m hoping that this last portion of my life will be such that when He and I go over it in eternity, the incidents of sin will be few and far between.  I’m also hoping that when I see my motivation for being in the ministry, it will be due to the fact that He called me and I responded without caring about any monetary and temporal benefits I would receive from it.

All of us who are in the ministry in any form need to take a good, hard, cold look at our situation and our heart.  If we don’t do it now, He will do it when we stand before Him.

[1] http://investing.money.msn.com/investments/market-index/?symbol=%24INDU&GT1=33009

Entry filed under: 9/11, alienology, Atheism and religion, Communism, Demonic, Eastern Mysticism, emergent church, Gun Control, Islam, Islamofascism, israel, Judaism, Life in America, Maitreya, new age movement, Posttribulational Rapture, Pretribulational Rapture, Radical Islam, rapture, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation, Satanism, second coming, Sharia Law, Socialism, temple mount, Transhumanism, ufology. Tags: apostasy in the end times, apostasy in the last days, coming economic hardship for pastors, end times, pastors living high off the hog, pastors who make too much money, relying on what people donate.