Care of Ministers

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And as the plan is right now, we should finish the confession by the end of this month and then we will be moving into something different.
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But excuse me, we're going to pick up the pace a little bit to get through it, but not because we have to.
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But a lot of the articles, if you've noticed as we've been going through the confession, a lot of the articles are divided up in almost like subsections and a lot of them have one overruling thought and then there's subsequent thoughts.
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But anyway, tonight we're going to deal with Article 38, which is care of pastors, but certainly as we should do and want to do.
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Let's open up with a word of prayer and then we'll look at the scriptures.
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Let's pray.
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Our Father and our God, again, we thank you for who you are, Lord, and may we never forget that you are the great God of heaven and earth, that you rule over all, that you open your hand and you satisfy every living thing, Lord, and everything waits upon you.
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Lord, we pray tonight that you would bless us, bless us as we study through the confession, bless the young people as they seek to learn lessons from your word in life.
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Just be with us tonight, Lord.
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May we find pleasure in gathering together and may we find pleasure in gathering in your presence.
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Holy Spirit, come now, be our teacher as only you can.
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In Christ's name, Amen.
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Okay, so I'll go ahead and read the article.
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It's really short.
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Remember I told you last week's uh the communion of saints was about the longest article that I saw in a confession.
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Well, interestingly enough, tonight the care of pastors is is one of the shortest articles, but if you would notice it really is connected to article 36 and article 37, which is church offices and qualifications of pastors and then care of pastors.
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So, so really they're all together and then there'll be three scriptures that we'll look at, three sections of scriptures and just have some discussion.
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So let me read it to you.
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It's real quick.
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The ministers of Christ ought to have whatever they shall need supplied freely by his church that according to Christ's ordinance they that preach the gospel should live the gospel by the law of Christ.
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Do you want to borrow a confession for a little while? Yeah, sure.
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I think we have one hidden in here.
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Yeah, and then you'll be able to go follow Keith when he does his half.
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It's article 38.
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It's on page 21, 22, right? Yep.
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Yeah, so um here's an interesting thought.
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I mean, I think we mentioned it as we were working through the division of the who was going to do what in the articles.
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When we came on this one, we started talking about it and Brother Keith looked at me and he said to me, Brother Andy, would you do the care of the pastors? Because it's very difficult if you're the one that's being compensated to stand up and talk about compensation, remuneration.
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I've done it.
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It's awkward, but nevertheless it needs to be done and I think it needs to be done more than many would think.
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And so let me just give you a few thoughts and then we're going to look at a couple of scriptures for my time.
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It's a brief statement and yet, as I said, it really is kind of linked together.
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In other words, before you ever talk about care of the pastors, you ought to make sure you have a pastor.
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And again, I'm going to say it and I think it's misunderstood.
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Is there a difference between a pastor and an elder? Yes, no, maybe so.
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Okay.
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Well, the only difference would be if it's a preaching pastor versus a regular elder.
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Okay.
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I understand that.
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So there are some that will, in the scriptures, and we will even look at a scripture that they will talk about that the elder who labors in the word and doctrine is worthy of double honor.
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Okay.
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And in many ways people think about the preaching elder versus the teaching elder.
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But I do think you got to be careful that you can take that to the extreme and lose sight of it because really the pastor is an elder, an elder is a pastor, a pastor is an elder, is a bishop, is an overseer.
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Those things are all interwoven.
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And sometimes we get the wrong idea when we think about that.
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And then you'll get further in divisions and people will start calling people in senior pastor, associate pastor, youth pastor, the music minister, the internet minister.
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I'm serious.
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There are churches that have internet ministers.
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And then you have the senior adult pastor.
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I mean, you can really, you got to be careful because as you look at this, and as we think about this tonight, and the reason why I'm saying it is when you talk about the care of pastors, you must make sure that you have a pastor.
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And I do believe at times we have kind of moved away from that.
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In other words, just because someone could fill a particular slot, that doesn't mean that they qualify as an elder, does it? Just because someone's good with kids, doesn't mean that they should be the youth minister.
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The qualifications are across the board, right? So whether you're a, whatever way in which the spirit of God produces the fruit out of your life, it's still interchangeable.
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So I want us to think about it in that sense, because I do think there is some misunderstandings in people's thoughts, especially when it comes to this area of compensation, remuneration, or whatever way you want to say it.
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I'll give you a little bit of my experience.
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So I've basically been an elder in three churches in 45 years.
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I've been compensated in two of those churches, and it's a very difficult thing to stand up and talk about it again.
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In the first church that I was an elder, I was compensated and I lived in a church bosonage, and I lived rent-free.
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In the second church, I was compensated.
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I've always been bivocational.
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Everybody understand what I mean when I say bivocational? Okay.
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So I've always held a full-time job, and I've still been able, by God's grace, to participate as an elder in basically three churches over that course of time.
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And I remember in the last church that we spent 12 years at, they were talking, they had a business meeting, and they were talking about compensation for me because they had someone before, and I came in, and I remember clear as day that as the conversation was going on, that one of the women who was a long-standing member of that church, and I can remember, I can close my eyes and see it, she snapped her gum.
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She was just sitting and snapping her gum, and drove me crazy to begin with, but nevertheless.
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Anyway, she stood up, and she said, and she turned to the body of believers.
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She said, well, if he's God's man, God will provide for him.
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And I was just, I didn't know what to say.
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And again, I didn't, in and of itself, I had a full-time job, so that wasn't the point.
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And I remember I was saying, oh, I got to say something.
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I'm not sure what to say.
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I don't want to let it go by the boys, and I said, well, sister, I said, that is true.
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God will provide, but until God sends ravens, and drops bread and meat like he did for Elijah, then I think we need to consider this.
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Because if you think about it, and I'm just trying to set this up before we look, there are so many things, again, if you have a qualified person that you're going to compensate, I assure you, you will have someone who will do much more than you'll ever know, and will exhaust themselves much more than you will ever know.
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And in that sense, will spend much more of his goods than you'll ever know, if you have the right person, right persons, again, in the plurality of eldership.
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So I do have some experience with it, but I wanted to share three sections of scriptures, and there are three that they use in here, and I'm just going to read them, and then make a couple comments.
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So the first one's in 1 Corinthians chapter 9.
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Let's look at 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verses 1 through 14.
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Okay, written by the Apostle Paul.
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And I'm just going to read it.
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Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are you not my work and the Lord? If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
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And my defense to those who examine me is this.
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Do we have no right to eat and drink? Do we have no right to take along a believing wife as do the other apostles, the brothers of the Lord, or Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from working? Remember, Barnabas is the travel companion of Paul.
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Whoever goes to war at his own expense, who plants a vineyard and does not eat of the fruit? Who tends the flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? Do I say these things as a mere man or does not the law say the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.
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Is it oxen God is concerned about? Or does he say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt that it is written that he who plows should plow in hope and he who thrushes in hope should be partaker of his hope.
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If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap material things? If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless, we have not used this right, but endured all things, lest we hinder the gospel of Christ.
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Do you not know 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 temple, even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.
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Well, that's very pointed.
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It's very direct.
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So let me ask you to just two more sections and then we'll have some discussion.
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Go to the book of Acts.
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So remember, Paul wrote this and I want you to just turn to Acts 18 for a minute and I'm just going to read three verses so we have an understanding of where Paul's coming from.
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Because in a sense, Paul was bivocational.
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Okay, look what he says, Acts 18 verse 1.
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After these things, Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth and he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome and he came to them.
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So because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked, for by occupation they were tent makers.
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That's why I say in many ways Paul was bivocational.
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And if you remember what we just read in 1 Corinthians 9, Paul is arguing that just because he didn't receive, in that sense, remuneration on a regular basis, didn't mean that he didn't have the right to get it.
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He certainly did and that's his argument, right? Am I not an apostle? Am I not like Peter and the rest of the apostles? But in Acts chapter 18, and we'll see again how that plays in, Paul took care of himself.
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And still, of course, if you look at verse 4, he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.
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So Paul takes up with Aquila and Priscilla and his occupation as a tent maker so he's not a burden to the church at Corinth.
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All right, and then one more section, 1 Timothy chapter 5.
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I'm just trying to tie these three sections together, and these are scriptures that the brothers use in the confession, to kind of bring to light some of the thinking concerning support, compensation, remuneration, honor for those who are worthy of it.
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And this is what I think Brother Paul had brought up, 1 Timothy chapter 5 verse 17.
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Let the elders who rule well be accounted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine.
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For the scripture, it's again he quotes, for the scripture says you shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain and the laborer is worthy of his wages.
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So there's three sections, and it's interesting the way the brothers lay out the confession, right? In the confession, the ministers of Christ ought to have whatsoever they shall need.
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Now that needs some qualification, especially in the day we live in.
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If you ask Joel Osteen what he needs, he will tell you he needs a 30-room mansion, and he needs a private jet.
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I've heard him say that God wants him to be rich, and there are many who will take something like that, that the ministers of Christ ought to have whatever they shall need, and they'll take it to an abuse.
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And that is not what we're saying, is it? I don't believe the scriptures say that.
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At the same time, I've known and heard and read of some who will not say, well that doesn't, they'll say it doesn't mean that they should have whatever they need, but I've heard the other side, and the other side goes something like this, another argument goes something like this.
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Well, since we're paying him, he better do what we want him to do.
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Now, that usually is not done in an audible voice.
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It's usually done in a small conversation in a very quiet spot by probably a click or a little schism, but I've heard it from both sides.
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I've heard people say, well, if we're going to compensate whatever he needs, and it's an abuse on that side, and I've heard on the other side where people want to almost think of the compensated elder or elders, because there are many churches that have compensated elders, plural, not just singular, but that they'll carry the thought, well, since we're paying, they'll almost take it like an employee-employer situation.
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And let me say this, the church of Christ is like nothing else in this world, and it ought not to be fashioned based solely on the way businesses are run.
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And many people have made grievous errors along that line, that they have used the model of the world to bring into the church, and has caused much division, much heartache that really should be avoided.
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And so I think it's important for us to consider that for support for those who minister in the word, that they ought to do it cheerfully, freely, and they ought to do it, and that's what it says, right, the ministers of Christ ought to have whatsoever they shall need supplied freely by the church.
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Now, I think that word freely has expanded understanding, again, from it ought not to have strings attached to it.
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The strings that should be attached to it is that the elder or elders that are being compensated must function as elders, correct? And that is the check and balance.
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That is the way in which God has set up his church, that there should be these that are the ones that labor in the word and doctrine, and that the body should respond freely and fully to the needs of those who do that, if need be.
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And yet at the same time, there ought to be no strings attached other than the scriptural strings that God puts upon us as being those who are to govern ourselves, right? Because I've also seen where some will stand up and say, I am the pastor, I am the elder, my word is the final word.
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I'm sure you've probably heard it.
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And that, is that right? Does the elder have the final word, or elders have the final word? Oh, okay.
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I'm glad somebody said that.
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And so the word of God is the final, and who is to enact upon the word of God? The body of believers, right? That's why we believe in a local church, which is what? Autonomous.
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Self-rule, self-governing.
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If we don't believe that, then we're in a world of trouble, then we're going to be, we're going to fall into an ocean of mistakes on many, many different issues.
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So think about that.
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The stress is that, as the brothers say, it ought to be done freely, and it ought to be done according to the need.
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And I want to stress again that those who give themselves totally to the work of the ministry, listen, they ought not to be burdened down with the things of this life as much as possible.
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And there's a very good reason for that, and it is that they might give themselves totally to the ministry.
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In other words, and I'll say it this way.
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If you believe that a man is worthy of honor and worthy of being compensated and remunerated, then I think you have to believe that he should not be bogged down in so many ways.
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In other words, and I've seen this, and I'll even say it.
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When we lived in Parsonage, just get this now.
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So there's a church, there's a driveway, there's a Parsonage, old Victorian three-story home.
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Well, every time my wife had a different shirt on, somebody said, did you see her? She's got new clothes.
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Or I bought my kids a pair of, did you see that? Those kids have got Nikes.
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The pastor's kids shouldn't have Nikes.
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He should live like, he should live like poor.
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He should be willing to give himself totally up.
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And I'm not saying that's in and of itself, I'm trying to convey a point, I guess.
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If you and I think, and we'll talk about it in terms of Brother Keith, because Brother Keith is the one who's compensated, right? At this point.
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If we tie Brother Keith's hands down to such a point that he is so worried about putting milk on the table, I assure you, Brother Keith will not be able to function as God intended him to function.
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And we ought not to do that.
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And I've seen abuses, again, from both sides, but often many times it comes in that form, what I just said, that we forget that those that live by the gospel, those that preach the gospel ought to live by the gospel, and that those very same men still need to pay the light bill, and they still need to buy milk and diapers.
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And imagine the pastor bought a new truck.
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We must be paying him too much.
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That's the way people think, you know.
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Sister? Like should an elder be expected to live like, or should they be expected to, is it wrong for them to live like, you know, a millionaire? And he basically, his answer was that a pastor should live equivalent to his flock, so like wherever his flock is.
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Would you agree with that? Like to kind of tamper the Joel Osteen's of the world, their expectation? Yeah, I mean, and I know Brother has said this many times, the shepherd ought to smell like the sheep, right? So I mean, let's put it this way.
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I've been in churches where suit and tie was not optional, okay? That you came to church without a suit and tie on, and you're sure to be in rebuke.
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And in that setting, then you better make sure that the pastor, if that's what the body wants, better make sure that he can afford a suit, right? I've also seen it the other way.
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So I would agree that there has to be, again, as the brothers lay it out in the confession, it says that, whatsoever they shall need supplied freely by the church.
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And I think we have to use, again, if Brother Keith being the compensated elder at this point, he doesn't need a helicopter.
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So if he says tomorrow he needs a helicopter, we tell him he needs to go see somebody, right? But if Brother Keith says, I need a set of tires and he doesn't have the ability to, we ought to freely say, we'll take care of your tires, Brother Keith.
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I mean, again, isn't that the point of what we just read as Paul laid out, that he said that those that live, those that preach the gospel should live for the gospel, and that, could you imagine, he uses the imagery, could you imagine the ox in the field, and he's plowing, and he's threshing the ground, and he's sweating, and he's working, and he's muzzled? Which one of us would think that's right? And then Paul says, was it written just for the ox? No, it wasn't just written for the ox, it was written for us.
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And this whole area of, um, I say compensation, but that's not really the word I like.
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I'd rather say remuneration or honor, that you and I would realize that there has to be this mindset among us that, again, if the man is worthy, if he's worthy to be the, in that sense, the main feeder of the flock, then the flock should respond to him in whatever he needs.
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Appropriation, okay, yeah, or you could just say give me the money.
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I mean, but I don't think that works, but you get my point.
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In other words, we have to be careful that we don't seek to intrude into someone's life, because we all have our own lives to live, right? In other words, Brother Mike just bought a brand new 2500.
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I mean, he's a deacon in the church.
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Maybe we need to talk to him.
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Oh, yeah, gotcha.
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Um, but you get my point, and again, we ought to be able to work through this, and here's another thing, and my time is almost up.
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Here's another thing.
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Very seldom do churches want to discuss this openly.
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They'll leave it to the budget committee, they'll leave it to a board of trustees, they'll leave it to a couple of people, because it gets messy.
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Nobody wants it, but I just read to you 1 Corinthians chapter 9, 1 Timothy 5, and I read to you from Acts 18.
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It's plainly there in the scriptures, isn't it? And so you and I should be those who would, as the brothers say, the ministers of Christ ought to have whatsoever they shall need qualified, as you brought up, supplied freely by the church, and here's the reason, that according to Christ's ordinance, they that preach the gospel should live the gospel by the law of Christ.
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Supporting an elder or a group of elders ought to be a work of joy, right? The same way God loves a cheerful giver, it ought to be to more than just a new building.
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It ought to be towards the work of the ministry here.
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Sister, as I said to you, right, if you think about it, if you have a godly elder or godly elders, I'll guarantee you they are doing more than you'll ever know, and if they're not, then you need to get rid of them, and that's the other thing.
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Here's how people will do this.
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If the elder that's being compensated, if he has x amount of baptisms per year, we'll give him a raise next year, and if he don't, well, we're just going to have to talk to him, tell him he's got to produce if he wants.
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Where does that come from? That's the mind of the world, right? If you think about it, I remember when I was receiving enumeration, and again with the woman who said that God will provide and all that, and I remember I also had a conversation after that, and I said, well you know there's books that I buy for the ministry, there's clothes that I buy for the ministry, there's gas that I use, and again there are many hidden things, right? Those things ought to be considered, because we all consider them in our own life.
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To your point, sister, you said that it should be kind of matched, and I agree.
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Well listen, we're all driving around in cars.
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Brother Keith, you got to go get that wagon and mule, brother.
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You know, you can't have a car, because you got to be an example to us.
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That's not what the scriptures lay out.
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So I wanted to to ask us to think about that, and it ought to be really a work of joy, and I'll end it with this, where Paul says again in first Corinthians, who goes to war at his own expense? Which one of you are going to work tomorrow at your own expense? Which one of you guys are going to go to work tomorrow and say, hey you don't have to pay me, I'm just here for the kicks? Who goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and doesn't eat the fruit? Who tends the flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? So as we think about this going forward, we ought to find it great joy to support a man or men that are worthy of being supported.
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We ought to support them spiritually, we ought to support them physically anyway, and we certainly ought to support them if in the setting that it presents, either one or a multitude of being remunerated, being honored with their ability to take care of their needs.
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The more we free up, and I'll use brother Keith as the example, because he's the one, the more we free our brother Keith from the cares of this world, the more brother Keith will be able to minister us to us of the things of the next world.
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So just think about that.
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Comments, concerns, complaints go to brother Keith.
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I believe he did it as an example, and he says that, I don't want to be a burden, but again in 1 Corinthians 9 he says, I'm not saying I don't have the right to because I'm an apostle, but he used it as an example, right? And that's what he said, he said I don't want to be thought of as I'm just coming here to rip you guys off, and again there's many in today's world that that's exactly where they're at, right? Well he was in Corinth for two years.
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Oh yeah, he spent, yeah, I mean he, Paul wasn't like a gypsy now, I mean he did travel as he was led by the Spirit, but again he landed in Corinth for for quite a bit of time, and brother Mike brings up in so, I mean within two years you would think you're going to need a new shirt sooner or later, right? I mean unless you got a lot of deodorant.
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Well there were gifts, there were gifts gave.
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I think his point was, I don't want you to think that I'm here just to gain from you, I'm here to give you, right? But at the same time in the setting, like say, if you think about it, if Paul would have been, if Paul would have been in one church and stayed there, it certainly would have had to be compensated.
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Again, unless the Ravens, like Elijah, and I'm all for that, and I'm sure you would be, you wouldn't mind if God sent the Ravens and they could drop t-bones down in your backyard, that's, I mean that would be fine, right? All right, my time is up.
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Come on brother.