Pastors: Full time with Benefits, or part-time and payless?

With October being Pastor Appreciation Month, it only makes sense to write an article on pastors. This subject tends to bring a ton of comments, through several avenues of media. Recently, I was listening to the Bob Dutko Show on 103.5, WMUZ, Detroit’s Christian station. He started a topic on whether or not pastors should be full time in ministry and receive a paycheck for it, or should they work outside of the church full time, and pastor the church part time. This particular article is my opinion on this subject, and Scriptures to support my opinion. I welcome comments and differences of opinion, and also any Scriptures present to back up your opinion. As we examine this issue, I urge my readers to carefully consider both sides of the topic.

My personal opinion on whether or not pastors should receive their living from preaching the Gospel is yes, they deserve to be paid for delivering the Word to the masses. Do not your cook and your waitstaff at your local diner get paid for feeding you? Your pastor feeds you as well; he or she feeds your spirit. The pastor of your church has made a full time commitment to your spiritual well being. They also deserve to be paid for the work they invest into bringing your spiritual banquet to you each week. 1 Timothy 5:17-18 says, “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain and, ‘the worker deserves his wages.” If even the ox deserves pay of some sort while it is treading out the grain, how much more do pastors, who work the spiritual harvest fields, deserve to be paid? The Scripture also says that the worker deserves his wages.

Some would argue that pastors should work full time outside of the church to support their family, then after that, invest their time and energies into the church. The problem with that theory is family. If the pastor has a family and works 40 to 60 hours per week to support them, then invests another 20 to 30 hours into the church, when do they spend time with the family? Pastors work more than just an hour or two on Sunday morning. Hours of prayer, study of the Word, and prep time go into each sermon before it enters your ears. Then there is prayer for and with members of the congregation, various missions, fundraisers, and the infamous but necessary administrative duties that are part of running a church. The truth is, if these people were called by God into full-time ministry, then that is where their pay and provision should come from. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9:11-12, “If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you? If others have this right of support from you, shouldn’t we have it all the more?” The answer is: Yes, our pastors have sown spiritual seed among us, and they have the right to a material harvest from us. Jesus Himself even said in Luke 10:7, that the worker deserves his wages.(Emphasis mine). How can we argue with that?

I hope that this article shed some light on unknown areas for you. I do invite comments for or against this subject. Perhaps we can do a future article with others viewpoints. Since this is Pastor Appreciation Month, I do want to appreciate my pastors, Drs. Jerry and Sherill Piscopo, of Evangel Christian Churches in Roseville, MI. They are called by God to be apostles and prophets to the masses. They plant, build up, grow, and revitalize churches, here and around the world. I give glory to God for planting them in mine and my family’s lives. You are appreciated and loved. Until next time, God bless to one and all.