Recently a new movie of the life of professional boxer, George Foreman is being
promoted. I’ve heard the trailer advertising the movie on the radio several times.
As a preacher, one line in the promotion stands out to me. Mr. Foreman says he
only knows how to do two things; preaching and boxing, but he goes on and says,
preaching “doesn’t pay the bills”. There are perhaps thousands of preachers
that can echo Foreman’s statement. The fact is that many preachers have held
multiple jobs to “pay the bills” just as Foreman says. Many preachers’ wives have
worked secular jobs to help “pay the bills”. Of course, there are exceptions. In
today’s world there are many mega churches whose pastors are well
compensated. There are also many preachers who have published books and
other resources who have become wealthy. But still this is the exception here in
America not to mention the thousands of preachers in foreign lands where
pastors struggle to “pay the bills” while maintaining their commitment to their
calling to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The majority of churches throughout
the world are small and many do not pay their pastors sufficiently to “pay the
bills”. Is this what the Bible teaches? Does the Bible ignore the needs of those
who answer the call of God to serve the Lord? No, the Bible has much to say
about the needs of those who serve Him and surrender to the call of God to
preach the gospel.
In the New Testament there is a passage in 1 Corinthians where the Apostle
Paul deals with this specific need. In chapter 9 he says, “Who ever goes to war
at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who
tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? Do I say these things as
a 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. Is it oxen God is
concerned about? Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no
doubt, this is written, that he who plows should plow in hope, and he who
threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown spiritual things
for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? If others are partakers
of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we have not used this
right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. 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 altar? Even so the Lord has
commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.”
The Apostle refers back to the Old Testament for his statement. Surely our New
Testament writers would not refer to the Old Testament if it was not proper to do
so. When we look at the practices of the Temple and the provisions made for the
Levites and the Prophets it is clear that God intends for the ministers to be
provided for. The problem that is so prevalent today among churches is that
traditional practices have replaced Biblical practices. It is common that many
churches pay pastors as little as possible. If we would go back to the Biblical
examples that have been recorded for our benefits we would see clearly that the
Bible teaches that the ministers of the gospel are to be taken care of in such a
way as to meet their needs.
In another passage in the New Testament we see another clear reference to the
needs of the Lord’s servants. In 1 Timothy 5: 17-18 it says, “Let the elders who
rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the
word and doctrine. For the Scriptures says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it
treads out the grain, and, The laborer is worthy of his wages.” Two things are
clear in this passage. First, the elder here is a minister of the Word and Doctrine.
Secondly, the same Old Testament passage of Moses is once again referred to as
the plan God established for taking care of the preachers of the gospel.
Sure there were examples of times when sacrifices were made. The Apostle
Paul himself made such sacrifices when working with the church in Corinth but
that was because of their carnality. Later he even apologized to them for taking
money from other churches and not them. However, they were babes in Christ at
the time and Paul did not want to offend these babes in Christ by his practices of
receiving financial help from the Lord’s churches and fellow believers. As the
Corinthians matured in their faith, he boldly laid out the Lord’s plans of sacrificial
giving in his second epistle to them.
This post is just a beginning of presenting this need. Over the next few months, I
hope to lay out clear Biblical teachings about caring for the Lord’s Servants. My
prayer is that it will be a challenge to believers everywhere to see what the Lord
has done in the past and what He has recorded in His Word for all believers of all
time to follow. There should never be a minister of the gospel who would have
to say, “preaching doesn’t pay the bills”. However, this is a common situation.
This in not unique to George Foreman. As I have said above, hundreds if not
thousands of ministers in American and perhaps tens of thousands around the
world have been saying the same thing. Perhaps the underlying message of
George Foreman’s life will be heard afresh and anew. Please pray with me as we
do what we can to encourage the preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
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