“Elders who do their work well should be respected and paid well, especially those who work hard at both preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, “You must not muzzle an ox to keep it from eating as it treads out the grain.” And in another place, “Those who work deserve their pay!” Do not listen to an accusation against an elder unless it is confirmed by two or three witnesses. Those who sin should be reprimanded in front of the whole church; this will serve as a strong warning to others.”
When I was in college, I visited dozens of different churches. In some I saw the pastor deeply respected and revered. He was seen as a leader to follow – a vision caster. In other churches, however, the pastor was treated as everyone’s personal employee – he was paid to carry out the will of the people. Since I was preparing to be a pastor, I became curious. What did the Bible say about the role of the pastor? As I studied the Bible’s teaching on this topic, this set of verses is one that I found myself coming to.
These verses give several principles about how church leaders (including pastors) should be treated. First, they should be held to a standard. The church has every right to expect the pastor to do his or her “work well.” Poor pastoring need not be tolerated. On the other hand, however, when a pastor does his or her job well, the church experiences a two-fold responsibility to the pastor. First, the church is expected to respect the pastor. This is more than saying nice things – it is treating the pastor with honor. Second, the church has a responsibility to care for the pastor’s financial needs. Pastoring is both time-consuming and challenging work. The church can make it as easy as possible by making sure that pastors at least aren’t financially strapped.
Here’s your freedom for today: give freely to the local church of your time, energy and finances. Caring for pastors is just one of the responsibilities of the local church. It is a good example of the fact that when a “church” is responsible for something, that means that the people of that church are actually responsible. The church only does what the people of the church do. There is incredible power in this truth. When the people of a local church band together, they can change their local community. When people in a local church give extravagantly of their time, money and resources, there is nothing the church can’t do.