Professional Pastors

by Steve Atkerson
Should pastors earn their living from the church? In Acts 20, Paul gave the Ephesian elders specific instructions on their duty as elders. Concerning finances, Paul stated that he had coveted no one's silver or gold and that he had paid his own way by working hard with his hands (cp. 18:1 ff). Following Paul's example, the elders were also to earn their living from a secular job so as to be able to help the weak and live out the words of the Lord Jesus that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Thus, from Acts 20:32-35 it is clear that elders are to be in the financial position of giving to the church, not receiving from it.

Some have tried to draw a distinction between elders and pastors, thinking that elders should indeed work in the secular world but that pastors are to be totally devoted to church work, spending their time in doctrine and teaching. Such a distinction is both artificial and unbiblical. A study of Acts 20:17, 28-30, Tit 1:5-9, and 1 Pet 5:1-3 will reveal that elder, overseer and pastor are synonymous terms. Incidentally, the noun, pastor, is used only once in the NT in reference to a church leader (Eph 4:11).

But what of 1 Cor 9:14 where it is stated that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living from the gospel? 1 Cor 9 concerns the rights of an apostle, someone commissioned by either Jesus or the church to travel around evangelizing and establishing churches (missionary is never used in Scripture; such people were called apostles and evangelists). As is clear from the text, all such people have the right (9:12) to full financial support. The error is in applying this passage to elders. An elder's ministry is primarily to the saints (not the lost) and he is to proclaim the whole counsel of God's written word (not just the gospel). 1 Cor 9 was written about apostles (who proclaim the verbal message of salvation to the lost), not about elders (who teach the word of God to the church). Since Paul waived his apostolic right to get his living from the gospel (9:15, 18), the example he showed the Ephesian elders is all the more compelling (see also 1 Ths 2:9, 2 Ths 3:7-9).

Temporarily stationed in Ephesus was Timothy, Paul's traveling companion and fellow apostle (1 Ths 1:1, 2:6), whom Paul left in Ephesus to squelch strange doctrines (1 Tim 1:3). Concerning the same Ephesian elders as in Acts 20, Paul wrote that some were worthy of double honor (1 Tim 5:17). Does honor mean pay? From the Greek word time, it primarily means respect; a good parallel verse is 1 Ths 5:12-13. There is a specific Greek word for pay (misthos) and, significantly, it is not used in 5:17. Time can in certain contexts mean price, but since a price is the quantity of one thing that is demanded in sale for another, it hardly makes sense in this passage (since when are elders for sale?). This same word (time) is also used in 6:1; are slaves to pay their masters?

Using the same reasoning as in 1 Cor 9:9, 1Tim 5:18 states that just as an ox deserves grain, just as a laborer deserves wages, so also an elder deserves respect. In fact, so honored are they to be, that an accusation brought against an elder is not to be received unless it is substantiated by more than one witness (5:19). 1 Tim 5:19 follows logically 5:17-18 if honor refers to respect (an accusation involves dishonor), but follows awkwardly if honor refers to pay.

There is one instance from third century BC secular Greek where time was used to refer to a physician's honorarium, but this is a rare usage and is far removed in time and context from Paul's writing. If honor did mean honorarium in 5:17, then should elders really be paid double? And even if honor is stretched to mean compensation, then balancing 5:17 with Acts 20:33-35 would still require elders to also work at a secular vocation so as to be self-supporting and not dependent on the church.

Gal 6:6 encourages he who is taught the word to share all good things with his teacher. Thus, it is not a violation of Scripture for an individual to share something with his instructor, and, not uncommonly, that teacher will also be an elder. However, this is a far cry from having a class of elders who are totally dependent on the church for their livelihood. For example, Paul accepted gifts when given to him (Phlp 4:10-20), but he did not depend on nor expect such gifts; he instead worked hard with his own hands (Acts 18:1-4). Also, the good things of Gal 6:6 encompass much more than money; anything that shows appreciation for the teacher's ministry qualifies as a good thing.

What did Peter mean in 1 Pet 5:2 when he exhorted the elders to shepherd God's flock voluntarily and not for sordid gain? "Sordid gain" is from a single Greek word, aischrokerdos. Does it refer to tainted or dirty money? Surely not! aischros means shame or disgrace and kerdos means gain. A related term, aischrokerdes, is used in Tit 1:7 where elders are required not to be fond of sordid gain; 1 Tim 3:3 parallels this with a requirement that elders be free from the love of money; thus aischrokerdes is a virtual synonym for money. Peter's point was that elders are not to serve in order to get any kind of personal gain from their position. R.C.H. Lenski points out that since elders were not salaried or paid, Peter's warning was that elders not use their position to seek the trade of the church in business matters (how many business men have joined the First Church primarily to climb the social and economic ladder?).

So where does this leave us? Should the church employ professional pastors? Such an occupation was not only foreign to the NT church but was even discouraged (Acts 20:32-35). As with Paul, elders can receive good things shared voluntarily with them by the saints to whom they minister, but elders are primarily to supply their own needs by working hard in the secular world.

Requiring elders to be self-supporting would free large sums of money currently designated for professional pastors to be used instead in support of missionaries or to help weak brothers. It would also place a pastor's motives above reproach in an era of religious shysters who purposely fleece the flock in order to finance their exorbitant lifestyles (Ez 34:1-6). In addition, creating a class of salaried ministers tends to elevate them above the average believer and fosters an artificial laity/clergy distinction (after all, aren't pastors paid to be good while everyone else is good for nothing?!). Finally, salesmen tend to be extra nice toward those to whom they hope to sell something; paying a professional pastor puts him in a similar salesman-customer relationship, and this, no doubt to some degree, affects his dealings with significant contributors (money talks).

"In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"