It is more blessed to give than to receive.
Jesus of Nazareth
Paul’s words reminds me of when Samuel stood down as Israel’s last judge to make way for Saul to be its first king. He asked the people to confirm that he had not used his position to defraud or oppress anyone nor taken bribes. The people responded, ‘You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand’. (See 1 Samuel 12:1-5.)
The sad fact is that many in church leadership have used the opportunity to enrich themselves at the expense of the people they purport to care for. That was true of many of the Pharisees who opposed Jesus and I think it was why Paul, himself a former Pharisee, was so diligent in doing the very opposite.
In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul explains that Christian ministry is to be funded in the same way as the ministry at the Temple in Jerusalem: that is, by way of donations from the people. He explains this to affirm his right to financial support from the church at Corinth but – crucially! – he did so not to claim the right but to waive it. We should consider his reasons carefully.
‘Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. But I have made no use of any of these rights, nor am I writing these things to secure any such provision. For I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for boasting. For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, I am still entrusted with a stewardship. What then is my reward? That in my preaching I may present the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my right in the gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all…’ (1 Corinthians 9:4-19)
I would summarise Paul’s attitude like this. He believed that he had no choice but to preach the Gospel as God had called him to do. It therefore gave him no cause to boast! But, in order to please Lord and to be worthy of a reward (or treasure) in heaven, he did something that God did not require of him: he preached without charge.
In light of this, I ought to add that I think all churches have a duty to support their ministers. I would even go a little further and say that churches should support their ministers to approximately the same standard of living that most of the church members enjoy. There will be exceptions to this but in my view the choice to serve on a unfairly low income should be the minister’s and not the congregation’s choice. Unfortunately, during the 40 years I’ve been a Christian, I’ve come across examples of miserly churches that presume upon their minister’s sense of obligation to stay on a low income or in poor living conditions. It seems to me some churches even allow their minister’s home to become run down, only doing repair work and redecoration when he or she moves on and it’s time to attract a new minister.
Paul wanted to minister without being a burden on the people he taught. This was his choice, willing made in the service of Jesus who said that, contrary to what most people think, it's more blessed to give than to receive. In doing this, Paul both distinguished himself from false teachers visiting the churches and accumulated treasure in heaven. For similar reasons, I don't like to take fees for teaching Christians. I don’t think it would be wrong for me to do it, and I do not rule out doing it from time to time in the future, but as the subject of money can be controversial and, as there are some teachers who seek to enrich themselves by talking about it, I don’t want to inadvertently create a wrong impression about myself or put an obstacle in the way of people taking the issues seriously.
To be blessed is to be fortunate and to prosper. Giving, not possessing, is the route to true prosperity. It's a way of life that runs in the very opposite direction to the rest of society but it's necessary to being Kingdom shrewd. I don’t think that it goes too far to say that Jesus’ disciples today will not only have a very different attitude to money and possessions to their neighbours and work colleagues but that they will probably appear to them to be quite mad!
But how literally are we to take Jesus’s words, ‘Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you’? That is the subject of next weekend’s Reflection.
_____
This week I enjoyed reading, Who Am I? Saved!, by Gwynedd Jones. It’s the story of how a man with a superficial Christianity but who actually trusted in money came to find security, peace and purpose in knowing Jesus and how others can find the same. It’s an easy book to read and a good one to share; a straightforward and interesting explanation of the Gospel message by someone who has obviously spent a lot of time thinking how to present it clearly. The book is available from Amazon for Kindle and the two links below will take you there if you’d like to check it out.
www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Am-Saved-Gwynedd-Jones-ebook/dp/B00H558IOI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400780572&sr=8-1&keywords=gwynedd+jones .
www.amazon.com/Who-Am-Saved-Gwynedd-Jones-ebook/dp/B00H558IOI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400781106&sr=1-1&keywords=who+am+i+saved
www.amazon.co.uk/Who-Am-Saved-Gwynedd-Jones-ebook/dp/B00H558IOI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400780572&sr=8-1&keywords=gwynedd+jones .
www.amazon.com/Who-Am-Saved-Gwynedd-Jones-ebook/dp/B00H558IOI/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1400781106&sr=1-1&keywords=who+am+i+saved
© All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans 2014.
Please feel free to copy, print and share these Reflections on a non-profit basis.
