Question: Is it Biblical for Church
Pastors, or Elders and Leaders to ask for worldly things
from the Church members, and that too of a superior
quality?
Answer:
In
the New Testament, for those who are known as Pastors, or Church Leaders,
or Elders, or God's Servants today, the word used in the original Greek
language, literally means "Shepherd", or
"Care-taker". In the initial Church for this
service, and for other responsibilities related to managing the functioning of
the Church, it was God who appointed the appropriate persons (Acts 20:28; 1
Corinthians 12:28; Ephesians 4:11). In those days neither were there any Bible
Schools or Colleges, nor was there any necessity of any Theological or Religious educational degree as pre-requisites
for taking responsibilities in the Church. God used to raise up and appoint
people for working in His Church according to His own standards, and
based on the person's sincerity and commitment to the
Christian faith. This entrusting of responsibility by God was not on the basis
of the person's worldly status, educational qualifications, standing in the
society, age or seniority and experience, or any other worldly considerations. As the Gospel spread and the Christian Believers continued
to mature and grow in faith, God too then passed on the responsibility of
appointing the Church Leaders or Care-takers to those faithful
and committed persons whom He had initially
appointed as leaders; but they were to do so
based upon the standards and criteria that God had provided to them for this purpose, (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Timothy 3:1-7). Depending
upon the needs of the given Church, these Elders or Leaders, could be one or more than one (Philippians 1:1). The current trends,
firstly of becoming a leader or an Elder in the Church by virtue of some
educational qualification, worldly status, or through garnering votes in an election, and secondly the belief that looking after the
Church and working for it’s progress is the responsibility
of only a few individuals, are neither from
God nor Biblical; rather they are a
corruption of God’s ways that has been brought in by unregenerate men.
Moreover,
another very important aspect to be noted and seriously pondered upon is that the
appointment of certain people to positions of responsibility in the Church does
not mean the exclusion of the rest of the congregation from being involved in Church
and Faith related responsibilities. From the very beginning, all Christian
Believers have been called "a Royal Priesthood" (1 Peter 2:9), and
"Priests" to God (Revelation 1:6), drawing upon the Old Testament
terminology and office of being appointed to serve God and convey God’s Word
and instructions to people in general. Therefore it is evident that to be a
"Priest" of God in the Church of God is not just the responsibility
of an Elder or Pastor; rather, in God's eyes, each and
every one of His Born Again children is a
"Priest" and has to function so. And just as for the Old Testament priests
it was essential not only to be committed to God, but also to be rooted
and established in God's Word, similarly today each
Christian Believer too should not only be committed to the
Lord but also be rooted and established in God's Word. Actually speaking, being rooted and established in God's Word,
i.e. loving God’s Word, is the one and only sign of a person’s being committed
to the Lord and of loving Him, as stated by the Lord Jesus
(John 14:21, 23-24); other than this no other sign of recognizing a person’s
commitment to the Lord has been given in the Bible (1 John 2:3-6).
Give it a thought, if every child of God diligently spent time and
effort in learning and being rooted in God’s Word as a “Priest” to God, would
any false teacher or “leader” be able to beguile and mislead God’s people
through false teachings and wrong doctrines, as is so often happening today?
And, how strong and effective would the Church then become!
Since
all Christian Believers are also God’s Priests, therefore, God has kept some service or the other for each and
every one of His 'Priests', i.e. the Christian Believers (Ephesians 2:10); so
that through that service not only the Believer but also the whole Church may
get benefited. To enable every Believer to carry out and fulfill his appointed
service, every Christian Believer has been given some talent or gift by God
(Romans 12:4-8; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11), so that by putting that gift to good
use the Church may progress, the people of the Church may be effective
witnesses for the Lord, and the Gospel may spread. Hence
for the growth, functioning, managing of Church affairs, and fulfilling the various
needs and responsibilities in the Church, every “Priest” i.e. every Christian
Believer should be actively involved in the Church.
In
the early Church the Elders and Leaders of the Church were
not placed there for ruling over the Church or for using the Church for personal gains,
instead they were there to serve the Church. Peter in his first letter, has
called the Lord Jesus the "Chief Shepherd", and has instructed those
appointed as "shepherds" over the Church to serve the people: “The
elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the
sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed:
Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by
compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being
lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when
the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not
fade awayy” (1 Peter 5:1-4). It is evident from this
section that the Elders or shepherds of the Church were to be those who served
the people of the Church, not those who received services from the people of
the Church. The Elders or Care-takers in the Church ought
to give the people of the Church true and factual teachings about God's Word
and spiritual living, they should be
a model for the people to emulate, they have
to help and guide the people in learning and following the truth.
The Elders or Leaders should neither exercise
authority over the congregation, nor domineer over them for personal gains and
benefits, nor use them as a means of acquiring worldly possessions. A true
Elder or Care-taker is one who follows the instructions given by the Lord and
takes care of his flock in the fear of the Lord; not to earn worldly
possessions through them but to fulfill his God given responsibilities, with
the realization that one day he surely will have to give an answer to the Lord
about the state and welfare of his flock, because the Lord will summon everyone
to receive an account (Matthew 25:19), no one will escape their accountability.
It
is the responsibility of the people of the Church as well to ensure that those
who have been appointed for Church related services over them, and are also fulfilling
their responsibilities, are properly looked after and their needs are met
without any reluctance or hesitation by the congregation (1 Corinthians 9:1-14;
Galatians 6:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; 1 Timothy 5:17-18; Hebrews 13:7, 17). An
important point to be noted in each of these references from the Bible is that it
is either stated or implied here that the first responsibility is of the Care-taker
to provide an appropriate and proper fulfilling of his responsibilities towards
the Church; and in response to that service, the people of the Church have been
asked to look after that Care-taker and meet his needs. In
other words, it is first the responsibility of the Elder or Leader to give to
the Church – his time, his utilization of God
given talents and abilities, the understanding and knowledge of God's
Word granted to him, etc. to serve the people. Only then,
in accordance with his services rendered should he expect the people of the
Church to look after him and meet his needs. But at no place in the Bible, not even in the Old Testament, has it been
stated or shown that the Care-taker can make demands on the people, or can
compel the people of the Church to do something for him.
In
the Old Testament the tribe of Levi had not been allotted
any land in Canaan; the descendants of Levi, i.e. the Priests and Levites met
their needs from the offerings and donations brought by the
people to the Temple, to offer to God, in form of animals, crops, tithes and other things (Numbers
5:9; 18:24; Deuteronomy 14:29). It had been decreed by God that those who
brought their offerings to the Temple, whether it was animal or crops, had to bring
them of a good quality (Leviticus 22:18-25; 22:22). No defective animal or
object could be brought as an offering; to do so was to insult God (Malachi
1:8). Therefore, the idea has developed that
things of a good quality should be brought for the Church Elder or Care-taker. But there is far more to it; God had not only decreed
that only good things be brought for His offerings, but had also decreed what was
to be brought, how much had to be brought, when
it was to be brought, and how it had to be offered. The Levites or the Priests
were not the ones to decide about these things, they could only act upon and
accept that which had been decreed by God. In Jesus’ time,
since the Temple officials had corrupted
God’s instructions, we see that the Lord Jesus severely reprimanded
them (John 2:13-16; Matthew
21:13). But the basic fact was that whatever was brought, was
brought to be offered to God; it was
never brought with the intention of giving to the priest.
Even though the Priest was the end recipient, still whatever was
brought to the Temple as an offering was provided to the Priest
only after it had first been offered to God. We see in the Bible that when the
sons of Eli transgressed God’s commands regarding this, they as well as
their father, all had to pay a very heavy price for their
misdemeanor (1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22-25, 30-34). In addition, the Priest, as
God’s spokesman, was also under and obligation to teach
the people the Word of God correctly (Malachi 2:7).
In other words, undoubtedly, while the Priest was deserving of good quality physical things from the people, he was also equally responsible to impart good
quality spiritual services and teachings to the people.
As stated above, in the Old Testament times the
gifts and offerings brought to the Temple were brought to fulfill the Law; not
to give to the priests but to offer to the Lord; and only
once they had been offered to the Lord could they be distributed to the
priests. Whereas now, in the New Testament there is no instruction to bring any
such offering into the Church; although not forbidden, but doing this is voluntary, not compulsory, nowadays.
This is a very significant difference between then and now, and it cannot be overlooked or ignored. Presently, whoever is giving
anything to a God’s servant is doing so voluntarily, he is
under no compulsion to do so. Neither is it in any way necessary that the thing
given to the Elder should be considered as something offered to God, or that the thing should first be offered to God and only then be
accepted by the Elder. In the New Testament Churches, unlike offerings of the
Old Testament, the giving of any offerings is entirely dependent upon the
person wanting to give it (2 Corinthians 9:7). To compel any person to make an offering in the name of God, and to
thus use the people for providing the desires of the
Church leader is a misuse of God’s name and His Word.
If any Elder or leader of the Church expects to receive good quality
things from the people of the Church because in the Old Testament times the Priests, Levites and those serving in the Temple received the good
quality things, then that Elder or Church leader should
also, like the Priest or Levite of the Old Testament,
refrain from possessing worldly things especially related to possessing land,
and they should also fulfill their responsibilities towards the
House of God and the Word of God just as the Priests and Levites used to do at that time. Therefore, that Elder or Church leader,
instead of acquiring worldly possessions and physical abundance from the people
of the Church, should first strive to
be a spiritual model and mentor for the people of the Church. Hence, he should spend time diligently studying and learning the Word of God from the Lord, and providing
factual and correct teachings to the people. We also see
that when the priests and Levites did not fulfill their responsibilities as per
the instructions of the Lord, then the Lord also penalized them (Ezekiel 34:7-19; Malachi 2:1-9). Similarly, those Elders and Church leaders who desire to receive good
quality things from the people on the basis of the instructions given to the
Old Testament people of God, should also be careful to see
that if they do not serve the Church as per the instructions of the Lord, then
they too will be penalized just as the disobedient priests and Levites had been
penalized.
Today it is expected from the servant of the Lord serving
as a Care-taker of the Church, to be
diligent in his primary responsibility of serving
the Church of God, as Paul has taught from the example of
his own life. Study 1 Thessalonians,
chapter 2; here in verse 9, Paul is
writing that in his missionary services of preaching and Church
planting, he never became
a burden upon anyone; he used to labor to earn to provide for his needs, and while doing this he
also taught the Word of God diligently and devotedly (also see Acts 18:3;
20:34-35; 1 Corinthians 4:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:11; 2 Thessalonians 3:8-9). Also, after teaching that the Church should look
after and provide for the needs of those working for the service of the Lord
amongst them, Paul in 1 Corinthians
9:15 goes on to clearly and emphatically refuse seeking for or accepting anything from the Church in lieu
of his spiritual services rendered to them; so much so,
that he prefers to die rather than take something from the Church for his work
amongst them. If today an Elder, or a Care-taker of the
Church, on the basis of examples and instances from God’s Word desires to
receive some physical and worldly things from the Church, then why should he make the Old Testament the basis for this? Why
don’t they take Paul as an example and model from the present day applicable New
Testament teachings, and learn from him, emulate him (1 Corinthians
11:1; 2 Thessalonians 3:9)?
Quite
sadly, nowadays, such desired and expected commitment to
God’s Word and work is rarely seen. This is because in nearly all
the Churches, the instructions and decrees of God for the people and
leaders of the Churches have been replaced by
denominational laws, rules and ways that have been decided by men in the name of God, and applied to
be followed in the Churches. And while these Church managers have no hesitation or
remorse for their breaching and disobeying God’s Laws for His Churches; yet they are very particular and rigid in their stand that their
given rules and laws should not be breached or neglected, else dire consequences
will follow. To fulfill the responsibilities related to the
functioning of the Church people are now appointed not according to God’s
standards and instructions but according to standards, qualifications,
criteria and methods determined by men. Therefore the Leaders and Care-takers of the Church hardly
ever see it as a God given responsibility,
but more often they see this responsibility as
a “job” to which they have been appointed by certain men, in a certain
Denomination or Sect. And since this “job” has been given to them
based on certain man determined criteria, qualifications,
and “abilities,” therefore most of the Care-takers of the Churches live and work to please not God but their denominational
human officials and superiors who not
only have appointed them, but can also influence not only their
continuing in their “job” but also their future prospects, promotions, and
their welfare in the denomination where they are employed – what
a striking contrast to Paul’s statement of Galatians 1:10. So it is no surprise
that though they use the name of God, they have no
fear of God, no sense of accountability to God, and only a perfunctory concern
for their congregation; their primary concern is to serve and
satisfy their officials, and fulfill their own
needs and purposes through the congregation. None
of them dares to point out or speak up against anything wrong, unethical, or
unBiblical being asked or done by their superiors (compare with
Galatians 2:11-18); rather, while perfunctorily serving in the name of
God they aspire and strive to reach those positions of authority and
superiority by any means – fair or foul, so that they too can enjoy the worldly
benefits of that position (compare with Colossians 3:1-5).
God’s name and service has become a means to serve their own
bellies for them (Romans 16:18; Philippians
3:19), and their commitment and sincerity has come to be directed
not towards God and His Word but towards their worldly, human officers and
superiors – Paul has called them “enemies of the Cross of
Christ” (Philippians 3:18).
It is the God given responsibility of the Church congregation
as well as of the Care-takers
of the Churches that both sides fulfill their God
ordained obligations towards each-other and
meet each-other’s physical and spiritual needs; always bearing in mind that one day they will have to answer to the Lord for the fulfillment of their
responsibilities. No one can escape having to give an account
to the Lord, nor can anyone escape receiving due rewards – good or bad, for
what they have done, or not done. Be ready; the day
of reckoning is coming soon.
