I am noticing now that the passages used to promote paying pastors are not talking about wages at all, but about God blessing those who are obeying their calling.
We are not to muzzle the ox, in other words, preventing him from obeying his calling. The other passage speaks of "wages according to their roles", God will bless them as they carry out their roles. Some have to do with providing material support to workers, not only money but sharing housing and food when needed as they travel But I see no "salary" in this for local elders.
1 Corinthians 3:5-8 "5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor."
The wages in this passage are connected to God's blessing as each one plants and waters.
I am convinced the help of apostles as they traveled made sense because they did not have jobs and needed goods and money to move from place to place in their calling of evangelists. This is far different from a salary; they had to depend on the Spirit of God moving in the hearts of the people to whom they were ministering, rather than a salary that was demanded from a congregation to pay a full-time preacher.
The early church didn't have full-time paid elders. They had elders who held down jobs, and each one ministered as did the rest of the congregation. No one was paid; they were all laboring for God as they carried out their personal callings.
It is my understanding that no one is to hinder someone else's calling; it really doesn't have to do with wages or even food, it has to do with not doing anything to hinder the work of another brother or sister as they obey God in their ministry and calling.
Whenever we see passages being taken out of context to make a case, we can be sure the meaning has been distorted, and always for the purpose of a culture that wants the Bible to fit its own agenda.
Born-again believers are to be generous, as led by the Spirit, to those who are working full-time in the gospel. However, elders in the local church are to hold down jobs so as not to squander the donations that come in from the church for the sake of the gospel.
Much money in the church is wasted on salaries, buildings, trips and other frivolous things to enhance the pleasurable experiences of those attending, having little if anything to do with the gospel.
Most of the money in the churches today is used to keep people coming, filling the pews with followers of a man while entertaining them. We know this by how difficult it is to engage most of the attendees in Spiritual conversation outside that building.
They don't even engage in the building; the leader does all the talking for them. They never learn to speak spiritual things themselves and are uncomfortable hearing the truth of God outside that building.
The church attendees have been trained not to speak unless they have credentials, degrees, or permission from the pastors.
This is the sad state within the modern church and has been going on for centuries as people learned not to seek Christ for truth. They seek men with degrees, popular speakers who are tickling the ears of many to maintain the approval of those in the pews.
People, for the most part,t want to be led rather than have to think for themselves. Thinking rationally and reasonably while praying for wisdom takes work and often distances us from family who withdraw their love when we do not follow them.
Galatians 4:15-17 "…16 Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? 17 Those people are zealous for you, but not in a good way. Instead, they want to isolate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them."
Nothing has changed; truth is still despised, and those who love the Word of God are still isolated, demeaned, mocked, and disrespected for not being like everyone else.
John 15:18-19 "Disciples’ Relation to the World
18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you."
In these last days, especially, we can expect very little of the Bible to be obeyed and most gatherings to be dominated by cultural traditions that God never endorsed or commanded.
The joy and peace for us in all of this is that we know these are the signs of the end times and that soon we will be going home.
None of this rebellion and disobedience to God's word needs to frustrate us or remove our joy. No one can take away the joy of the Lord Jesus Christ Who lives in us.
Keep looking up, we are going home soon!!!!
