In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul writes, “So also the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14). A few verses prior, Paul rhetorically asks, “Do we not have a right to eat and drink?” (1 Cor. 9:4). In his letter to a new pastor he was mentoring, Paul writes, “The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching” (1 Tim. 5:17).

Further, in 1 Timothy 6:10, Paul writes, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” Centuries earlier, Agur notes, “Keep deception and lies far from me, give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is my portion” (Prov. 30:8).

Somewhere, though, not too long ago, a church finance committee, while discussing the pastor’s salary and benefits, did not consult Proverbs, 1 Corinthians, or 1 Timothy. Instead, they looked to Opinions 3:16: “God, keep him humble; we’ll keep him poor.”

One aspect of ministry is certainly true for all who enter: Ministry is not a calling to earthly wealth. Though there are some in ministry who have accrued earthly wealth, many pastors and associate staff members live paycheck to paycheck. Unfortunately, this lack of financial blessing for pastors is often due directly to the wishes of congregational leaders, based largely on the aforementioned Opinions 3:16.

For some congregations, keeping a pastor in relative poverty is often understood to be their service to the kingdom in order to keep the servant humble. Though neither Proverbs, 1 Corinthians, nor 1 Timothy mention the poverty of spiritual leaders, they do mention providing for the needs of ministry servants. With October recognized as Pastor Appreciation Month, allow me to suggest a few ways we, as church members, can move away from Opinions 3:16 and toward scriptural principles.

OFFER A LIVING WAGE TO OUR PASTORAL STAFF

Recall 1 Timothy 5:17 above about faithful pastors being worthy of double honor. Earlier in 1 Timothy 5, Paul instructs Timothy to be certain widows in the church are cared for: “Honor widows who are widows indeed” (1 Tim. 5:3). The honor shown to widows is more than esteem or value. Because those who are “widows indeed” are without any family to care for them, the honor shown likely deals more with offering provision than with showing esteem or giving value. Whatever help widows needed in the ancient world, they assuredly required assistance to purchase daily needs for life because they had no family to assist them.

Thus, Paul instructs the church to stand in place as family for those who did not have a biological family. A few verses later, Paul tells Timothy to instruct the church to offer double honor to their leaders. Within the context of 1 Timothy 5, then, whatever assistance was offered to widows, double was to be given to church leaders.

In our contemporary context, this does not mean your church should double the salary of the pastor. Paul’s point here is the pastor’s salary, as much as possible, should be provided by the church. To be fair, some churches can afford to offer full-time salary and benefits to multiple pastoral staff members. Some can only afford a single full-time salary. Some can barely afford any financial payment at all. Maybe the old school monthly “pounding” is all the church can afford. Again, Paul’s point is not about a set amount, but about the heart behind whatever payment is offered to the pastor and staff.

Whatever salary or assistance your church can offer, Paul’s encouragement is simple: When possible, offer more. This is not to create a pastoral salary and/or assistance package by which the pastor can live in opulence. It is to create a pastoral salary package that affords the pastor and his family the ability to focus, as much as possible, on the study of God’s Word and proclamation of the gospel.

PHYSICAL, FINANCIAL POVERTY IS ONLY ONE SIDE OF OPINIONS 3:16

The other side is spiritual poverty. Offer your pastor/pastoral staff time away, both in vacation and sabbatical. Leviticus 25 provides the reader with God’s instruction for sabbatical rest for land. Crops were to be grown and harvested on a plot of land for six years and, on the seventh year, the land was to be allowed a year of rest from cultivation. Leviticus sets a pattern of work and rest.

The same holds true of Jesus as we look to His ministry in the Gospels. Jesus’s pattern was to engage in ministry, whether in small groups or large crowds, then take time for rest and prayer. In Mark 1, Jesus preaches in Galilee, calls the original disciples, preaches in Capernaum, heals the sick, and teaches crowds. As morning dawns, Jesus is nowhere to be found because, as Mark 1:35 records, “In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.” This pattern of ministry and rest is repeated throughout the three years of Jesus’s public ministry.

If land was given rest and Jesus took time to rest, pastors should have the same opportunity in vacation and sabbatical. A church can show appreciation to the pastor by offering him annual vacation time and honoring that vacation time while he is away. Allow the pastor to recover, rest, and be refreshed while on vacation.

Consider offering your pastor a sabbatical at least once every six years. This is a period of rest and recovery, but also a period for uninterrupted study, reflection, prayer, Scripture reading, conference attendance, and strategic planning. It’s no extended vacation; it’s a time for the pastor to be pastored. Giving a period like this follows the example for land in Leviticus and the example of Christ in the Gospels: ministry, then rest.

MAKE SURE YOUR PASTORS KNOW YOU LOVE AND APPRECIATE THEM

I often tell students that ministry is the only role in which people who dislike you tell you daily and people who like you never say a word.

Be the agent of change in your church and lead others to show appreciation for the pastor. Offering your pastor words of appreciation and gifts go further than you can possibly imagine. Provide a restaurant gift card for the pastor’s family. Offer to watch the pastor’s young children so he and his wife can go out alone. Surprise the pastor on a Sunday morning with a gift from the church, simply to show appreciation. Find a few moments during Sunday morning worship to gather around the pastor and pray for him and his family. Purchase a gift card for the pastor for his favorite book seller. All these and many others are significant spiritual and physical ways we can show love and appreciation for our pastors.

MOVE AWAY FROM OPINIONS 3:16

Let us work to move away from Opinions 3:16 and toward a biblical view of supporting our pastors. God will indeed keep ministers humble, but there is no need for the church to keep the pastor in poverty, physically or spiritually.

— Travis Kerns serves as the associational mission strategist for Three Rivers Baptist Association in Taylors. He earned his B.A. from North Greenville University and his M.Div. and Ph.D. degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is married to Staci and they have one son, Jeremiah.