Occasionally people email me asking for my opinion on various personal or church problems. Last week I received the following email which I have reprinted below, followed by my response.
EMAILED QUESTION:
Mr. Russell, I am writing you in hopes of gaining some understanding and (hopefully) some advice to pass on. Recently, I got in a bit of a disagreement with a friend who claimed that mega-churches pastors should not make so much money on the back of God, Jesus, or religion…in turn having materialistic things such as a nice house.
I tried to explain that churches with higher attendance obviously would have more of a profit, in turn paying its staff more. The point was brought up that pastors in the church should not make more than any one of its current members. A point was also brought up that things such as personally written books and DVDs should not be sold to make a profit for the person writing them. Overall, the discussion was that pastors of mega churches shouldn’t make so much money.
I tried to defend such claims by stating that those pastors who do make money can use it to travel across the world and share the gospel with people who may not have heard it otherwise and that those people can be servants of God unaffected by money. As long as the pastors are being a servant of the Lord I don’t see what the big deal is. This issue is really resting horribly on my heart and I am hoping to get some answers. Anything is appreciated. THANKS
MY ANSWER:
I appreciate your question and the gracious spirit in which it was asked. The Bible sets forth the principle that a minister has a right to be paid by the church he serves. “Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain” and, “The worker deserves his wages” (1 Timothy 5:18).
The Apostle Paul stated he had a right to receive a salary from the Corinthian Church even though he didn’t use that right. “Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its grapes? Who tends a flock and does not drink its milk?” (1 Cor. 9:7)
Admittedly there are some pastors who are over-compensated and their extravagant living is a poor testimony to the world. The Apostle Paul also wrote, “We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking great pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord but in the eyes of men.” (2 Cor. 8:20-21). Church leaders need to exercise Godly wisdom in the use of church funds and preachers need to be sensitive to how they are perceived by the world.
However, the Bible does not suggest everyone should receive equal pay. In the parable of the talents Jesus taught that wealth is distributed unequally: one servant was given $5000, another $2000, and another $1000. The men who doubled their talents were commended for their efforts, and were given more. The lazy servant, who did nothing with his gift, had his talent taken away.
So the Bible doesn’t suggest every pastor should receive the same compensation. God honors hard work and is displeased with laziness. If pastors work hard, are faithful to the Lord and are good shepherds of their flock, they have a right to be fairly compensated.
Since there is no specific requirement in Scripture about how much a preacher is to be paid, church leaders are wise to follow basic guidelines which have been outlined by the Evangelical Counsel of Financial Accountability*. Here are a few:
1. The preacher’s salary is determined by a board of directors to whom he is accountable. Family members cannot be officers on this board. The preacher should not determine his own salary.
2. The preacher’s salary is to be commensurate with similar positions in other churches.
3. The use of money received from the preacher’s books, periodicals and speaking engagements is to be determined by the local congregation. (For example the church I served had a policy that I could receive royalties from books but I received no compensation from the sale of CD’s and DVD’s)
4. The preacher’s contract with the church is subject to regular review by the ECFA and an annual outside audit.
When people object to preachers making too much money they often begin with the assumption that having any degree of wealth is, in itself, evil. The Bible doesn’t say money is evil, but, “…the LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). It’s possible for Christian leaders to be wealthy and yet be generous stewards of their possessions because they love the Lord more than things.
Every church and every pastor is different. While some exploit their situation, there are multitudes of ministers who are hard-working, honest and very generous. I know a preacher of a mega church in Louisville who has never written a book. He has raised two children and yet for decades he has given away 50% of his income. I am acquainted with a well-known author who accepts no salary from the megachurch he pastors because he has sold millions of books and has concluded he doesn’t need a salary.
While many ask, “How much does our preacher make?” Few people ask, “How much does our preacher give away?” Since we don’t see what goes on behind the scenes, we’re wise to trust our church leaders and preachers to make good decisions…especially those who have established an admirable track record. A good principle is, “Trust positive intentions while checking out the facts.”
For the past eight years I’ve been conducting mentoring groups for preachers. My primary concern is not about the preachers who get paid too much but the scores of ministers I’ve met who are scraping to get by on a meager salary. The majority of the preachers I know deserve a lot more than they are making. I wish elders and deacons in their churches would ask themselves, “Are we paying our preacher enough so he’s not under financial pressure?”
For example, a young Timothy from our church leads a congregation of 150 people. He has an earned doctorate in theology. He has three young children and manages to survive on a $35,000 a year., which doesn’t include health insurance. I wish elders and deacons in churches like that would ask themselves, ‘Are we paying our preacher enough so he’s not under financial pressure?”
At the beginning of my ministry in Louisville, a detailed budget was published annually in the church bulletin – including the preacher’s salary. Anyone who attended the church knew exactly what the preacher made. That practice was eventually abandoned since it was fodder for controversy. No matter what the figure was, some felt it was too little, others felt it was too much.
One Sunday, before a vote to approve the budget, our board chairman told the congregation, “You may notice that this year we have proposed a sizeable raise for our preacher. The percentage of increase may be more than you received in your place of employment since these have been difficult economic times. However, the church has been doing really well and we believe the church ought to be a model employer.”
“A model employer,” what a novel idea! The church should not see how little it can pay their staff and still retain them. It should demonstrate to the world, “This is how we treat the people whom we respect and love. We challenge you also to, “… do unto others as you would have them do to you.”
*In the late 1970s, Senator Mark Hatfield addressed a group of key Christian leaders and challenged them to police their own mission agencies as a “Christian Better Business Bureau” or face the potential of government intervention. Consequently, in 1979 ECFA was formed. It provides accreditation to leading Christian nonprofit organizations that faithfully demonstrate compliance with established standards for financial accountability, transparency, fundraising and board governance.
