Hello all…
There are some great truths about the wiles of materialism found in this thread. I don’t think that there is a doubt that God has called for us to be detached from a love for the things of this world. I know men and women who hoard up the treasures of this life as an attempt to equate such things with happiness. Yet true happiness…true joy…and true fulfillment can only be found in unconditionally seeking and knowing Jesus Christ. This was the principle for which our Lord instructed the rich young ruler to sell everything and follow him. It was the same for Zacchaeus, that wee little man, who sold half that he had and gave it to the poor.
However, I think that we need to make a point to not be lazy either. As believing men, we are required to provide for the needs of our families. This is not a suggestion…but a New Testament command. I find it interesting that many of the people who speak the most about “giving everything away” are often preachers who rely entirely on offerings or salaries to financially support themselves and their families.
Not a single one of the men that were called to be apostles were lazy. Each of them held a “trade” – which was similar to a vocational apprenticeship or on-the-job training. Peter, Andrew, James and John were fisherman…Matthew was a tax collector…and Paul himself was a tentmaker. Jesus himself was reported to be a carpenter. In other words, they were not lazy men who could do nothing else in life except preach.
Today, most of the men who go to Bible school want to make a career out of preaching (they might call it a "life" of preaching). They are literally prepared for nothing else in life in terms of financially supporting a family. As a result, they have no other means to support themselves and their families except the financial support that they are given by others. Of course, they could always flip burgers or push shopping carts…but most do not. They do not feel that they should have to do such a thing that is untrue to their "calling."
That being said: I don't have a problem with men who live off of the donations of other believers while preaching the Gospel. A workman is worthy of his hire...for sure. Yet a man of God must not be lazy. I just feel that we should consider such things.
I wrote the following in a recent thread about “preaching.”
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Hi Joshhh...
I have no problem with people who preach to me...or at me...so long as they are preaching truth in love. I love to hear men like Ravenhill, Wilkerson, Tozer, etc... -- because their messages are often "pleas" (rather than attempts to "please"). Their hearts are bleeding with a message that is born in prayer. It seems that they cannot keep silent...lest their heart would burst within them.
The problem with many of today's preachers is that they just don't have anything to say. Sure, many of them can preach for hours...about doctrines...or their own particular beliefs about holy living. So many preachers today do it as a profession. In other words, they are professional preachers. They make their living off of the Gospel. The preach prosperity...or even against prosperity, yet they purposely live off of the work of others. They are willing to preach as long as "God provides" through the benevolence of others.
So few preachers today seem to have a message that is deeply burdened within them! So few seem to have a message that they would preach it without an offering or collection! I know a man who was the pastor of a church, but as men lost jobs and some left the Church, the board just didn't have enough money to pay both their preacher and the mortgage. So what did the pastor do? He decided to find a church that could pay him. Where was the pastor who was willing to get a job and still preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the flock in his care? To this man, it was a [i]profession[/i]...and he admitted this to me.
Don't get me wrong: I am not pointing the finger at this man's heart. The physical needs of his family probably had something to do with his decision. But that is precisely the point! Why couldn't such a man think enough about the needs of his family and the local family of God enough to continue such a work with or without a salary?
I see so many pastors who feel that it is their job to preach a message each and every Sunday. It is almost as if they equate their salaried responsibility with a weekly sermon or two. I know some who keep a file cabinet full of messages that can be regurgitated (or slightly altered before re-preached) to the congregation.
Once, David Wilkerson was scheduled to preach at a conference. This was in the height of his popularity...during that time that God was changing his heart and perspective about ministry. Wilkerson had been booked to be a keynote speaker for months! Yet, on the night that he was scheduled to preach, he look disturbed. Once the singing and music settled down, people had greeted one another, etc... -- Wilkerson got up to the pulpit. He apologized saying that he really didn't have anything to say. He just preceded to say what the Lord was dealing with him on a personal basis -- that we (preachers) just don't know Him anymore. He spoke for less than 20 minutes...weeping about the lack of relationship that men of God have with, well, God. He said, "[i]How dare we get up every Sunday and say things that God didn't tell us to say[/i]!"
I really don't like to hear "polished" sermons meant to intellectually stimulate me...no more than I like to hear some guy who holds a particular set of doctrinal convictions where he dismisses the faith and spirituality of anyone else who disagrees with him. Yet I can listen to a message by men like Ravenhill, Reidhead, Tozer, Wilkerson, etc... -- and my heart begins to grow heavy within me. It is strange (well, sad, really) that I get more out of a Ravenhill sermon preached 25-30 years ago than I do from most pastors or evangelists that I have heard in the past year.
We certainly need our teachers...and preachers. I just wish that men who choose such a "profession" would actually have something to say. Of course, there are many great examples today...as in every generation...of men who haven't "bowed their knee to Baal" or to the money that keeps their professional status intact. May God raise up a generation of John the Baptists...who are willing to preach truth regardless of the cost! May God raise up a generation of Elijahs who are not "hirelings" -- but men who are burdened with messages that were born out of intimate communion with God!
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