The Minister's Biblical Bill of Rights, by Rev Joseph M. Willmouth

This Sermon was written and submitted by: Joseph M. Willmouth, Pastor of Trinity Bible Church in Biloxi, Mississippi 39532. This contributed article is copyright protected, and the sole property of the contributing author. It may be freely copied and used provided the above credits are included. Document expiration: indefinite.

"The Minister's Biblical Bill of Rights"
1 Corinthians 9:1-27 (NASB)
(This sermon was originally preached at Trinity Bible Church, Biloxi Mississippi. And I wasn't fired!)

WARNING! This message is not for the faint of heart, who's wallet squeaks when you walk. Nor is it for any pastor who wants to be politically correct or popular. But it is a message that needs to be preached to the sheep, because it is God's Word! To mature as we should, we need to feast upon the meat of God's Word, even if it is hard to swallow.

Introduction: Chapters 8-10 go together as a unit on the subject of Christian liberty. If you just read the first 14 verses of chapter 9, you might say - that's not really so, because Paul is talking in these verses about the way a church treats full time Christian servants financially. Six times in this chapter he uses the word "right" (NASB).

Article One: A Minister Has The Right To Be Treated Fairly By Other Believers (vv.1-4)

1. The Church should recognize their Pastor's calling and position by God (1-3).

A. There are some people in the church of Corinth that are actually questioning Paul's apostleship
1) they're saying that Paul's not really an apostle and therefore he should have no authority over them
2) This becomes a major problem in the book of II Corinthians, and Paul spends a significant amount of time defending his apostleship in that letter

2. The Church should recognize their Pastor's basic rights to live as they do (v.4).

A. Paul uses the term "right" (power: KJV)
1) The word literally means "power, authority"
2) He's saying "Christian servants have the same power, authority, rights, as anyone else who's working hard at their jobs"
A) None of us believe a person is entitled to a handout just because they're a human being.
B) In fact, the Bible makes it clear in passages like I Timothy 5:8 and II Thessalonians 3:10 that a person who can work must work or he shouldn't be allowed to eat

Application: Paul wasn't looking for special privileges because he an Apostle. But he is making it clear that those who minister full time for a body of believers need to be treated fairly. When it comes to financial support, most churches seem to think that they don't have to treat their pastors the way they expect others to treat them. We need to apply the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” to our pastors also.

Article Two: A Minister Has The Right To Earn Enough To Support His Family (vv.5-6)

1. The financial support should be enough to support his whole family (v.5).

A. A full-time Christian servant ought to have the freedom to have a wife and children, and his salary ought to be able to meet the needs of his family
1) Christian servants have normal human rights- their salaries ought to meet the needs of them and their families
2) This may not be part of your experience, but there are many churches that have violated these principles for years and years and think that they are just being good stewards.

Illustration: In the eighteenth century, here in America, there was a problem that arose between Baptist Churches and their pastors. Many of the pastors had a hard time collecting what salary the church promised, or even in getting the church to acknowledge they had promised anything. A few churches drew up formal contracts to show what the church and pastor expected of each other.

I know of an ex-pastor who was paid $75.00 a week (years ago) and was given a parsonage, but in the winter it cost him that much to heat the house. The Barna Research Group: Although pastoral compensation has risen by 10% increase since 1992, that has not kept pace with the rise in the cost of living during that period. In effect, pastors are earning about 12% less today, in real dollars, than they were at the beginning of the decade." A couple of years ago they found that 80% of pastors they surveyed need a 20% raise immediately just to make ends meet.

2. The financial support should be enough so that he isn't forced to do additional work (v.6).

A. Jim Rickard, a Christian financial planner who has done thousands of tax returns for pastors did some statistical analysis on those returns and one of the things he came up with was:
1) 54.6% of the pastor's wives HAD TO WORK full time.
- the average case, that wife was working because the church was not paying her husband what it would take to support the family (which is a direct violation of this passage).
2) 35.2% of the pastor's were not reimbursed for their professional expenses.
3) 42.5% are either renting or living in a parsonage.
A) In other words, they don't own their own home.
B) You might say - "well, having a parsonage would really be nice!"
- They may be nice - but they don't have wheels under them, so you can't take them with you when you go.
- Plus the pastor is taxed with self employment tax on the fair rent value of the house.
--This leaves many pastors earning as much as a McDonalds employee.

4) 25.4% are exempt from social security
A) A pastor can opt out of the social security program and many pastors did that, esp. a number of years ago.
B) Randy said this - "One of the challenges we're facing is that we have a generation of pastors retiring who have no home, no equity, no retirement, and no social security"
- but many of those are dear folks, who gave their lives faithfully serving in local churches, and are in the financial condition they're in primarily because churches were not generous.

B. It's interesting when you talk to pastors and their wives.
1) Some of them are in churches that are "stingy" and won't obey these kinds of passages.
2) There's going to be some churches that are going to bear responsibility for not obeying these passages.
A) Some day those folks will stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
B) I'd sure rather stand at the judgment seat of Christ and explain my generosity than explain my stinginess.

Application: Now I know that there are some small churches who cannot afford to pay someone what they deserve, and their pastor knows it also. But there are a lot of churches that use this as their excuse to get around paying their pastor a fair income. How can any church expect God to bless them if they are not willing to obey God's Word? Church leaders need to approach this subject honestly, and own up to their responsibilities.

Article Three: A Minister Has The Right To Be Fairly Compensated (vv.7-14)

1. Just As The Rest Of The World Is (v.7).

A. The Soldier.
B. The Farmer (who tends a vineyard).
C. The Shepherd.

2. As Directed By The Scriptures (vv.8-13).

A. The laborer has the right to share in the blessings (vv.8-12)
1) Paul reminds folks of Deut. 25:4 - Don't muzzle the ox.
A) The picture is of the farmer who has an ox dragging a heavy stone to process the grain.
B) That ox was allowed to eat some of that grain as a payment for his work.
2) Principle - a worker deserves to benefit from his labor.
3) Interesting question - (v. 9) - does God care for oxen?
A) Overall point - Though the Lord is concerned for the treatment of animals, that's nothing compared to His concern for the treatment of His servants (v.10).
B) Paul's says - this is consistent with OT law
4) Those who sow spiritually should reap materially (v.11)
A) This is stated even stronger in Romans 15:25-27.
B) When someone ministers to me spiritually, I owe them a debt
- The way we treat God's servants financially communicates something about our view of God and His Word
- The way we treat others, especially God's servants, reveals something about the way we view God

5) Paul reminded the Corinthians that they had compensated other full time Christian workers in the church, so they too have the right to be supported.
A) Men who get rich in the ministry do hinder the gospel of Christ, however, it is God's method that those who have a spiritual ministry are to be supported by those who benefit.

B. The Old Testament ministers under the Law were supported by the people (v.13)
1) Because It's The Universal Pattern.
A) Lev. 6:14-7:36, 27:6-33 (est. Tithe, 21-26%)
B) God has ordained this both in the Old and New Testaments

2) This is God's method

3. As Directed By The Lord Jesus Christ (v.14)

- Luke 10:7 - The workman is worthy of his hire.

Application: The overall principle is this: There ought to be some consistency between the way secular workers are compensated and the way Christian workers are compensated, and in many places, that just doesn't happen. A few years ago when I was looking for a church, I found that most of the churches that I talked too wanted someone with a Doctor's Degree that would accept the pay of a part time bus driver. They seemed to think that this made them good stewards! This is foolish, because it's God's money and God's Word is clear that ministers should be fairly compensated for the work they do. Of course most church members really don't know what their pastor does in between Sunday and Wednesday and Sunday again, so therefore he must not be doing anything! I spend, on average, 20 hours on each sermon. So anytime I have to make visits, phone calls, etc... this means that I have to spend even more of my free time to get sermons done. There are many weeks that I don't take any time off. Now I'm not saying this to make you feel bad for me, but to only point out that the majority of pastors out there do work very hard, and sacrifice a lot to serve others. I remember some years ago a pastor of our church told the deacons how many hours he worked in a given week, and they all but called him a liar because they had no clue what he did or how much time is required to prepare a message.

Some church experts recommend that a church get in touch with the local school board to find out what a principal in the school makes. They say that the principle's job is similar to a pastor's and most school districts have a chart where you can plug in the person's education and years of experience and come out with a number. no one's saying you have to do it exactly that way but that is a biblical concept and there ought to be some consistency between the way secular workers and Christian workers are compensated.

Article Four: A Minister Has The Right To Refuse Or Limit Their Compensation (vv.15-23)

1. When a believer willfully limits their rights they will receive their full reward at the Judgment Seat of Christ (vv.15-18)

- Paul isn't saying that he had no support, because the churches in Macedonia (Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and maybe some others) supported him financially (Acts 16:11-17:13).

2. A believer may willfully limit their rights so as not to be a stumbling block to the gospel (vv.19-23)

Application: I have heard people point to these verses to justify not paying their pastor's what they should. Notice that this is the pastor's right and not the church's right. Some pastors may have other income that would allow them to serve in small churches that can't pay a good salary. But this was the pastor's choice to do so, not the church's right to do so.

Article Five: A Minister Has The Right To Run The Race To Win (vv.24-27)

1. The minister has the right to try to win the race without interference (vv.24-25)

A. Believers are to view the Christian life as a race in which they can receive rewards (v.24)
B. Like the participant subjected themselves to training a year before the games, the believer should channel their lives for effective ministry in light of the surpassing quality of the rewards available to him (James 1:12; I Peter 5:4; II Timothy 4:8).

2. The minister's life should be purposely focused on Jesus Christ (vv.26-27)

Application: The Christian race is hard enough to complete without disqualifying yourself from the rewards to come, and some churches seem to work at preventing their pastors from running at all. I remember watching a some video clips of the first woman to run the Boston Marathon where an official tried to tackle her because women weren't supposed to be in the race. All Christians are to being running in the same race, and not trying to prevent others from participating. The best way a church can help their pastor to run is to be faithful to God's Word and support their pastor to the best of their ability.

INVITATION:
1. Be fair in your treatment of your pastor.

2. Be ready to set goals to allow you to pay your pastor what he deserves.

3. Be generous

- the theme running all the way through these verses is that God is pleased when we are generous.
- Giving is God-like

4. Be prepared to give account to the Lord for your actions or inaction.

- some day we will all have to stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
- I'd much rather stand at the judgment seat and explain my generosity than explain my stinginess.