Why pastors and preachers should not be receiving salaries

There was a member here several years back that had an issue with ministers and salaries. Name evades me at the moment, but he was relentless! Okay, sorry for derailing.

Was it Yet ?
I recall he had a few things to say about churches and church pastor.
He came to mind when I read the op
Blessings
Bill

All of God’s priests, apostles and prophets were allowed to receive material goods from believers because they had the primary job of preaching the truth and the Gospel. Those material goods were received ONLY to satisfy their most basic needs like food, water, clothing and shelter.

But modern day constitutional Churches turned the job of preaching into an enterprise, and instead of receiving material things to satisfy only basic needs, pastors and teachers are getting rich from preaching while most of the hearers who give them money are poorer than them or live in poverty. The poor are ignored while the preachers get millions of income. This is against the very teachings of Jesus and His apostles. Even the apostle Paul supported his ministry through tent making, to set a good example.

Repent you leaders of the church.

Are you just making wild statements because of a particular few TV personalities? They are not the measurement of most pastors. Most pastors have to be bi-vocational to make ends meet. Most members do not tithe. That being said, people can do what they want with their money. What if a business owner from some other church, from another state, says I appreciate your ministry and I am designating this gift to you and your family specifically because I know your salary is capped by the voting board members of the church (as most are) and I want you to use this for your family. And they send them 2 million. (yes these things do happen all the time in the kingdom of God among liberal givers) Is that pastor obligated to send it back to please the critics that do not tithe but complain about pastors that appear to be doing well financially? If a pastor made $30K a year for 30 years but was wise with his money and invested in mutual funds with 15% of every check and at the end of the 30 years with compound interest has accumulated 3 Million making him a multimillionaire, able to draw 300k a year to live on without touching his principle, there would be many that would call him a false prophet fleecing the flock and not giving to the poor because they would assume based on his 300K a year that he could not have come by it any other way than to take it from church funds. This kind of judging by outward appearance (what the pastor drives or the value of his house) Makes God sick. And frankly, it makes me sick also.

These things don't change the fact that many big-name rich pastors got rich not off their congregations, but off their book sales.

pay someone to tell them what it says.

Sooner or later that will get us in trouble. The Holy Spirit is to be our teacher and our Guide. NOT our neighbor. I just give people scriptures and it is up to the to go to God for help to understand the Word of God.

I do not know if I would be willing to do that or not. Are you saying it is wrong to sell books? Are you suggesting that we should give them away for free? Should we just have ebooks? Because there is money associated with printing books. I have a friend that prints Bibles. You have to pay for ink & paper and the machinery. I use to buy books at half price and give them away to people. I know a pastor that all the money he gets for his books he uses to print books that he gives away for free in Africa and on the mission trail. Should he just put all his books on the internet and give them away for free?

It's amazing how many preachers I have heard who had never read the entire Bible but only took study classes.

Was it Yet ?
I recall he had a few things to say about churches and church pastor.
He came to mind when I read the op
Blessings
Bill

Probably gluten-free grain too.

I have a problem with tithing, if the people in charge of the ministry that I give to, doesn't separate the money that's supposed to go to church support & projects, from the money that they use for their personal expenditures. I like to know that when I actually donate money to build wells in Kenya, for example, that my money is going there, and not to siphoned off to pay for a ministers landscaping expenses, like one prominent, prosperity preacher I donated to not too long ago.

I don't believe in tithing. It is an Interesting OT rule, bringing in the first fruits of the harvest. Nothing to do with money.

I do believe in giving generously. I go to a Baptist church which has congregational governance. The books are open and several times a year, we get to see the books at annual general meetings or special AGMs. We also have a budget. Any one can ask questions, point out errors or inconsistencies.

The pastors salaries and benefits are there for people to see. Other expenses are also there in print to see. I've never seen the pastor's landscaping as a line item. Also, our debts are there to see.

I would never attend a church that wasn't run by the congregation. There are quite a few denominations that do this. It would also bother me if I didn't know where my money was going.

After we have given generously to our church, we donate money for wells in various countries in Africa and South East Asia. We check out the financial statements of the group, and in the end, we receive a picture of the well and the townspeople.

We also donate to other causes like orphanages, Compassion children and other good causes, such as special equipment for a medical centre in Nigeria, missionaries, and such things as they come up. God has blessed us with being comfortable, so we can afford to give to these other organizations money to do special things.

As for TV preachers, I don't watch them ever, and I certainly wouldn't give them money. Not my thing at all.

That's ok, that's good. They got it all laid out for everybody to see. I was raised in the Lutheran Church, I had a horrid time of it as a kid, eventually I fell away. I wouldn't watch televangelists either. I thought they were all a bunch of crooks. And of course, things didn't improve much when I was walking contrary to my Lord, things got pretty weird and vile.

Then, finally when I was 46, about 18 months after my Mom died, I went to sleep one night, I had a dream. In this dream, my mother was standing in front of me, ragging on me and nagging me vehemently about something, but I couldn't hear what she was saying, not until just as I was waking up, I heard all of sudden her say urgently to me, "You must come back, Come Back!! Come Back!! You must come back!!, and with that she turned and walked up the hallway of our old home very determinedly, like she was going to go get ready for work or to go somewhere. And I woke up fully, and I thought "Wow!!" What was that all about?", Well she must have been worried about me, because the night before, I had been in a very, very dark frame of mind, it was like someone was speaking to me, and I followed my train of thought and it led somewhere, to a course of action, that I knew I wouldn't go. I thought, no, I ain't going there...."

So, God must've allowed her to reach out to me, or maybe His Holy Spirit through my memory of her. But, I thought about what she said, "Come Back!", come back to who, where?" And I thought, and I remembered that there was only one person, and one place she always told me to come back to, either when prior to ending a phone conversation, or when I was leaving from having visited her at her house. She would say to me, "Honey, come back to Jesus", Come back to church, Come back to God, Sweetie," "God loves you, Jesus loves you, come back to church." So, I thought, "Well, she ought to know, she's on the other side of this life."

Then I thought, "Go back to which church?" They all spout 2 Bible verses, and a lot of hot air for the next 45 minutes, which have nothing to do with Jesus, or God. And they all just want money." About a week & a half later, after thinking about churches, I went to sleep, but I woke up about 2 am, and I turned on the TV in the bedroom, and was flipping through the channels for something stupid to watch, that I would just go back to sleep to, and in the middle of switching channels, I saw a big man, and he was holding a big book in his hand, open, and pounding on it with his big fist, saying excitedly, "Those bible-thumpers!!" Whop-Whop "Those 2-verse-Charlie bible thumpers!!" Whop-Whop-Whop"!!! (LOL!) I thought "Wait a minute!!" Who are you, Mr.!!??" "You're thumping your Bible, hypocrite!!" & I turned back to the station, and it was Pastor Arnold Murray, of Shepherd's Chapel, And I listened for 5 minutes, and then he said "And women in the church get a bad rap!! They do all the work, but the pastor's get all the credit!! Women in the churches are treated like 2nd class-citizens!!!! And it's not right!!!".......I thought: "I like you!!!". I've been listening to him for 22-1/2 years, and I've never regretted it. And then my husband, he would go watch TV in the living room, and let me use the computer so I could listen to the daily bible study program, and one day, Pastor Arnold made a funny, and I heard my husband laugh, that happened about 3 times and then I noticed that the TV was on stupid commercials, and I wondered if he was listening to the bible study, which he could hear it from the living room, our house is small.
Not very long, about a week after that, he asked me to buy him a bible, and asked if he could join in on the bible study programs with me, and I was over-joyed!! So, my husband came to believe, and I had great peace of mind over his soul, when he departed this life about 3 years ago from cancer.
I used to walk out of church, the times when I tried to go back, wondering "Why doesn't the Pastor talk about what God says, about what Jesus says?", and I felt very empty. Pastor Murray taught strictly chapter & verse by verse, explaining each verse as he went along. I could look it up for myself, research what he said in the KJV Bible & the Strong's Concordance, and compare with what other Commentaries had to say, like Matthew Henry's Commentary, I have that set. I learned a lot from Pastor Murray, and now his son Dennis is Pastor in his place, since he died in 2014. For me, it has to be God's word, not a man's word, and not traditions of men, Pastor Murray always said "Check what you hear from man, this man, pointing to himself, any man, Check what he says out in God's word, and think for yourself." Well, every time I double checked what he said in the Bible, he was right on, so that was good enough for me, I knew I could trust his preaching. I didn't mean for this to be so long, sorry.

There is no need for you to be sorry about anything.

I think the OP's question is valid, especially supported in Paul's teaching. The arguments against the OP are exactly the same teaching I used to hear coming from behind pulpits so long ago.

Pastors that justify their worth expecting and often demanding that the congregation is required to pay them a regular wage as you would in a secular job, (a hireling or a hired hand).

Their trump card so often used is "the elder is worthy of double honor". Yes "honor" somehow magically changes to mean money or a weekly paycheck.
Do note that just a few verses earlier Paul is addressing people with widowed family members not to burden the congregation and take care of their own family members. Key word here is burden.

Also, notice this: The Apostle Paul does not equate "working" with preaching the gospel.
The two activities are clearly and distinctly separate in Paul’s mind.
1 Thessalonians 2:9 "Surely you remember brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you."

Here in 2 Thessalonians 3: 6-15, the Apostle Paul says the same thing, except with even more emphasis.

Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that you keep away from any brother who is living in idleness and not in
accord with the tradition that you received from us.

For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle
when we were with you, we did not eat any one's bread without paying,
but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not BURDEN
any of you.

It was not because we have not that right, but to give you in our CONDUCT
an EXAMPLE TO IMITATE.

For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: If any one
will not work, let him not eat. For we hear that some of you are living in
idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.

Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ
to do their WORK in quietness and to earn their OWN living.
Brethren, do not be weary in well-doing.

If any one refuses to obey what we say in this letter, note that man,
and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not look
on him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother. (RSV)


Again, the key word here is "burden".

The Apostle Paul has clearly labeled the “paid pastors” or the “teaching elders”, the paid professional clergy, not a benefit, but rather a burden; not a help, but rather a hindrance.

Then, finally when I was 46, about 18 months after my Mom died, I went to sleep one night, I had a dream. In this dream, my mother was standing in front of me, ragging on me and nagging me vehemently about something, but I couldn't hear what she was saying, not until just as I was waking up, I heard all of sudden her say urgently to me, "You must come back, Come Back!! Come Back!! You must come back!!, and with that she turned and walked up the hallway of our old home very determinedly, like she was going to go get ready for work or to go somewhere.