Once there was a little old man. His eyes blinked and his hands trembled; when he ate he clattered the silverware distressingly, missed his mouth with the spoon as often as not, and dribbled a bit of his food on the tablecloth. Now he lived with his married son, having nowhere else to live, and his son’s wife didn’t like the arrangement.
“I can’t have this,” she said. “It interferes with my right to happiness.” So she and her husband took the old man gently but firmly by the arm and led him to the corner of the kitchen. There they set him on a stool and gave him his food in an earthenware bowl. From then on he always ate in the corner, blinking at the table with wistful eyes.
One day his hands trembled rather more than usual, and the earthenware bowl fell and broke. “If you are a pig,” said the daughter-in-law, “you must eat out of a trough.” So they made him a little wooden trough and from that time on, he ate his meals in it.
The couple had a four-year-old son of whom they were very fond. One evening the young man noticed his boy playing intently with some bits of wood and asked what he was doing. “I’m making a trough,” he said, smiling for approval, “to feed you and Mamma when I get big.”
The man and his wife looked at each other for a while and didn’t say anything. Then they cried a little. They then went to the corner and took the old man by the arm and led him back to the table. They sat him in a comfortable chair and gave him his food on a plate, and from then on nobody ever scolded when he clattered or spilled or broke things.
Grimm’s little fairy tale highlights a number of biblical principles. Certainly, the fifth commandment, “Honor thy father and mother” comes to mind. This story also makes us think of the Golden Rule that Jesus that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount, “Do to others what you would have them do to you. The social obligations of Christianity always require us to treat other people with dignity, respect, and honor.
The Apostle Paul picks up that same theme in I Timothy 5. In verses 1-16, he addressed how family members ought to honor one another and about caring for the widows in the church community. Now in verses 17-25, he focuses on how to honor pastors. In verse 17, Paul begins by telling Timothy that “elders who rule well deserve double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.” We may infer that elders as a group had the responsibility of leadership, that all of them had to be doctrinally strong to teach effectively, but that only some devoted enough time to preaching and teaching to make financial support necessary—these became known as pastors. Pastors who do their work well are to be considered worthy of double honor—that is, proper respect and remuneration. The church is to uphold the highest degree of honor when compensating, disciplining, and appointing pastors.
1.) Honorable Compensation (17-18)
The first area where the pastor is to be honored is compensation. Right after Paul tells Timothy that the pastor who rules well is worthy of double honor, he grounds the principle of fair pay in with two verses from Scripture. He quotes Deuteronomy 25:4 “Do not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.” This phrase was a part of the Old Testament law that prohibited farmers from muzzling the mouth of an ox when it was threshing wheat in the field. The farmer must not prevent the animal from taking its share of the harvest. Paul’s point is clear: just as the ox is entitled to eat while it was working, so the pastor is entitled to the provision of his needs.
The Ben and Jerry’s ice cream factory is a good example of this principle. Employees are allowed to take home a couple of pints of ice cream after work each day. After laboring with cream and sugar all day, it is nice to be able to taste some of the sweet product.
Likewise, Paul quotes Jesus’ words in Luke 10:7 when he says, “The worker deserves his wages.” Jesus gave these words in the context of the sending out of the 72 to preach the gospel. He told them to go ahead and eat and drink in people’s homes as they were invited. Their work of preaching should be rewarded with the provision of one’s needs. Pastors should be honored for their work with a fair compensation!
So, how much should a pastor be paid today? That is a good question, and because of my position, I am probably not the best person to answer that question (although this might be my only shot a sermon that could directly increase my salary.) But I will say this, the pastor deserves to be paid fairly for his or her work, just like anyone else. I have a good friend who is a Catholic priest, and he often says, “I have taken a vow of chastity, not a vow of poverty.” I have some pastoral friends who make $20,000 a year and others who make $175,000 a year.
I once heard the story of a man who interviewed to be the pastor of the church. The interview went well and the church wanted to hire him. One of the members of the pulpit committee thought that he was pretty sly and tested him by asking, “How much do want to make in this position?” Obviously, that is not a fair question for a pastoral candidate. If he gave a high number, he would come across as greedy; if he gave a low number, he would sell himself short. So, the pastor responded, “Well, that depends on the kind of sermons you want! Do you want $40,000, $60,000, or $80,000 sermons?
Contrary to the popular belief that pastors only work one day a week, most of the pastors I know work between 50 and 60 hours a week. The pastor’s education, experience, performance, and the church’s financial ability should all factor into compensation. One of the ways we can honor pastors is to pay them honorable compensation. Remember—“Do unto others as you would want done to you.”
2.) Honorable Discipline (19-21)
Unfortunately, not all pastors “rule well” and sometimes they need to be rebuked or disciplined, as was the case with some of the church leaders in the Ephesian church. So, how should pastors be disciplined with honor? Paul basically gives two guidelines: No unsupported charges are to be brought against a pastor without evidence from two or three witnesses and if he or she is found guilty, the rebuke must be made in public.
Because leaders are always more open to unfair criticisms, gossip, and allegations, no accusation should be brought against a pastor unless it is substantiated by multiple witnesses. The roots of this counsel are found in the timeless wisdom of God as given in ancient Israel and was confirmed by Jesus himself in Matthew 18:15-17. This protects the honor of the person being accused.
But there may be occasions when a pastor is found guilty of sin. If so, the pastor is to be rebuked publically, so that others may stand in fear. The rebuke is intended to produce repentance in the sinner and to emphasize to the congregation the seriousness of sin. With the hope that restoration will occur, those who have broken congregational trust must appear before those whom they have violated.
This principle of public rebuke takes our minds back to Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlett Letter, where the protagonist, Hester Prynne, was forced to where a red “A” on her chest because she committed the sin of adultery and refused to reveal the identity of the man who fathered her child out of wedlock.
One of Hawthorne’s purposes in writing the book was to condemn the practice of public rebuke as cruel and barbaric. Sure, maybe placing a scarlet letter on someone’s chest might be over the top, but our society today has completely swung the other way. We are so afraid of embarrassing anyone that we sweep sin under the rug and no one gets to learn from other people’s mistakes. Public rebuke may come across as harsh, but the motivation really is love. It is intended to bring people to repentance from sin and to help others avoid sin! If sin is really what nailed Jesus Christ to the cross, than public rebuke is really an honorable way to discipline people, especially pastors and leaders!
3.) Honorable Appointment (22-25)
After Paul discusses the honorable compensation and discipline of pastors, he finishes the section with a word to Timothy about the honorable appointment of pastors. The best way of avoiding the necessity of disciplining a pastor is to appoint a properly qualified pastor from the beginning. When Paul says, “Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands…” he is telling Timothy to be careful in ordaining and appointing pastors; it should be a slow process. In verses 24-25, he says that both people’s sins and good works are sometimes conspicuous; it takes time to evaluate someone’s character and to see their true colors. Being a pastor is an honorable position because it carries the great responsibility of leading God’s church and shepherding people’s souls. Appointments should not be taken lightly
How many times have we had a first impression about someone that turned out to be wrong? It can go in either direction. That is why selecting leaders in general and pastors in particular should be a slow and thorough process. This is the reason why it is difficult to be ordained as a pastor in most Christian denominations.
The position of pastor is an honorable one. And the pastor should always be dealt with in an honorable manner, whether it be an appointment, compensation, or discipline. But this is really the way Christ calls Christians to deal with all people. It all goes back to Jesus’ words “Do unto others as you would want them to do to you.”
I am so thankful for the faithful and honorable pastors that I have had throughout my life. I am grateful for their sermons, prayers, words of encouragement and rebuke (when I needed it), and overall care for my soul. I only hope that I can be as honorable a pastor to you as they have been to me!
Allow me to conclude with a little poem called “God’s Instrument.”
I see the hands that hold God’s word
And fold in prayer to seek His will.
I see the feet that walk the path
And offers of praise as from lofty hill.
I see the hands that serve Him well,
The ears that seek to hear His call,
The mouth that speaks truth and wisdom,
The busy feet that carry the message to all.
I see the heart that was pricked and entered
When God’s man answered the gospel call
And yielded His life as a humble servant,
A man who is willing, as was Apostle Paul.
I see all of this as he stands in the pulpit,
An instrument through which God speaks
The words of wisdom, of love and peace,
To lead and guide all those whom God seeks.