thanks for your comments. yes, as a pastor’s corporate responsibility grows, so should his compensation. again, it’s all about balance. it just gets my goat sometimes when i hear a person say, “well, it’s ministry” when justifying low pay, as if that settles it. i feel for pastors who don’t get paid enough because it’s “ministry”.

sure, they’ll have their reward in heaven. but that doesn’t mean we can’t make life nicer for them on earth if we have the means, does it?

Another point that strikes me… although this is far less “spiritual” in nature than the ones you made. From the pastor’s viewpoint, the church is not only his ministry, but it is also his occupation. It’s his job. And as the church grows, the pastor’s duties grow from simply direct human-to-human ministry and teaching/preaching the Word, to directing the activities of the church entity. His job begins to resemble that of the CEO of a company, especially if the church grows to a larger size, let’s say approaching or surpassing 1000 congregants. As administrative duties are added to his ministry duties, it seems only fair that the pastor’s compensation reflects the additional responsibility. (As if taking calls from members in need at 3am, putting up with people who don’t like his theology or the color of his tie, and having to trust God for a message every week, even in personally “dry” weeks, and knowing he has to deliver it with conviction even if he doesn’t feel like it, aren’t enough responsibility already!)

never be hasty. even a good idea may not be God’s best at the moment. wait. pray. never look down on others who don’t easily go with the flow. be gentle. God’s reign must rule, not human emotions…

interesting comments you made. i think it’s up to the church as a whole, through the board of deacons, to evaluate their pastor and reward accordingly. it’s not really about performance because any true pastor knows it’s not about the pay but about his calling to obey God. all he needs to be concerned about is doing his job well – feeding the flock properly.

it shouldn’t be hard for a church to discern whether their pastor is teaching and feeding them the Word or is just being gimmicky. wait, i take that back. there are too many churches that haven’t a clue as to why they exist. so it’s possible they wouldn’t know heresy if it stomped them on the foot.

ahh… sticky issue huh? would love to sit down with ya and ponder it more. but in general, i think if a church is truly healthy spiritually, they’ll know when and how to reward their pastor. it’s just that sometimes, they need to be reminded :)

Food for thought- you said “Put another way, if he performs his studying and preaching duties worthily, we should reward him accordingly” .. my question is: “who’s the judge?” Who decides if he’s dividing the word correctly? Shouldn’t that person be the pastor instead?

Take my question and raise it higher- who’s supposed to decide a Pastor’s salary? A board of directors? A boss? A council of elders? Who watches a pastor’s performance?

This whole sticky situation turns the church into spectators “Ooh I really like his word this Sunday, but last Sunday not so much”… and the Pastor into a performer “Ooh they said my performance is a B.. Gotta bring it to an A to get that raise”… and the church into.. a business.

I’m actually not disagreeing with you. Given the current setup, and that verse about muzzling the ox this is certainly a challenge. But maybe the setup should change…

On another note.. nice theme… “Elegant Grunge”? I like what it does to inserted photos.