SHOULD PASTORS WORK OUTSIDE CHURCH?

It would be okay for the Pastor not to work and concentrate on the ministerial obligations of the calling. However, this is dependent on a few factors that must come into picture if we are to get the whole issue right. 

Among the factors are the following:

1. The changing times
2. The calling
3. The magnitude of the ministry.
4. The Financial state of the ministry.

The changing times

This is in a sense that times have pretty changed and the demands of life have followed suit. In a carnal sense, it is not convincing and right for a person not to work and be at the mercy of others. Because of this very reason and the hardships faced in living, many theories have had to come into play.

Believers no longer give as willingly as they used to. Everybody wants to work and be independent of others. But the question is; is this what God wants?

However, in the Bible times, it was very okay for the priest to be totally committed to the work of God, after all, it is pretty indeed work, isn't it?(Numbers 18), (Deuteronomy 18:1).

The Apostle Paul advised ministers to work like he was doing so they could earn a living and avoid burdening the flock. He could, though, have said so out of the prevailing conditions, not that it is what it should be or what God wanted. If we seek to quote scripture, let it be within context.  Yet to be exemplary, Paul was a tent maker so he could supplement his income (Acts 18:3).

If we  ask a few questions, we will find the truth behind the truth; who are the people Paul was writing to? Why did he write to them like that? If we can answer those questions, we will be able to understand better. 

However, since it is acceptable for a pastor to work and also be able to continue with their pastoral work as effectively as they should, let it be. I am a pastor but I am also working. I still do have mixed feelings but right now I am doing what is affordable to me and the ministry.

One of the biggest dilemmas we are in, though; is that many of the present day believers do not believe that serving the Lord is any work. They tend to view full time ministers in church as half or under employed fellows. But suppose we all only come on Sundays for service and there is no one to man the church, how would the church premises look like? Such a scenario usually emanates from the tendency not to take God’s work as seriously as we do ours (Malachi 3:13-15).

Yet it is also true that there are many masqueraders in ministry today. Every lazy and failing person in life thinks ministry is the easy option. This is spoiling the whole idea. Yet it can never fail God's work. And this should never be one of the reasons that we should be discouraged. The fact is pretty that ministry is never for failures. For ministry is so demanding if at all it is to grow and benefit society.

The calling

Some people have been called to be ministers while they work. Others have been called to be entirely ministers and that is where they are to earn a living as well.

Some pastors can indeed work and execute pastoral duties as well. But this is dependent on two key issues as:

• How much pastoral work is available for that pastor. 

• It also depends on the agreement between a particular pastor and the flock. Say believers may; depending on how they want the ministry to progress ask the pastor to leave work and concentrate on the pastoral work. 

However there are some pastors whose nature of calling will never allow them to work, they will always try but will keep failing. I have witnessed this. Their nature of calling (as dictated by God) will dictate they can only earn a living from their pastoral work and nothing else.

But it is also true that some pastors have simply decided to impose themselves on the flock in terms of caring for them and their families. This may not be right. It is upon this that they try to cook ways of how they can extort money from the unsuspecting innocent believers. It is upon this that; now, that believers are ware that this is, most of them have lost the drive to carry on supporting ministry.

Nevertheless, that a pastor has been called to be entirely that, rather he is not to earn from else where other than from his calling (pastoral work), doesn't imply that the flock will automatically take on the duty to take care. Yet this is not to say the flock shouldn't care. But it is incumbent that we must understand that a person's calling is his. So then, a person must bear the weight of his calling. Rather a person's calling shouldn't translate into a noose for the flock if to say. That is; it must not be forceful that the flock should take care.

My point rather is that if God has called a person into ministry, then He (God) will provide for that person's needs. Whether He (God) does so through the flock or elsewhere, it is still the Lord who does the provision. That He (God) may seem not to have "provided" as yet could be part of that person's calling. Do you know about the approval process? For if the flock will factor in (and they have to), it must be that they have spotted the need to. And if to do it, it must be done with will rather than with anything else.

The magnitude of the ministry

This can be viewed in two ways;

• How big is the ministry to warrant a full time pastor? 

• How big is the ministry to support the pastor(s) financially? 

Such questions if answered well will be a good guide to come up with concrete solutions and resolutions.

On the other hand, though, all we do must always be centered on God and the Holy Scriptures. We have done so much which is logically and arguably okay, but is it acceptable to God? The church must open their ears again to the Holy Spirit for proper guidance instead of unleashing our intellectual ideologies on matters that can’t be intellectually understood.

The Financial status of the ministry.

The financial state of the ministry should be imperative to consider. For when a person has been appointed to be pastor of a certain flock, it must be that he seeks to understand the kind people his flock are. The pastor must be in position that he understands what financial state of his flock is. How much tithe and offertory is collected? Upon having these these issues considered and questions answered, one can judge which way to take. For this should part of what Church programs should be built.

In conclusion and in my own opinion, this question has no absolute answer. My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will guide whoever finds themselves in a similar dilemma.

My question is; are you truly a pastor? Have you been called to be so? If you are, God will surely create a way for you.