The Financial Support of An Evangelist

 Much has been written through the years about the wages of an evangelist but most approaches I’ve seen have focused primarily on the economics of the problem with emphasis on IRS regulations, cost of living figures, wage scale comparisons, etc. As interesting and helpful as this approach and the information in it might be, we wonder if there is not a better, more appropriate, way of dealing with the subject.

 As we seek to change the attitudes and practices of brethren in other areas, we emphasize what god’s word teaches and trust that the inspired truth will touch honest hearts and bear fruit. For instance, do we (or should we) encourage brethren to give as they prosper by appealing to the budget they aren’t meeting and the bills that can’t be paid? Is it appropriate to exhort brethren to better congregational singing by pointing out how much better the singling would sound if proper pitch, tempo, and voice parts were as they should be? As much as these things may concern us, aren’t there better, nobler, reasons for urging brethren to improve in these areas?

 And so it is when it comes to getting brethren to support evangelists properly. Should not our primary appeal and major emphasis be on a higher level than discussing the inflation rate, the high social security rate for preachers, and pointing out all of the company-paid-for benefits that others receive that preachers must provide for themselves? Brethren are expected to be Bible students, sensitive to pleasing God and doing His will. They are not tax accountants and thus our approach should not be such that it takes a CPA to help them understand what we are saying. If in our approach we leave brethren with the impression that we’re just concerned with trying to raise the preacher’s standard of living, it’s not likely that they will be very sympathetic and responsive. If all we do is educated them in B.J. Worth’s Income Tax Law for Ministers and Religious Workers, and the tax codes and laws that are applicable to preachers, instead of convicting them with what God has said, we’ve failed miserably and any change will likely be only superficial and temporary. Paul told Timothy that the scriptures were “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness: that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work” and thus he was to “preach the word,” 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 4:2. If the scriptures, and the scriptures alone, are all-sufficient to correct and instruct in other areas, why not when it comes to correcting and instructing brethren in the proper financial support of an evangelist?

The Old Testament Precedent

As we shall see later in our study, Paul makes reference in the New Testament to the financial support of priests under the law of Moses. His reason for so doing is to show that God expects preachers in this dispensation to be supported on the same principle as the priests were under the old law. But there were times then, as there are now, when men in God’s service were not as supportive as they should have been. How God’s servants dealt with that problem and what their concerns were then indicates what our approach and concerns should be today.

 2 Chronicles 31:2-10---There was none like Hezekiah among the kings of Judah because of his determination to keep God’s commands, 2 Kings 18:5-6. Among the commands of God that had evidently been neglected and that he determined to restore was the proper support of the priests, Thus we find him in this text commanding the people to give to the priests and Levites their portion, 2 Chronicles 31:4a. But notice Hezekiah’s motive and concern: “that they might give themselves to the law of Jehovah.” The response of the people is interesting: they brought in the tithe in such abundance that it was laid in heaps with plenty left over, vss. 5-10. Could it be that one reason for this good response was that the people were convicted by Hezekiah’s appeal to God’s word and sensed that his concern was spiritual rather than carnal?

 Nehemiah 13:10-14---During Nehemiah’s attempts at restoration, he discovered what Hezekiah had: “the portions of the Levites had not been given them,” vs. 10. The consequences of this was that those who were to function in God’s service had turned away to their own fields, which meant “they were obligated to seek their maintenance from the fields of the towns and villages in which they dwelt,” Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 3, p. 289. Nehemiah reacted as Hezekiah had. After reprimanding the officials for allowing this condition to exist, he expresses his primary concern in the question he asked them: “why is the house of the Lord forsaken?”, vs. 11. Nehemiah’s reprimand had its effect and after the people had brought the appropriate tithes, vs. 12, he asks that God remember him for what he had done, not for the priests, but “for the house of God and its services,” vs. 14.

 Hezekiah and Nehemiah serve as excellent examples for those of us today who would seek to restore proper attitudes regarding the financial support of evangelists. We need to base our case on and point brethren to what these two reformers did: the will of God and what the scriptures say; the scriptural rather than the economic aspects that are involved in the matter.

The New Testament Precedent

 In my judgment, the finest and fullest treatment of this subject is found in 1 Corinthians 9:1-14. It is my personal conviction that this context, along with related passages, is all we need to use in educating brethren regarding the financial support of evangelists. If we could ever get brethren to understand and respect what Paul says here there would be little, if any, need to ever get in to a discussion of the things mentioned in the third paragraph.

 Notice how Paul proceeds to teach the Corinthians and the things upon which he bases his remarks:

 Questions: In the ASV these fourteen verses contain twenty-two sentences, sixteen of which are questions. Evidently Paul was trying to stimulate the thinking of the Corinthians by getting them to consider the questions asked and then draw conclusions. A good procedure for all teachers to follow as they teach on this, or any, Bible subject.

 Emphasis on the spiritual rather than the carnal. Paul begins his defense of the propriety of evangelists receiving wages based upon a statement of certain “rights” that he had, vss. 3-6. Now notice to what Paul appeals in order to establish these rights. He spoke “after the manner of men,” vss. 7-8a, and used three illustrations from the “secular” realm: a soldier, one who plants a vineyard, and one who feeds a flock. But his main arguments, his most lengthy, persuasive, and authoritative ones are based upon the law, vss. 8b-13 and what the Lord had ordained, vs. 14.

 Let’s now examine more closely these verses in 1 Corinthians 14 for the purpose of getting brethren to think about God’s will in the matter of the financial support of evangelists.

David Smitherman