This is a call to all salaried pastors everywhere on earth: please resign right now!
Christ's church has both much potential and many problems. The church could be so much more if Christ's people en masse lived as the priests they already are. One of the biggest roadblocks to an active, thriving church is salaried pastors. I should know; I used to be one.
The salaried pastorate inadvertently keeps the church shackled. A damaging co-dependent relationship exists between paid pastors and the people in the pews: the pastor(s) gets paid to "do the work of the ministry" while the people largely sit and watch. Despite good intentions, this relationship stifles the good that the church can do and the wondrous thing it can be.
I do not sugarcoat or soften this call in any way. I believe all pastors who receive salaries from churches should resign today. This applies to all places on earth. Do not worry; you are not indispensable to the church. The Holy Spirit can lead things just fine on His own. In your absence, He will raise up elders from within the body who will lead through servanthood.
Rather than leaving the churches where you are employed, I'm simply stating that you should resign from your positions. Consider teaching about why this will help the church. Stay there. Change your role. Lead through service instead of decision making. Become one of the body, equal with everybody else. Encourage others to lead in their various areas of gifting. Stay in the background.
Please, pastor friend and brother in Christ, resign now. God will take care of you. He provides for me and my family each day. It won't be easy, but Christ did not call us to lives of ease. Rather, He called us to live as part of His priesthood and encourage/exhort others to do the same. We are all part of one body, all needed by the whole.
Resign and watch what the Holy Spirit will do. It will be an exciting ride and one that will please the Lord.
6 comments:
Thank you for this bold post. I can't imagine how tough that position must be.... I can hear them with anxiety, processing "but how will I be able to provide for my family?"
It would take an awful lot of faith and hard work to have to go back to school or find skills to make money when you're not used to having to do that.
Eric,
"This is a call to all salaried pastors everywhere on earth: please resign right now!"
If that were to happen, I wonder how many groups calling themselves "church" would remain?
Randi Jo,
It is certainly difficult to resign when you don't know what you are going to do next. However, God does provide. For me, I just got to the point that I couldn't be a paid pastor any longer. I almost felt sick about it. Resigning was a massive relief!
John,
That's a good question. At first some would fold, but in the long run my guess is that many more, looking little like the previous ones, would emerge.
Don't forget to offer them the eternal benefit package that goes with ministry "free of charge:
1. The 2nd half of 1 Cor. 9
2. Acts 20
3. 2 Cor. 11
4. 2 Cor 12
5. 1 Thes 2
6. 2 Thes 3
Whatever they do, it's all full time ministry. Col 3:23
Thankyou. God Bless You man.
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