NECF Malaysia has posted an interesting article:-
http://www.necf.org.my/newsmaster.cfm?&menuid=2&parentid=21&action=view&retrieveid=1125
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Why can't pastors be blessed financially like anyone else? If we are blessed, pastors should be blessed too! I don't see anything really wrong about a pastor's high pay but as your entry puts it, how much should a pastor be paid to be considered reasonable? Should we limit a pastor's pay? If yes, are we limiting God's blessings on them? What about the Pope? He seems to live in great riches... Ultimately, I believe pastors should have the right to live comfortably and that includes all other church workers. They are serving God and they should be blessed! Their family which they have to support should also be blessed!
ReplyDeletezoophobia, of course i agree with your statement. the only issue is when a senior pastor is earning in the RM20,000s whereas his staff are earning RM2000 after 10 years of work.
ReplyDeleteis THAT fair?
foonglin, you have a point there. that's y there should be some sort of a system to determine what is the best structure for all. if not, there must be a comprehensive study. if a high percentage of church tithe or offerings goes to the pay of church workers including pastors, then there would be less money to do the works of the kingdom. in the same way, paying church workers and pastors is part of supporting the Lord's work. I believe this is a grey area in most churches if not all churches. I am not sure. So let's not talk about who is wrong or right about the pay, let us move forward and find a good structure based on Godly principles, if that is possible.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, zoophobia. i'm not a supporter of TTG but i'm curious why there are so many of those back in calvary that don't understand that it's not so much about not wanting to bless our pastors financially (because i fully agree that pastors who have laboured hard deserve God's blessing as well) - it's just that if you look at the 'lower' end of the full time staff in calvary, you'll notice such an unfair and lopsided treatment. shouldn't ALL full time staff get blessed? or is it just the senior pastor that should get blessed?
ReplyDelete- appreciate your candor and openness to discuss with me, zoophobia
foonglin, yup, i agree with your concerns because i heard of church workers (non-pastoral) having difficulty making ends meet. i am very close with some of them too! yes, maybe years ago, most church workers have to live in that way. i am not sure, is it that certain churches want to make sure their church workers do not work for the money but for God's kingdom? if so, how long is the testing period?
ReplyDeletetimes have changed. i believe church workers should be paid as competitive as possible depending on the church's ability to pay them. some churches are poor financially as they could be new or not growing fast enough numerically or in faith.
to think even more radically, NECF could be the "employer" to make sure all pastors and church workers are paid with the same pay scale! but that could be too radical. there are many ways to explore.
once a proper pay structure which is up and running, hopefully one adopted by all churches in the country if not the world, then issues regarding the pay would be less but not be diminished. the devil will come anytime.
the pay scale must be adjusted annually too! maybe some churches already has their own pay scale in place? but that does not mean that they will get a pay rise every year like what is being experienced by government teachers in malaysia.
ultimately, i believe if someone really wants to serve the Lord with all their heart, money would take second or even 3rd place. it is easy to say that a church worker should be this and that but they are humans too!
from my non-church worker point of view, i believe they deserve to be paid "well" and if they do not have to think about money to make ends meet, they can focus more on God? might not be so.
i'm just thinking out "loud" here... and i might be wrong... so i need people to correct me.
hi foonglin, i love open and constructive discussions. thank you for your comments too! appreciate it & God bless!