Pay Your Pastors A Decent Wage

150 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 1Ti 5:17,18, “Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and doctrine. 18 For the Scripture says, "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain," and, "The laborer is worthy of his wages." (1 Tim 5:17,18) I remember serving as an elder in a congregation while I was still very wet behind the ears. One of our duties was to determine the pastor's salary and benefits. I was kind of shocked to see what the congregation was paying the pastor! It seemed to me to be an awful lot of money for just preaching a sermon once a week!.......But then I became a pastor! This is what I learned. THE LABORER IS WORTHY OF HIS WAGES!. I learned that there is a lot more to shepherding than preaching on Sundays, and in the matter of compensation for the pastor, this passage in 1 Timothy is worth strong consideration. Pastors that rule well are worthy of double honor....namely respect and financial compensation. The Holy Spirit uses the Scriptures to paint a beautiful picture of this concept of compensating pastors! He quotes from De 25:4 "You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain. This command from Deuteronomy is a stand alone command. It is right smack dab in the middle of totally unrelated issues. In fact if you read this portion of Deuteronomy you are likely to say something like, “What is this command doing here?” This command is addressing cruelty to an ox and expediency of the owner of the ox. If you want the ox to maintain it's energy level as it works....feed it! Don't be financially cruel to your pastor! Don't threaten or seek to control him with wages. Free him up from trying to provide for himself and his family by working other jobs. Pay him an honest and grateful wage as you free him up to thresh out the truths of the fruit of the seeds found in the Word of God, so he may produce food for your spiritual table.