This Is Going To Cost You Series

THIS IS GOING TO COST YOU

I Corinthians 9:1-14

S: Ministry

C: Ministers of the gospel are to be materially supported

Th: Live the Difference

Pr: We are to adequately support those that make their living by the gospel.

?: Why?

KW: Proofs

TS: We will find in our study of I Corinthians 9:1-14 three proofs why we should adequately support those that make their living by the gospel.

The _____ proof is the…

I. CALL (1-2)

II. COMMON SENSE (3-7)

III. CRITERIA (8-13)

PA: How is the change to be observed?

· Pay Christian workers adequately

· Think righteously when it comes to money

· Be willing to do what must be done in order to fulfill the church’s mission

Version: ESV

RMBC 27 June 04 AM

INTRODUCTION:

Have you met the perfect pastor?

ILL Notebook: Pastor (perfect pastor)

He preaches 20 minutes and then sits down. He condemns sin but never steps on anybody’s toes. He works from 8 in the morning until 10 at night, doing everything from preaching sermons to sweeping. He makes $400 per week, gives $100 a week to the church, drives a late model car, buys lots of books, wears fine clothes, and has a nice family. He is tall on the short-side, heavy-set in a thin sort of way, and handsome. He has eyes of blue or brown and wears his hair parted in the middle, left-side, dark and straight, right-side, brown and wavy. He has a burning desire to work with youth and spends all his time with senior citizens. He smiles all the time while keeping a straight face because he has a keen sense of humor that finds him seriously dedicated. He makes 15 calls a day, spends all his time evangelizing non-members, and is always found in his study when he is needed.

Unfortunately, he burnt himself out and died at age 32.

This is not the easiest job in the world.

And there seems to be a lot of expectations for a person that gets accused of only working one day a week.

So when I am asked, “What do you do Monday through Saturday anyway?”…

I can say I play the role of…

…teacher

…healer

…lawyer

…judge

…social worker

…writer

…editor

…philosopher

…ethicist

…entertainer

…salesman

…manager

…planner

…visionary

…leader

…peacemaker

…servant

…counselor

…scholar.

And in the midst of all these roles, the pastor must stay sweet to those that chide him for not doing it correctly.

For example…

ILL Notebook: Pastor (cut sermon)

A pastor came to the breakfast table with a cut on his cheek. His wife asked him what happened.

He replied that he was concentrating on his sermon while shaving and cut his face.

His wife said, “Maybe you should concentrate on your shaving and cut your sermons.”

Well, I guess that hurt in more ways than one!

TRANSITION:

1. Do you know that we can “live the difference” when it comes to our pastors and other Christian workers?

You may remember that our theme for the year is “live the difference.”

It is a challenge to us that we are to live lives characterized by holiness.

This means that we are to be submissive to the Holy Spirit’s control in every aspect of our lives.

Today, this will include our attitude toward the leadership of the church, and more specifically, the income that is paid to those that work in the church.

In George Barna’s book, Pastors at Risk, one of the top four problems in clergy marriages was income level.

This being so, Barna indicates that many spouses are forced to find supplement income because the churches are not paying or able to pay the pastor sufficient funds in order to support a family.

Barna goes on to say…

“No matter how you slice and dice the figures they are well-below the national average among married-couple families… Most pastors are part of such households and by virtue of the occupational experience and educational achievements should be exceeding the average.”

I share this next part, because some of you may not realize the extent of your pastor’s education.

I have a Bachelor of Arts in Religion which was your typical 120 hours.

In addition, I have a Master of Divinity degree which is not the typical master’s degree.

For a typical master’s degree is 30 hours, but a master of divinity is 90 hours, taking at least three years to accomplish full time (and some students stretch it into more!).

To obtain my degree, I had to write a comprehensive final doctrinal statement that was 120 pages and defend it in front of a select group of my professors for over 2 hours, during which I needed to demonstrate a working knowledge of Hebrew and Greek, theology and the ability to apply the knowledge to my field of practice.