English service - September 15. 2024
Messenger: Pastor Jim Allison
I Corinthians 9:1-18
Leadership in Christ’s Church: The Support of a Leader
Blessings to you in Christ’s name, everyone joining us online and those here in person at Open Door. Today’s message is the last one in a series we’re calling Leadership in Christ’s Church. We’ve seen many of the Bible’s teachings on the spiritual gifts, personal character, and actual work of a leader of God’s people, the church. Let’s conclude today with a look at not only the leader but the members of the church who support the leader’s work to make it possible.
Of course, when we say “support,” we can point to various important types. There is spiritual support. The church members provide social, emotional, logistical, and organizational support for church leaders such as pastors, and each of these is vital for the church as a whole to be healthy, thrive, and flourish.
But today let’s focus on one particular type of support that will be a practical and necessary issue for us to face in our church as we seek to call a pastor in the coming months. That is financial support.
Again today, the apostle Paul is our guide to understanding God’s will for His people. In v. 1, he asks a question which has an obvious answer. He continues rhetorical questions like this through v. 13, in some cases directly providing the answers himself.
The first one (v. 1) is “Aren’t you the result of my work for the Lord?” Of course, the answer is yes. The people of the church in Corinth, who receive this letter, all know that they have faith in Christ through the work of the gospel that Paul has done. Here we see whom the Bible’s God teaches His people to support as leaders. It’s not just anyone who asks for it and claims to speak for God. God Himself calls people to preach His word, He teaches. Likewise, groups of believers recognize this call, and, in turn, we call people to lead as pastors and other types of ministers. Our existence here as a church is evidence that God works in this way, through this process. We are committed to supporting His activity and so the people through whom He does it.
In v. 2 Paul uses the word translated “proof” to talk about the believers in Corinth in this way. The New International Version uses the word “seal” (not the cute sea animals but more like the inkan we use in Japan to show official approval of something). You might see a seal stamped on a book or an impression made onto a page to show who owns it. In Bible times, people would sometimes put a little hot wax on something and make an impression on it before it cooled, for example with a king’s ring, to show it was officially approved.
Paul says that the believers receiving the message of his letter are living proof that God has been working among them through his ministry. They have already received something incredibly valuable. That is the foundation on which he will place his claim that they should support this kind of work financially.
Next Paul makes a series of arguments to show why it makes sense for members of the church to provide for the financial needs of its leaders. In vv. 4-6 he argues from church custom. Other leaders are already receiving support. Why shouldn’t my partner Barnabas and I, too? Then in v. 7 he argues from the common sense of people in their society. Soldiers, farmers, and shepherds receive support for doing their work, so why shouldn’t we? Last, in vv. 8-10 he argues from the Bible’s teaching. In v. 9 he quotes from the Old Testament Law, Deuteronomy 25:4 “Do not stop an ox from eating while it helps separate the grain from the straw.” Then in v. 10 he explains that God did not only give this teaching so that we would treat animals kindly. If that principle applies to animals, then of course it applies even more to people who work. Paul uses that same Old Testament teaching in I Timothy 5:18 and continues, “Scripture also says, ‘Workers are worthy of their pay’” (Luke 10:7). In other words, Paul is saying, “This isn’t just my personal opinion. It’s the word of God.”
Continuing in v. 11 Paul writes, “We have planted spiritual seed among you. Is it too much to ask that we receive from you some of the things we need?” Remember how much you have received from God through your ministers—eternal life and
Christ Himself at the top of the list. These are spiritual blessings first and most—far more valuable than material possessions. Remember, in a Christian worldview, people are spiritual in nature more than anything. Of course, we are physical, intellectual, emotional, and social creatures, too, and each of those has its own important meaning in the whole of our humanity. But our God teaches us to value spiritual richness far more than being rich in money, talents, connections with others, or other things. Also, before God ever asks us to give, He first has given immeasurably to us. Whatever we give back to Him through supporting His church financially, it can only be a small, small part of the rich gifts He has already given to us. A spirit of thanksgiving and wanting to give as an expression of praise for all the goodness God has shown to us—these form our starting point when we give as God and Paul encourage us to do.
Paul continues in v. 12, “Others have the right to receive help from you. Don’t we have even more right to do so?” Then he supports his argument with more background information that many of his readers will know about. He asks rhetorically in v. 13, “Don’t you know that those who work in the temple get their food from the temple? Don’t you know that those who serve at the altar eat from what is offered on the altar?”
In the Old Testament system of worship through sacrifices of mainly animals and grain, there was built in a process for providing for the needs of the priests and others who would lead in worship. That is, after making the sacrifices, these religious workers would have the right to eat from the food they had offered.
“Well,” you might be thinking, “where did the money come from to get the animals, grain, Temple, and so on in the first place?” God taught His people to make a habit of giving one tenth of their income to support religious activities. It’s called the tithe. It wasn’t forced from them like a tax, but to maintain the system of religious life and to build up the faith of those who gave, He actively taught His people to routinely give to their faith community in this way. The gifts were used not only for ceremonies but, for example, things that we today would call social welfare. Freely helping the poor and others with special needs was a key part of the life of faith for God’s people.
Probably the most famous words about this system are in Malachi 3:10.
“Bring the entire tenth to the storerooms in my temple. Then there will be plenty of food. Put me to the test,” says the Lord. “Then you will see that I will throw open the windows of heaven. I will pour out so many blessings that you will not have enough room for them.”
Paul reminds readers who know about life in Israel of this arrangement and introduces it to those who may not. Of course, they are in the New Testament Era when he writes. Christ has become the perfect sacrifice by dying on the cross for the sins of all people. That took away the need for the animal and other food sacrifice system. Pretty soon (in A.D. 70), the Temple itself will be destroyed, and today an Islamic mosque, The Dome of the Rock, is built on that site. The Temple has not
been rebuilt, so—without the proper place to make sacrifices, the Temple—Jewish people today as a whole do not conduct the Old Testament sacrificial ceremonies.
So in all that long, complicated process, what has happened to the system for supporting religious activities and workers financially? Paul shows clearly that the need for it has not disappeared just because the sacrificial system has stopped being necessary. God has not taken away the teaching for His people to give in support of His work.
My understanding is that giving one tenth of our income is still what God wants for us. Of course, case by case, He leads some to give more, and they do. But one tenth still seems to be God’s standard. As I have said before when we talked about managing God’s money (meaning whatever money we are in a position to manage as we choose), giving 10%, saving 10%, and living on 80% is a good, rough-and-ready guide to financial planning that has worked for many, many of God’s people throughout history.
Now, before I say another word about money, I have to warn you. If you approach this difficult area with a legalistic mindset, you will do more harm than good. If you think, “God doesn’t love me as much as He would if I gave 10%,” you are badly misunderstanding God and His unconditional love for you. If you think, “I’m better than other people because I give 10%,” you likewise have misunderstood God’s grace on a basic level. In either case, these misunderstandings will damage both your relationship with God and your life in His church, as well. Even if they lead to a balanced budget and a financially strong position for your church, they will hurt your life and our life together as a whole.
As New Testament Christians, we often point to the teaching of II Corinthians 9:7, “You should each give what you have decided in your heart to give. You shouldn't give if you don't want to. You shouldn't give because you are forced to. God loves a cheerful giver.” Amen. And before you decide in your heart what to give, and do it cheerfully, please consult God, with a commitment to doing what He guides you to do. I expect that He will direct you in ways that are consistent with His teaching throughout the ages. As we do this on a church-wide level and continue to grow, we will become able to organize Open Door according to the commandment which Paul points to in v. 14b. “. . . Those who preach the good news should receive their living from their work. That is what the Lord has commanded.”
In one sense, that is an incredible way to run an organization, don’t you think? Can you imagine what it would be like in a typical company or school if the president’s salary depended on how much the workers agreed to pay him or her? That is just opposite of a standard organization in many cultures, isn’t it. The fact that Christian churches even exist, much less can function in a healthy, stable way, to me is a clear sign that God is at work among us. This type of group is dependent from start to finish on a shared faith and love and awareness that God is our leader. When we remain deeply committed to those core truths, then running a church together in a sensible way becomes possible—but not without those essentials.
So how will we at Open Door Chapel make it possible for those who preach the good news here to receive their living from their work? That is a key question we have to answer. To shed some light on that, we can look back at how we believe God has led us so far. (Some of you can remember this, but others have joined the group later, so some history may be useful.)
Our first pastor received his family’s salary from the mission organization he served. The retired pastor who joined him had a pension. We had a non-paid pastoral team for a short time. We paid a pastor of our mother church on a contract basis for two years. I received a pastoral activity allowance while doing a separate job full-time for several years. Since then, we have paid a part-time level salary to our pastor, who has provided together with his family for the rest of their needs. So I think we can see how God has graciously and creatively provided to enable us to carry on the work that He has placed in Open Door’s hands. We are grateful, and now it is time for us to discover what He has in mind for the next step of our journey of faith.
I don’t think I have a particular word of prophecy to give to you in today’s message—no particular revelation or vision that came to me in my sleep, for instance, as a message directly from God. But there are some very practical things that I feel He wants us to keep in mind as we keep seeking more spiritual direction from Him.
For one, to make our goal as clear as possible, how about imagining the amount of money we would need to provide in order to allow a pastor to serve Open Door full-time. Based on Sapporo’s economy, I think you can make a good guess. Of course, we could look only for independently wealthy pastors or those with extremely small financial needs. We could search only for singles who have a calling to stay single and would not expect any salary increase based on years of service or the expanding needs of a family. By the way, if you know anyone who fits that description, please let me know, OK? We’ll be sure to talk about that person at the next Pastor Search Committee meeting. Or maybe you will meet someone like the Apostle Paul who knows that a pastor has the right to a living for preaching the gospel, but freely gives it up (v. 15) so that he will be “able to preach the good news free of charge” (v. 18). Feel free to give me that person’s contact information, OK? People like that exist, but at least in my experience, there are not many. And I am not sure at all that God’s best dreams and plans for our church are that we get the service of a pastor without having to make it workable financially. That might be more irresponsible than anything in our case.
Now let’s return to the salary that I asked you to imagine a moment ago. Along with that, think of the percentage of your income that you are now giving in tithes and offerings. If everyone in our church gave at that same rate, how many people would it take to reach the pastor’s salary that you have in mind? Could we do that with 50 members? Would it take 100? More like 1000? Of course it depends on how much each member gives, but it also depends heavily on how many members we have.
And consider the space we have. To reach the number of members that it would take to give the full-time pastor’s salary that you imagine, how many worship services each week would we need to hold? Remembering the limited parking space that we are making available and the number of seats in our worship area, we would probably begin having significant difficulty if we had more than 50 or 75 people here at one time, right? What if we had two worship services each week, and everyone at both of them gave the percentage of their income that you do? How close to our goal would that bring us? Of course, when members participate in church life online, the space required is not a problem, but the type of experience itself and the quality of relationships that are deepened through it can be very different from meeting and serving together in person.
By the way, you notice that I have been asking about percentages of income, not amounts. One key idea that I think will help us to keep our giving linked to our faith and relationship with God is this. A good goal is not for us all to give the same amount but to make the same sacrifice. Of course, not everyone will be at the same stage of growth in maturity faith-wise. Developing in strength spiritually is a process, and not all of us will be at the same place at a given time. Some will grow amazingly quickly, and some may still be at a baby stage after 50 years. Still, given all that, if everyone gave the same way I do, what would this church look like? That is a good question to keep before us, I believe.
What guidance does God’s word give us on this difficult matter? I think it would help to go back to that teaching in Malachi 3:10 about giving a tenth of our income to the Lord’s work. There’s some good, practical wisdom there that you might not notice on your first reading. For example, if members follow God’s design for financial support, if 10 incomes of members went to a pastor’s financial support, then the pastor would live at the same level as an average church member, in theory. (I am counting incomes, not members, because not all members have incomes, of course.) That would be a generally good thing because misuderstandings and problems could easily happen if the pastor were far richer or poorer than an average church member. Maybe another, say, 5 incomes would be necessary for the group to do a basic level of activity to achieve its mission. If the members opened up their homes and met there regularly instead of having a church building, some costs could be saved, of course. But if the members commit to having a church building, another, maybe, 5 incomes would be necessary to keep a basic facility maintained. So, again, the practical question for us could be, How many people do you need for a church to have 20 incomes being tithed (giving at a 10% rate)?
It depends, of course, on how the members give, as I have said. But it might depend even more on another thing: how actively the people in the church spread the message of Christ. If they are living out the gospel in their lives day to day and making it clear to the people around them through words and actions what it means to be a follower of Christ, there is a good chance for others to become interested and join the church. New brothers and sisters in the Lord coming into our membership and taking active part in the life of this church will become normal and something we expect in that case. On the other hand, if the members do not spread the good news of life in Christ to others, it is very difficult for new people to enter the group, help support it, and make it possible for us to reach our larger goals.
The point is not to try to squeeze more and more money from the people already in the church. Neither is it to treat people as tools we want to use to get something for ourselves. If we want more people so that we can be stronger financially, we will not receive God’s blessing but His just punishment. Cults do that, but Christ’s Church does not. Of course, we need to treat new and older members with the respect and understanding that the God of love teaches us to have as His people.
But neither is our Lord’s plan for us to just have a small, comfortable group of friends to be with once a week. We can allow our real goals to shift from the great vision God has for bringing His kingdom into the whole world and become narrow, inward-focused goals, such as a comfortable, enjoyable experience each Sunday, no particular stresses, or simply surviving as a church. When we do, we slowly lose the dream that God had for us in the first place when He began this church of His. I don’t want that to happen to Open Door. Do you? Our God continues to hold out hopes for something better for us. My prayer is that we will have the inner commitment to joining with Him and staying with Him in achieving all the goals He has for us and through us for Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, and the world. Will you join me in praying for that?
Loving Father, thank you for your grace that has made it possible for us to be a part of this wonderful community of faith here at Open Door. As we face the need to seek a new leader, we believe that you have in your good plans placed on someone “the duty” (v. 17) of proclaiming the good news of life in Christ at ODC. We have heard from your word today that you want us to be part of making that gospel ministry possible. Help us to be active, loving, and faithful in sharing the gospel through our words and work each day. Enable our current and next leaders to equip us to do that wisely and effectively in the days ahead. And in that whole process, grow your church so that we will be a blessing to you and many people who need to know your saving love. In Christ’s name, amen.