Last Sunday, I preached on the topic of honoring the LORD with our stuff - particularly our "first fruits" and our "substance" (which is connected to the tithe). The Old Testament indicates in several places that by virtue of God's salvation (the exodus for Israel, the crucifixion for all), he has laid claim to the first and the best of what we produce or earn in this world. Because God spared the first-born sons of Israel by virtue of a lamb's blood, and because God spared the remainder of his elect by virtue of his Son's blood, he has required that we imitate and honor his sacrifice by giving our first and our best.
In the OT, God indicated that he because he had spared the first-born sons, they were all to be dedicated to his service. Eventually, he allowed the entire tribe of the Levites to replace the first-born sons, but the other 11 tribes were called upon to provide the provision and substance the Levites required in order to maintain the Tabernacle (and later, the temple), and in order to meet their own needs. The Levites, then, were called upon to tithe out of what had been given to them from the rest of the people's tithes. In other words, no one is exempt.
This is the source of the concept in which churches use a portion (sometimes a large portion, if it's a smaller church) to provide for their Pastors. Paul's instructions to Timothy in 1 Tim 5 suggest that the church is to take special care of those elders tasked with teaching the gospel and the scriptures. In light of this whole topic, I would like to share some observations, and a special note to the body of LCC:
The first weekend in May was one of three annual meetings of the Presbytery of the West, which the regional community made of up the EPC pastors and elders. On the first day of gathering, we approved the change in call for one pastor who was joining the official staff at a church as an associate pastor. Because that church was in difficult times financially, and because her husband made an adequate income for she and her family, she and the church had agreed – and were proposing to the presbytery, who is responsible for the wellbeing of the pastors – that she would not receive a salary for her role there. This warranted significant debate. There are many pastors, myself included, who have voiced dreams that one day we could serve the bodies to which we are called for free; much of this is inspired by Rick Warren, who, because his book The Purpose Driven Life sold so many copies, not only leads his church without a salary, but rumor has it that he recompensated Saddleback all the money they had paid him before the book came out. Dreamy. Nonetheless, this had me thinking about all that. The reality is that the vast majority of pastors are not able to do that and will probably never be able to do anything like that. Instead, here we are, this community of people who teaches, prays, leads, and counsels – and we are compensated out of a percentage (sometimes very high, when there’s not a lot coming in) of the money people give as an act of worship and obedience. We all have to grapple with the issue that so much of scripture is instructing the believing community to support the needs of the poor, the orphan, the widow. I hope this makes more pastors than just me uncomfortable. And yet, there are a couple places in the NT that expressly instruct the body of believers to support their elders, especially those who are among them teaching (1 Tim 5:17-22).
That night at Presbytery (Friday), we had a small worship service, in which one a candidate for ordination, Matt Hartman, delivered the message. He simply walked us through Psalm 90, a prayer of Moses, and explained why that Psalm has been encouraging and instrumental to he and his wife, as they currently prepare to move their family to the Czech Republic, obeying a call of the Lord to go on the mission field (bunny trail: Matt “had it made,” in terms of ministry. He was the youth pastor for 10 years at Cherry Hills Community Church, and could have stayed there forever – and yet, fear would have robbed him the fullness of Christ if he had let that keep him from obeying the call. I believe God is calling more of us than we think to behave similarly).
As I sat there and listened to him share about Psalm 90, it struck me: I realized this kind of depth in the word is only possible through extensive time and study, and through the strange humility of people to listen to one person speak for an extended period of time on it. Conversations are powerful. But there is something about preaching that is supernatural: The Spirit of God allows us to reach depths through that practice that are simply not available otherwise. Every word of the Bible can be explored like a tropical forest – you may see a lot of trees, but when you stop, you find yourself surrounded by thousands of plants and animals – each tree an ecosystem in itself, supporting literally billions of living organisms, each square foot of soil providing enough data to occupy the whole of a scientists’ life. That is scripture. And that is why it is essential that the body of Christ carefully choose and allow certain people to explore it.
I am one of those people who has been allowed, by the body of Christ, to search the scriptures and explore their depths through the medium of preaching. In the midst of this conversation on giving, I would be utterly remiss if I did not stop and tell the body at Littleton Christian how overwhelmingly grateful I am that you have allowed me to be among you as one who spends the better part of my time searching and studying the scriptures, praying, learning, and attempting to bring that before this body for the edification of us all. When it happens, it is an act of the Lord, and it is because you have freed me to do it. Thank you. I don’t take your radical generosity for granted. May the Lord be honored in all of our behavior with what he has given us, including myself.
In the OT, God indicated that he because he had spared the first-born sons, they were all to be dedicated to his service. Eventually, he allowed the entire tribe of the Levites to replace the first-born sons, but the other 11 tribes were called upon to provide the provision and substance the Levites required in order to maintain the Tabernacle (and later, the temple), and in order to meet their own needs. The Levites, then, were called upon to tithe out of what had been given to them from the rest of the people's tithes. In other words, no one is exempt.
This is the source of the concept in which churches use a portion (sometimes a large portion, if it's a smaller church) to provide for their Pastors. Paul's instructions to Timothy in 1 Tim 5 suggest that the church is to take special care of those elders tasked with teaching the gospel and the scriptures. In light of this whole topic, I would like to share some observations, and a special note to the body of LCC:
The first weekend in May was one of three annual meetings of the Presbytery of the West, which the regional community made of up the EPC pastors and elders. On the first day of gathering, we approved the change in call for one pastor who was joining the official staff at a church as an associate pastor. Because that church was in difficult times financially, and because her husband made an adequate income for she and her family, she and the church had agreed – and were proposing to the presbytery, who is responsible for the wellbeing of the pastors – that she would not receive a salary for her role there. This warranted significant debate. There are many pastors, myself included, who have voiced dreams that one day we could serve the bodies to which we are called for free; much of this is inspired by Rick Warren, who, because his book The Purpose Driven Life sold so many copies, not only leads his church without a salary, but rumor has it that he recompensated Saddleback all the money they had paid him before the book came out. Dreamy. Nonetheless, this had me thinking about all that. The reality is that the vast majority of pastors are not able to do that and will probably never be able to do anything like that. Instead, here we are, this community of people who teaches, prays, leads, and counsels – and we are compensated out of a percentage (sometimes very high, when there’s not a lot coming in) of the money people give as an act of worship and obedience. We all have to grapple with the issue that so much of scripture is instructing the believing community to support the needs of the poor, the orphan, the widow. I hope this makes more pastors than just me uncomfortable. And yet, there are a couple places in the NT that expressly instruct the body of believers to support their elders, especially those who are among them teaching (1 Tim 5:17-22).
That night at Presbytery (Friday), we had a small worship service, in which one a candidate for ordination, Matt Hartman, delivered the message. He simply walked us through Psalm 90, a prayer of Moses, and explained why that Psalm has been encouraging and instrumental to he and his wife, as they currently prepare to move their family to the Czech Republic, obeying a call of the Lord to go on the mission field (bunny trail: Matt “had it made,” in terms of ministry. He was the youth pastor for 10 years at Cherry Hills Community Church, and could have stayed there forever – and yet, fear would have robbed him the fullness of Christ if he had let that keep him from obeying the call. I believe God is calling more of us than we think to behave similarly).
As I sat there and listened to him share about Psalm 90, it struck me: I realized this kind of depth in the word is only possible through extensive time and study, and through the strange humility of people to listen to one person speak for an extended period of time on it. Conversations are powerful. But there is something about preaching that is supernatural: The Spirit of God allows us to reach depths through that practice that are simply not available otherwise. Every word of the Bible can be explored like a tropical forest – you may see a lot of trees, but when you stop, you find yourself surrounded by thousands of plants and animals – each tree an ecosystem in itself, supporting literally billions of living organisms, each square foot of soil providing enough data to occupy the whole of a scientists’ life. That is scripture. And that is why it is essential that the body of Christ carefully choose and allow certain people to explore it.
I am one of those people who has been allowed, by the body of Christ, to search the scriptures and explore their depths through the medium of preaching. In the midst of this conversation on giving, I would be utterly remiss if I did not stop and tell the body at Littleton Christian how overwhelmingly grateful I am that you have allowed me to be among you as one who spends the better part of my time searching and studying the scriptures, praying, learning, and attempting to bring that before this body for the edification of us all. When it happens, it is an act of the Lord, and it is because you have freed me to do it. Thank you. I don’t take your radical generosity for granted. May the Lord be honored in all of our behavior with what he has given us, including myself.
An additional thought: One beauty of scripture is that the depth I've described is available to anyone willing to prayerfully commit significant time to it. Through this post, I have no intention of saying certain people can somehow access more of it than others. God graciously gives wisdom to everyone who asks. However, it seems clear that the community of worshippers has always found it necessary to set a few people aside and offer them more time and freedom to explore on behalf of the community. That doesn't mean the rest of people are now exempted from exploring the Word on your own - the best preachers, in my opinion, will inspire and ignite that passion in your own life. My own love for the word came through the influences of men like Lou Angone, Ben Patterson, Francis Chan, Erik Dixon, and Britt Merrick. For them and several others, I am deeply grateful. God willing, I'll be able to pass that passion along!
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