He who drives fat oxen must himself be fat...

I understand and am sympathetic to making a pastors salary public, but why the tax returns and giving?

A talented businessman ends up making more money because his talents bring in revenue to the business. But churches are not (or at least ought not be) businesses. They arenā€™t in operation to turn a financial profit ā€“ unless, of course, you are suggesting that a ā€œtalentedā€ pastor is one who can fill the coffers. But I donā€™t think thatā€™s what youā€™re getting at.

A ā€œtalentedā€ pastor may well spend his life serving an impoverished congregation. Thatā€™s why the pastorā€™s pay ought to be relative to his congregationā€™s wealth. The congregation ought to show him honor and dignity by giving willingly and heartily to support his need, but they also canā€™t give what they donā€™t have.

Besides, what is a ā€œtalentedā€ pastor anyway? Does it refer to his skill in exegesis, the eloquence of his speech, or the overall winsomeness of his preaching? His ability to write books? Are we talking about his skills of administration, in running the church corporation?

I guess I donā€™t think a pastorā€™s value ought to be much measured by his talent, but rather by his faithfulness. There are many talented pastors who spend their days in an ivory tower, and then condescend to the pulpit once a week to give an oration. Meanwhile, there are many ā€œaverageā€ pastors who are passable preachers at best, but are nonetheless tireless and available to love, care for, and bear the burdens of the sheep. Pastors are worthy of double honor for their labor, not for their talent.

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Reading through some texts on this topic (such as 1 Cor 9:7-11, 2 Cor 11:8-9, 2 Thes 3:7-9, 1 Tim 5:17-18, and others) it seems to me that:

  1. A pastor has a right to the supply of his needs from his congregation. This right implies a corresponding duty for the congregation to supply these needs. Needs includes basic needs like food, clothing, transportation, and housing. But I also think the case can be made for a retirement account and other reasonable savings being needs (as long as we understand ā€œretirementā€ as a type of saving, not a right to take a 20-year vacation at the end of life). Assuming heā€™s stewarded his finances well over the years, he shouldnā€™t be left destitute at the end of his service. But such a savings should require frugality. A pastor who squanders what heā€™s been given with opulent living isnā€™t owed a bail-out.
  1. A pastor who forgoes this right (and it is still a right) does well and will be rewarded. Thatā€™s as specific as I can get since I canā€™t totally wrap my head around 1 Cor 9:15-18 at the moment.

Things get more complicated, thought, when the pastor has additional income ostensibly from his pastoral ministry (as opposed to tent-making). Iā€™m talking book sales, mainly.

As a thought experiment (and to make it personal), what happens if Church Reformed and Daddy Tried were to inexplicably sell 50 million copies each this Christmas season? What would happen to @tbbayly 's financial situation and his relationship to Trinity Reformed Church? What does appropriate accountability look like in that situation, not just in reporting the numbers, but stewarding the money?

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Look at what Piper does for a great model:

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Don Carson writes a book promoting neutered Bibles in which he doesnā€™t disclose he took money from a corporation to help produce a neutered Bible. Even the NYT and NEJM require such disclosures, but not Christians.

This phenomenon has always annoyed me. Physicians are required to disclose financial conflicts of interest for academic papers and presentations (including research funding).

Recently Iā€™ve noticed an uptick in marketing for the Standard Christian Bible and I think itā€™s ridiculous that the promoters donā€™t have to say whether or not theyā€™re being paid.

I switched to the ESV from the NASB when it first came out because my church switched. I remember the flurry of celebrity endorsements. Later realizing how the sausage gets made was discouraging.

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Wow! My opinion of Piper just tripled. God bless him.

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Since you asked, my own royalties from these books go to Warhorn Media for the support of Nathan Alberson, Jake Mentzel, My Soul Among Lions, Trinity Reformed Pastors College, etc.

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Thanks for the response. I havenā€™t thought much about book royalties until I read your post above. In some circles, the model of ā€œgenerosityā€ is to live off the book royalties and not take a salary from the church. This can look generous (especially in those megachurches that regularly pay a Sr. Pastor $300-400k per year), but doesnā€™t do anything to solve the accountability problems that your article draws attention to.

The model Piper uses (and sounds like you use, basically) that Joseph linked above sounds much more sane. In a way, now that I think about it, it sounds like the only sane thing to do.

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Thereā€™s still the issue of how to allocate talent in society. Itā€™s better to put someone who is a skilled preacher and administrator in a big church than in a small church, other things equal. There are all kinds of talent, for ministry as for business or being a professor or being a farmer. Fit matters a lot tooā€” a church with one pastor needs someone who has a good balance of talents, whereas in a big church the pastors can specialize. Pastors are worthy of double honor for their office, I think, rather than their labor or their talentā€” after all, non-pastors often work very hard too. Whether salary should correspond with honor is a question Iā€™m not sure about.

The beauty of Godā€™s provision for his church is that he is the one who apportions and fits the appropriate gifts where they belong (1 Corinthians 12:18). We donā€™t need to worry about it.

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I understand these two things are tied together in the modern Evangelical landscape, but I think we would do well not to think of the pastoral office as analogous to the director or administrator of a secular non-profit. Praise God for the pastors who also have gifts of administration, but I donā€™t know if a scriptural case can be made that this gift makes them more effective in their office. In fact, pastors with a knack for administration may actually find themselves tempted to neglect their more essential duties, as I think is alluded to in Acts 6:2-4:

So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, ā€œIt is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.ā€

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