Romans 10:5-17 - by Don Neuendorf
"And how can they preach unless they are sent?"
I think I can say this fairly, understanding that my personal experience doesn't apply to everyone and that there are always exceptions, but I think I can say with some confidence that most pastors feel some guilt about getting paid. Did you ever suspect that?
Already at the seminary I participated in many discussions about the parish ministry and how a pastor should be cared for by his congregation. Someone always quoted the verse from Paul, "The laborer is worthy of his hire." And yet there was always the reminder that Paul supported himself by making tents. Jesus cared for the multitudes without passing the plate. (Their expenses were apparently met by a relatively small number of followers - compared to the many people to whom he preached.)
During my vicarage the congregation where I was serving experienced some financial stress. Not unusual. My supervising pastor who was a wise and loving and mature man volunteered to take a pay cut in order to help the church make its budget. This was in a church with a large school and numerous staff, but it was the pastor who felt he should take less so that others could have more.
Something in us makes us assume that if we were truly faithful, then we would not need to take money for what we do. But there is more to it than that. It's not just a question of providing for the ministry. Frankly, like Jeremiah, I have no choice in whether to preach or not. If I were not called to be pastor of a congregation I would still be compelled to find a way and a place to speak the Gospel. Or if I had to work at a grocery store to feed my family, I would still have to take what time I could find to explicitly serve the church.
But Paul says it is the sending that is important. It's not just providing for someone to be sent. It is the act of the Christian congregation laying hands upon someone and sending them out. They must not only be enabled to go, they must be authorized to go. They must be called into service. It is not the legitimacy of the preacher that is at stake if he is not called. A prophet is a prophet even if no one listens to him. But it is the legitimacy of Christ's Church that is at stake.
The Church must send people to preach and teach the Gospel, or it is not a church, and the kingdom will not grow.