Quote:
Originally Posted by StMark
You have a point but don't you think there is a line? Even though you have it, the COMMUNITY that you are serving may not know all the things you mentioned and would you not want to distract them out of the message you are trying to bring to them??? Especially in a small community, it doesn't take long for false rumors to start flying " did you see that preachers house, car, clothes,etc..... I just knew he was taking all those poor peoples money!" etc
Also, what if a pastor was independantly wealthy but pastored in a coal minning town where most of his saints were barely above poverty level?
Just asking how it would look if he had a mansion while most of his members lived in shacks
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I know several preachers who are indenpendently wealthy and they live grand. I can immediately think of two pastors who have large (one over 250 and the other over 1,000) churches, are very involved in their communities, and are greatly respected. The thing is, their congregation KNOWS they are not abusing church funds. The word of mouth of the saints letting people know their pastor doesn't take from the church is what makes their churches grow. Chances are, if the church is of a decent size, that pastor is greatly respected and not condemned for his lifestyle. It is always the jealous outsiders that point fingers. Like every arena of life, there will always be a bad apple in the bunch but don't loop all these men into the bad category.