Quote:
Originally Posted by Joseph
Do you think a Pastor is more honorable if he works a secular job to support his family, or should he give himself to Prayer and the ministry of the Word?
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A pastor has a dual responsibility, to his family, and the assembly. As a man, his primary responsibility is to provide for his family, and his secondary one is to the assembly. Providing well for his family, in fact, is part of what qualifies him to be a bishop in the first place. Failing to do so disqualifies him from being a bishop/pastor. At least...that's how I interpret the scripture.
So...I would say that, if a pastor can both provide for his family (due to an income provided by the church), and devote himself to prayer and ministry of the Word to a greater degree (than he would be if he were working elsewhere), then that is good. However, if his family's necessities cannot be met in that way, he is obligated to work elsewhere and provide for them.
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"God, send me anywhere, only go with me. Lay any burden on me, only sustain me. And sever any tie in my heart except the tie that binds my heart to Yours."
--David Livingstone
"To see no being, not God’s or any, but you also go thither,
To see no possession but you may possess it—enjoying all without labor or purchase—
abstracting the feast, yet not abstracting one particle of it;…."
--Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Song of the Open Road
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