A Contract Prepared by the Intellectually Impaired
A sense of humor is beneficial when reading this contract. One will observe that this contract has an obvious slant on the preacher being nothing more than a paid employee of the church. The following article by Jeffery Kingry referenced from Truth Magazine XXII: 14, pp. 232-233. April 6, 1978, adds several relevant points to the topic.
The Preacher: Servant of God or of Man
There is a definite attitude displayed toward evangelists and their support by some brethren and churches that is decidedly unscriptural. Brethren speak of “hiring a preacher” and having him “work for us.” Their idea is that a man, rendered free from a 9 to 5 job by the church’s support, in turn becomes an employee of the church.
I have had brethren inform me that as an employee of the church, I would be expected to work 40 to 50 hours a week. Above and beyond my “supported time” I would be expected to put forth “individual” hours to fulfill my personal responsibility as a Christian. Congregations (and preachers as well) have submitted “contracts” that must be agreed to and signed before “employment” can be accomplished. In some instances the contract is renewed annually after a review by the church. Is any of this scriptural? I think not. The basis for all of this kind of behavior stems from a basic misunderstanding of the work of an evangelist, and what his support consists of.
Hire A Preacher?
Our word “hire” carries with it the concept of submission for pay that is characteristic of the employer-employee relationship. Webster’s Dictionary defines it, “To purchase the personal services of for a set sum, to get done by pay, to employ.” Yet this idea of purchasing or buying a service is not one that is taught in the scriptures. For example, the word translated “hire” in the Greek is misthos. It is used in 1 Tim. 5:18 to encourage brethren to support those elders who labor well. “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine, for the scripture saith, Thou shaft not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn, and the laborer is worthy of his reward (misthos).” No-one misunderstands that an elder is still an elder, functions as an elder and is responsible as an elder, whether he is supported or not. No one would ever suggest “hiring an elder.”
In Luke 10:7, Jesus sent out seventy disciples to that the “kingdom is at hand.” He told them to go from city to city, receiving their food and lodging from the hospitality of those they taught. “And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: For the laborer is worthy of his hire (misthos).” No one would say that those who exercised hospitality to the Seventy “employed” those teachers, were their “bosses,” or had the power to require a certain degree of self-appointed service from the Seventy to assure that they “earned their wages.”
While scriptures do teach that an evangelist labors in the Gospel and has a right to expect a reward (hire) from the gospel, scripture utterly rejects the concept that the evangelist (any more than the elder, apostle, or teacher) “sells personal service for a set sum.” On the contrary, the evangelist may receive misthos but he is not a misthotos, or hireling. Misthotos is used four times in scripture: once as “hired servant” (Mk. 1:20) and three times as “hireling,” as in Jn. 10:12,13. “Here it expresses, not only one who has no real interest in his duty, but one who is unfaithful in the discharge of it; that sense attaches always to the word rendered “hireling” (W. E. Vine, Expository Dictionary, p. 222).
To be sure there are hireling preachers (Rom. 16:17,18; 2 Pet. 2:3,14, 15), hireling elders (Acts 20:29; Tit. 1:7b), and false Apostles (Gal. 1:8; 2 Cor. 11:13; Rev. 2:2) who will preach, teach, and deceive wherever there is personal gain to be found. But the true man of God (1 Tim. 6:11) is not an employee of the church, but a servant of Jesus Christ (tom. 1:1; Jas. 1:1; 2 Pet. 1:1; Jude 1). A preacher serves and answers to God (2 Cor. 6:4). If the evangelist serves God and pleases his master, he should be acceptable to the church. In this sense a preacher can never be a servant of the church and no amount of support can make him that way. In what way then is he a servant of the church?
In Col. 1:24 Paul declared, “Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church — whereof I am made a minister.” How was Paul a minister-servant of the church? As Albert Barnes put it, “The object seems to be . . . a privilege to suffer in the cause of Christ . . . not for the Colossians alone . . . but for his preaching to the Gentiles at large . . . and that he suffered the same kind of persecution as Christ for the church, not that he suffered as much as Christ . . . but that he felt that it was an object to be earnestly desired to be made in all respects just like Christ . . . what he says is based on the leading desire of his soul — To Be Just Like Christ.” In other words the evangelist serves the body in the same way that Jesus did-as a messenger of truth (2 Cor. 2:1517; 3:6; 4:1-5) willing to suffer, even to die for the truth (2 Cor. 6:3-6; 2 Tim. 2:3, 4). A man cannot be paid to do that (1 Cor. 9:16-27).
What Then Is The Money For?
Words like “hire,” “buy,” and “employ” denote the purchase of a service. One may purchase the service of a hireling, but never the service of one who serves another master (Matt. 6:24). The true man of God serves God in all things whether supported or not. The church may free him to do more by supporting him in the work he is doing. There is a distinct difference between “support” and “hire.” I may support an artist, a government, a cause, and never exercise any control or authority with my funds. My only control is a decision either to support or not to support. It is in this way that the church rewards the man of God for his service in teaching, study, rebuke, and evangelism. The preacher is “controlled” in the same way any individual member is. If a preacher sins, he is not to be “fired” but disciplined, the same as every other member. Money spent on evangelism is not benevolence. “If any would not work, neither should he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10) is a principle that applies to preachers as well as anyone else. God did not mean for the indolent to live off the church. But, any control a preacher’s support may bring a church over the man is a shame upon the church and the evangelist as well.
Paul is a perfect example of the true evangelist that all preachers should emulate. His relationship to a local work had nothing to do with his support. While working in Corinth he received his subsistence from the brethren in Macedonia (Phil. 4:10-15; 2 Cor. 11:9). Even when his living ceased from other churches, he would labor with his hands and continue preaching (2 Thess. 3:8). Paul did the work, as hard and as well as he knew how. He knew he had a right to live of the Gospel (1 Cor. 9:4-14) but his joy was in preaching the word (1 Cor. 9:18); often he purposely refused money given to him by some brethren lest some use it as a charge of “hireling” against him (1 Cor. 9:15). He also stated, “For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more” (v. 19). Paul did not count hours and divide his days into “church’s paid time” and “my time.” He belonged to Jesus, and he gave all of himself that he might perhaps save a few before he slept with the Lord. When brethren ask about hours spent in service by an evangelist who really serves God, they betray their ignorance of what being a preacher is all about.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a diligent Christian who will work in the community where you live and you wish to free him to spend all of his efforts in God’s service, then there are good men available. You can tell them by their fruits (Eph. 5:9; Gal. 5:22, 23). Paul told Timothy “Put the brethren in remembrance . . . labor, suffer reproach . . . command and teach . . . be an example . . . in word, in manner of life, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity . . . give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine . . . meditate upon these things, give thyself wholly to them that thy profiting may appear to all” (1 Tim. 4:6ff). You will be able to tell the difference between a hireling and the servant of God. The hireling will agree with all you say, meet all your demands, sign your contract, take your money, and give you nothing in return except a scratch behind the ear, or a congregation filled with error, division, and hatred. The man of God will prick your conscience, rebuke your sins, build up your soul, motivate you to work, and run the race with you hand in hand. He will be independent, with a head as hard as flint, and will knuckle under to no demand that smacks of compromise. His support will not be a matter of indifference to him, but his words to you will not lose their edge because you sign his check. You see, the real servant of Christ pleases his boss, because he knows that the only paycheck that matters is that one he gets in eternity.
Symptoms of a Spiritual Malady
“What were the basic causes of digression which led to the introduction of instrumental music into the worship, and other departures from the truth resulting in the formation of the Christian Church denomination?”
Shortly before the turn of the present century a movement originated in the church of Christ that resulted in what is commonly known as the Christian Church. The view is widespread that the cause of this schism and resultant division was instrumental music in the worship and societies in the work of the church. Technically speaking, this is incorrect. True, these were major differences between those who adhered to the original pattern of things and those who went out from us; yet instrumental music and the societies were effects rather than causes—symptoms of a spiritual malady chronic and fatal in its nature.
Dr. A. W. Fortune, sometime professor in the College of the Bible, Lexington, Ky., and “pastor” of the Central Christian Church of that city, in his book, “The Disciples in Kentucky,” sets forth the factors which led to the division as follows:
“The controversies through which the Disciples have passed from the beginning to the present time have been the result of two different interpretations of their mission. There have been those who believed it is the spirit of the New Testament church that should be restored, and in our method of worship the church must adapt itself to changing conditions. There have been those who regarded the New Testament church as a fixed pattern for all time, and our business is to hold rigidly to that pattern regardless of consequences. Because of these attitudes, conflicts were inevitable.” (Page 383.)
This is, we believe, a fair and impartial statement of the divergence of views that obtained then, and are now characteristic of the two groups. Because of these differences in attitude toward the Scriptures, it was, as Dr. Fortune suggests, inevitable that division should come; and it came shortly before the turn of the present century. Those who had worked and worshiped together in an effort to plant again the cause of primitive Christianity in a land torn by division and cursed by denominationalism, divided among themselves, and the result was that another denomination came into existence. Ironically enough, those whose avowed mission in life was the utter destruction of all denominations became but another denomination, and thus built again the things they had once destroyed! Today the Christian Church admits its denominational status, and glories in the fact!
Instrumental music and the societies were, therefore, simply symptoms of the disease which lurked unseen—outward manifestations of an inward attitude wholly foreign to that which had characterized the Restoration Movement in its inception. Nor did this difference in attitude toward the Scriptures originate with this movement. It is the same as that which occasioned the famous controversy between Luther and Zwingli: whether we are at liberty to do anything not expressly forbidden, as Luther contended, or are bound by what is written, and must, therefore, do nothing for which there is not a “thus saith the Lord,” or an approved apostolic precedent, as Zwingli argued. This, too, is the point of issue between those who insist that the Bible, and the Bible alone, is a sufficient rule of faith and practice, and those who consider it a book of raw principles only, and therefore, adaptable to changing times and conditions. The former have always repudiated creeds, confessions of faith, and church manuals, while the latter have not hesitated to advocate them—indeed, to urge them as legitimate instruments to adopt the truth to present-day conditions. This is the door through which instrumental music, missionary societies, creeds, infant sprinkling, sprinkling and pouring as substitutes for baptism, and many other things admittedly not taught in the New Testament, were brought in. While all have not been as frank as Mr. Beecher, the eminent denominational preacher of an earlier generation, who said he practiced infant baptism for the same reason that he used an ox yoke—he had tried them and both worked—it is yet a fact that this is the real reason why so many things unauthorized by the Scriptures are practiced without question today.
Such an attitude is, of course, wholly foreign to that which characterized those who launched and fought the early battles of the Restoration Movement. Those pioneers of the faith were determined to do nothing for which there is no express command or approved precedent; and they were willing to speak only when the Scriptures speak and remain silent where the Scriptures are silent. So long as these principles were adhered to, unity prevailed, and the cause of primitive Christianity spread with a rapidity equaled only by that of the apostolic age. The Christian Church of today, is therefore, a total apostasy from the teaching of Campbell, Stone, Scott, Lard, and the others who were in the forefront of the effort to restore New Testament Christianity to the world. This, we believe, will not be seriously questioned by many of those who belong to that institution. Certainly those who boast of their denominational status will not insist on maintaining harmonious views with a man who required a daily paper in New Orleans to publish a correction of a statement representing him as the “head and founder” of a great denomination! Declaring that they did him too much honor—that he had always repudiated all human heads and names for the people of the Lord—Alexander Campbell demanded and received a correction of the notice erroneously inserted. Contrast Mr. Campbell’s attitude with that of “Dr. Harwood Miller,” the “permanent pastor” of the National City Christian Church: “Denominations and sects are not wholly or even largely the product of human pride and prejudice and unbrotherliness—a thing entirely wrong could not long endure by the devotion of men—it is unthinkable to condemn all sectarianism as sinful.”
The real cause of division in the body of Christ was, therefore, an abandonment of the principles which had hitherto motivated us. Those who no longer looked upon the New Testament as an all- sufficient guide and rule of faith and practice did not scruple to demand things unauthorized therein, while those who clung tenaciously to the all-sufficiency of the Scriptures as stoutly resisted them; and division was, therefore, inevitable. This, indeed, has been the cause of all departures from the faith since the days of the apostles. Those who regard the Bible as a complete revelation for all time cannot, in conscience, add to or take from its teaching in the smallest particular; while those who consider it as only a mass of raw principles to be worked into shape to fit changing conditions are not restrained by the injunctions it contains against adding to or taking from the holy word, and do not hesitate to do so when the exigencies of the hour seem to suggest it.
This fact is remarkably illustrated in the man who was responsible for first introducing an instrument of music into the church of Christ, L. L. Pinkerton. Said Dr. Fortune: “Dr. L. L. Pinkerton is credited by some with having been the first to make this departure when he introduced a melodeon in the worship of the church at Midway (Kentucky—G.N.W.).” The article on ‘Churches of Christ’ in Religious Bodies, 1926, makes that the beginning of the controversy. This statement is made: “The question as to the use of instrumental music of the church became an issue as early as 1859, when a melodeon was placed in the church at Midway, Ky.” (“Disciples in Kentucky,” pages 372, 373.) The attitude of this man (on whom rests the obloquy of corrupting the worship of God) toward the Scriptures will appear from the following: In 1869 Pinkerton and Shackleford began the publication of the Independent Monthly. In an article on “Bible Inspiration” he denied the theory of plenary inspiration, and criticized Milligan’s “Reason and Revelation,” and said that young preachers who were taught that Ps. 137:9 was inspired would “perpetuate a great many follies in his name.” In an article on “No Immersion—No Membership in a Church of the Reformation” he took the position that while he would only teach and practice immersion, he would be willing to let a man settle the question of baptism for himself. He said he would not thrust his translation of a Greek word between a man’s conscience and his God!
The Christian Church defection thus grew out of a difference in attitude toward the Scriptures. This being true, instrumental music and the societies, plus many more recent innovations, were natural developments, logically to be expected. Unity need never be expected until we come to see eye to eye on the value of the sacred Scriptures.
—-Questions And Answers, Open Forum, Freed-Hardeman College Lectures by Guy N. Woods, pp. 194-196.
Sounds Like Socialism…
A study of Communism reveals that it is a spectacle of vice and depravity, seething in the more of materialism, and literally crawling like a snake in the dust of agitation, ever ready to strike and release its venom. It is an atheistic philosophy, villainous in nature, corrupt in principle, and immoral in practice. It is the very essence of hypocrisy and falls under the condemning words of Jesus: “They say, and do not.” It is a contradictory philosophy which glories in zigzags, inconsistencies, and broke promises; a degraded system which has elevated vagrant politicians to despotic lords who have bombarded the world with their infidel attacks upon God, the Bible, and a free society which respects the dignity of man; an assemblage of bombastic and conceited claptraps which exploits man; a system of wayward vanity and selfish ambition which foments struggles and squabbles, revolutions and wars, from the lowest level to the highest plane in every organized democratic society; a system that feeds on human carion and then vomits the mass of corruption upon a helpless people that survives; an ideology which has raised up madmen, selfish, brutal, and horrendous, in their quest for world enslavement, which they gleefully and blasphemously seek by defying God and defiling man. At no other time in the history of man has an ideology so notoriously prostituted the talents, the labors, and the freedoms of so many people. The culminating point in their infamy is to throw the nonsense of all their ill-spent lives into the creation of a one-world government, controlled by the Party dictators. If this seems hard, remember there are no soft words that will describe a hard system.
—- Bible vs. Communism by Leroy Brownlow (1961), p. 9.
The Identity of the Primitive Apostolic Church
In the commendable efforts of various men of the early nineteenth century to restore the Bible order, there 
were two basic principles to observe: first, the difference between reformation and restoration; and second, the basis of scriptural unity.
The result of the Protestant reformation was orthodox denominationalism. Swinging away from the intolerable dogmas of Romanism, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, and others of the like spirit, built their protestant foundations on the sands of denominational creeds rather than on the rock of New Testament truth–and their foundations shifted with the crawling sands upon which they were built. Their reformations failed, falling far short of their original purpose.
A few generations later it fell to such intellects as Barton W. Stone, Thomas and Alexander Campbell, the Scotts and the Creaths, and a legion like them, to launch the mighty plea to abandon party names, party creeds, party organizations, and upon the right creed, the right name, the right doctrine, the right worship, such as taught in the New Testament itself, to restore the primitive apostolic church, the which couloved be neither Catholic nor Protestant, but scriptural, and therefore divine. There is no other basis of Christian unity—scriptural unity. And there is no other way to establish the identity of the primitive apostolic church. The wrong creed, the wrong doctrine, the wrong worship, the wrong organization and the wrong name could not possibly result in the right church. But the right creed, the right doctrine, the right worship, the right organization and the right name, for a like reason, cannot be the wrong church.
Foy E. Wallace Jr. Bulwarks Of The Faith, pp. 37-38
Legislating Morality
How often have you heard the assertion that politics and religion do not mix? Or ‘you can’t legislate morality’? These kinds of statements are repeated so often that many people take them as gospel…The very nature of legislation involves value judgments. Some things are deemed right and legal; other things are wrong and illegal. That is morality. I believe the question is not if morality can be legislated. The question is whose morality will be legislated? (pp. 14-15)
—-How Would Jesus Vote? D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe
Denominational Terminology
Church of Christ Entities by Hugh Fulford
An excellent, insightful, and much needed article for Christians to study and apply today. Published in the Carolina Messenger, March 2008.
“Let The Preacher Do It!”
Preach the gospel the Lord has said. And the congregation knew they must get to it. So, they searched and found the perfect man. And said, “Now we can let the preacher do it.”
Bring in the crowds and preach the truth that’s our work and we’ll be true to it. But we work hard all day and we’re tired at night. And for what he is getting paid, “Let the preacher do it.”
They needed to visit the sick and seek the lost. They needed to pray and everyone would pursue it. But this man they hired seemed to do a good job. So they decided, “Just let the preacher do it.”
There’s a worksheet on the bulletin board. Every day there are more things added to it. But they have homes of their own to take care of. And with all his free time, “Just let the preacher do it.”
Someone has set up a Bible study. He’s not sure he’ll have time to do it. Anyway, isn’t that what we hired the man for? It’s his job to study. “Just let the preacher do it.”
Well, the day finally came when the Lord returned. The congregation waiting for their reward true to it. But a voice from heaven said, “Just one person can come in, and guess what, I think I’ll let the preacher do it.”
-author unknown.
There are ministers of the gospel who are all too familiar with a segment of brethren who believe they pay/hire the preacher to do the work of the Christians in the congregation. We might label this a “proxy” position that is manmade and found to be in opposition to Peter’s statement by inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he wrote that Christians are to be a “spiritual priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9). Many churches exhibit this mindset. I have had it said more than once in churches I have been associated with that “we pay you to do that” when referring to teaching the lost, preaching, visiting, being involved in everything that is going on within the congregation, etc.
I am thankful to God that elderships exist that allow the preacher to be the preacher and do the work of an evangelist without the unscriptural trappings of a hireling mentality. I am blessed to be serving under an eldership that understands the organization of the church, the role of elders, deacons, ministers and members in the work of a local congregation!
Below is a catalog of tasks I kept track of in one of my past works where duties were assigned continually (no secretary).
Sermon planning, preparation & delivery. Bible classes every Sunday and Wednesday. Type, proof, copy & fold the bulletin each week. Announcements on Wednesdays. Invitation each Wednesday. Prepare attendance charts for deacon. Type and submit a work schedule each month. Schedule men to give invitation one Wednesday each month. Pick up church mail from Post Office. Handle all church correspondence. Reserve hotel rooms for visiting preachers. Personal correspondence. Preparation for lectureships. Prepare ladies day booklets. Prepare men’s retreat booklets. Write, copy & mail advertisements for gospel meetings, VBS and other events. Teach in VBS. Keep detailed work journal for elders. Visit. Conduct funerals. Officiate weddings. Attend business meetings. Elder-preacher meetings. Order tracts and maintain tract rack. Order Bible class materials. Order supplies as necessary and when requested. Study. Monday for the Master (primarily building & grounds work). Prepare and copy sermon notes for each sermon. Responsible for maintaining copier. Write bulletin article each week. Upload bulletin and update web site each week. Write and send cards. Maintain church library. Knock doors for VBS and gospel meetings. Organize and maintain resource room. Office hours nine to five Tuesday through Friday. Coordinate House to House Heart to Heart (write articles, advertising & answer material requests). Order & promote Bible correspondence courses. Answer Bible questions. Research & copy material for members with questions on Bible subjects. Open building before church services. Gather and take out trash each week at building. Tape sermons. Announcements each night of gospel meetings. Receive preachers and take them to where they are staying during gospel meeting. World Bible school teacher. Set up tables, chairs as needed for potluck dinners. Send tract requests to those who request them. Preach in gospel meetings. Speak at youth rallies. Maintain life group lists. Schedule preachers for gospel meetings. Teach lunchtime Bible study periodically at neighboring congregation. Distribute tracts and literature at area hospitals. Preacher’s wife takes care of all baptistery garments, towels from kitchen, etc.
Written on a Tombstone
“Remember friend, when passing by
As you are now, so once was I.
As I am now, soon you will be
Prepare for death and follow me.”
An unknown visitor to the grave added the following inscription:
“To follow you, I’m not content
Until I know which way you went.”
