Ridgell's Originals

I listen to lots of preachers talk about how they believe their church should treat them.  Not as employees.  As family.  To be aware that when they are fired, it generally means they have to uproot their family and move to another town.  To not treat their spouse as if they too are employed by the church.  

There are some valid points in these kinds of feelings.  But I think it also fair to not just ask how the church should treat the preacher.

Maybe we also ought to ask how the preacher should treat the church.

Three questions.

If you were not employed by this particular church, would you be a member there?

If you were not on payroll, how much time and energy would you put into ministry?

If you had to take a pay cut, or lose your salary, would you take a secular job so you could stay and continue to work alongside them?

How you answer these questions determine much about whether you feel like your church is your family.

It also determines whether you really do want to be an employee -- that is paid to do ministry.

I am amazed how many preachers I talk to that are frustrated at how they are treated.  But when asked these questions... they would not choose their own church to be part of, they would not work near as much, and they would not stay.

And by the way, under our current set-up, ministry is not just a calling -- it is a career.  So I don't necessarily think preachers are wrong to answer these in any certain way.  

But you can't have it both ways.  Not treated as family when it benefits you, but free to leave them when it benefits you.

Nothing wrong with leaving for a better paying job.  That is what employees do.  All the time.  Better their family economically.  And sometimes employees get fired.  That happens when you draw a paycheck.  All the time.  

Ministry is a calling for most preachers I know.  And it is also a career.  And sometimes the two do not mesh as well as we would like.

Let's just all try to be honest.

One last thing.  Preachers need to stop blaming elders for the way things are.  And elders need to stop blaming preachers.  And our broken system of church will not be fixed by getting rid of the preachers.  Nor by getting rid of the elders.

# posted by Steve @ 6:00 AM