I am getting my diploma in theology and Christian ministries. I am happy because I have a zeal to serve God and I am getting equipped to do that. I don’t know what kind of job I am going to get with a theology degree except being a pastor. Most full-time pastors in my country suffer financially. I understand that being a pastor is a divine calling and I am persuaded that God did call me to be one, but I will have a family one day and I must provide for them. What should I do?
First, I am very encouraged that you “have a zeal to serve God.” By the grace of God, I left my “secular employment” 37 years ago for the same reason. I had a wife and 5 daughters so I too was concerned about “providing for my family” but the Lord assured me He would provide by the Apostle Paul’s words in Philippians 4:19, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ.” If you read verses 10-18 you will see that Paul had just been sent a gift from the believers in the church at Philippi and he was thanking them for it. We learn here that God uses fellow-believers as “channels of His grace to minister to our temporal needs” (see also 1 Corinthians 9:1-14). In verse 19 we see that even though God used “human vessels” to meet our needs the One who really meets our needs is God. It is Him alone that we should count on to supply all our needs, whatever they may be.
I also want to point out that I learned, from Scripture, that there is no such thing as a “stipulated salary” for servants of the Lord. Paul’s words in Philippians 4:10-18 illustrate that, for he was hundreds of miles away from the local church in Philippi when that monetary gift was sent to him. He was NOT the “pastor of the church” there; in fact, you will look in vain for a Scripture which teaches that the one gifted as a “pastor” is the leader of a congregation in a local church. What we do read about in local churches are ELDERS who are OVERSEERS in the church. Elders had to meet certain qualifications (see 1 Timothy 3:2-7 and Titus 1:6-9) to be acknowledged as an elder. They were not trained in a seminary or Bible college (again, you will look in vain for this view in the New Testament) and then hired to serve in a local church. Instead, they had a desire to bear oversight as we see in 1 Timothy 3:1, “The word is faithful: if any one aspires to exercise oversight, he desires good work” (DARBY version). This desire no doubt comes from the Holy Spirit as we see in Acts 20:28 where Paul told the elders at Ephesus, “Take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the flock, AMONG WHICH THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS MADE YOU OVERSEERS, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” I would also encourage you to read 1 Peter 5:1-4 to read more about elders. A key verse in that passage is verse 2 where Peter says, “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” There we learn that elders (there is always a “plurality of elders in a local church”) were not doing this service out of obligation, or for money, or to rule over the flock of God. Elders are there because they truly desire to serve the flock by teaching them the scriptures and being a humble example to them of the truth they are teaching.
A PASTOR is a gift for the WHOLE CHURCH, not just a LOCAL CHURCH. I believe the Apostle Paul had this gift (along with the gifts of an apostle, a teacher, and evangelist), and his gift took him to MANY CHURCHES throughout the fellowship of the body of Christ in the Roman Empire. Because of a long-held “tradition,” a pastor has come to be looked upon as one who is educated in a Bible school, hired by a local church, and then he functions as a teacher, an evangelist, a counselor (for people getting married or going through a trial), and he also leads the congregation in worship and officiates at all the weddings and funerals. In other words, he’s made to be “everything wrapped up in one person” when in truth he may only have one or two gifts and all the members of his “so-called congregation” are sitting as spectators and not using their God-given gifts (read Romans 12:3-8; 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 7-12) or functioning as a holy priesthood in worshipping the Lord (1 Peter 2:4-5 and Hebrews 13:15).
In closing, I pray you will study these scriptures and that they will be a real help to you. I can testify that if you are indeed being “called by God to serve,” He will SHOW YOU WHAT TO DO and He will ENABLE YOU TO DO IT. Other believers will recognize the gift (or gifts) you have and the service the Lord has called you to (see Acts 13:1-4) and they should be more than willing to be used as “channels of God’s grace to help meet your temporal needs” (as we saw above in Philippians 4:1-19). (DO) (615.3)