Do we support ministers or ministries

Do we support ministers or ministries?

by David Cox

Resume: Christians and churches should only support people ministering, and not organizations.

When we propose this question, some will think it is splitting hairs, but there is a big difference between supporting a ministry, and supporting a minister. Ministries in the Scriptures are elusive types of things that are not very well defined. Today when we talk of a "ministry", most people think of a religious organization with some purpose, usually founded by some famous person, and usually having physical property in the form of buildings, desks, computers, chairs, etc. as well as employees.

In the Scriptures we find a more limited view of ministry. A ministry is a person serving God and God's people, or in reaching the lost. The idea that we as Christians should serve and dedicate large amounts of money, time, and energy to the lost on their physical needs (or any non-spiritual need) is not found in the Bible. The good Samaritan story teaches us that our "neighbor" is anyone physically around us or in our path that has needs. As they cross our path and enter our lives we are to help them as can, but we are to always have in mind that our first responsibility and priority is to the "household of faith".

^{KJV Galatians 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.
^{KJV 1 Thessalonians 5:15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.}
The point here is that inordinate attention, money or time on the unsaved non-spiritual needs is non-productive. What the poor in the street need is not a soup kitchen but rather the Lord Jesus Christ, so that once saved, they will be taught the principles of God, be responsible, work for their own sustenance, and not have these needs. In the meantime, Christians may "bridge the gap" helping the poor and needy because they understand that it is only by the grace of God that they have anything better than these people.
So a ministry today is something that is akin to a religious organization with a purpose, and in Bible times, a ministry was a person with a gift to exercise and a calling to fill. Today we are being taught that ministries are responsible, and individuals are risky business to invest in.
God designed ministries around personalities (people)
The bottom line is that God has designed ministries around personalities. When a man of God ministers, it is not the organization that he may start that is important, but what that man of God is and does.
Satan has over the years turned our concepts to think in terms of organizations instead of people. The pattern is observable over and over again. Satan first takes a famous "man of God" that has a good ministry, and through pride and arrogance, desires to extend his ministry over what God has given him both in geographical terms and in time restrictions. Usually this is subtle, happening by the minister having so much popularity or success that he needs help with this ministry. He finds people willing to help him. They do, but their ambition is even more carnal. With time this grows, and people enter this "ministry" that are not of the same statue and doctrinal fidelity as the minister.
But God's people and good churches invest heavily in this ministry. The minister needs money so he listens to people who tell him to promote his ministry as a business. Public Relations is the name of the game today in Christianity. You cannot tell any difference between secular businesses and Christian ministries as far as public relations and promotion go. When more money comes rolling in, the minister has more than he knows what to do with. Instead of telling his supporters to stop, he looks for ways to present a legitimate, valid ministry expense to justify his excessive income. He grows more.
Greed disqualifies the minister. At this point, we need to digress. What God says about those in the ministry is directed basically towards pastors, missionaries, and those working in or out of a local church. God does not give us permission to support ministers that are either doctrinally incorrect or that have conduct unbecoming of a Christian and man of God. We must limit our support (including prayer and other things) to those who are following the Bible. One of the requirements set out for those in the ministry is that he is not to be covetous (1 Tim 3:3), not greedy of filthy lucre (1 Tim 3:3,8; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 5:2). The fact that a minister wants, enjoys, and sets as goals money disqualifies him from the ministry. The formula is simple. God says the minister is not to be interested in money and luxury. He is to live frugally on what God provides. But the people that receive spiritual benefit from his ministry are supposed to see to his needs by giving to him economically (Gal 6:6; 1 Cor. 9:14). This is biblical. So the way God created this situation is that the minister is to humbly live off of what he is doing, and the people that benefit from his ministry should support him. This does not mean he is to live in great luxury no matter how great his ministry becomes.
What happens is that when God's people takes care of him, things go well. But the minister who "has his eyes on his checkbook" cannot serve God with singleness of heart. If there are specific sins in the people he ministers to, it is his duty to preach on these sins so that the people get right with God. This process automatically reduces the number of people in his following. Many people will not change their lives but their churches. When a preacher is concerned about finances and big growth of a super ministry, he has to cut corners and make sure he doesn't offend the big donors. The bigger the ministry grows the more difficult this becomes. Instead of God governing his preaching according to the spiritual needs (failings) of his people, he is guided by popularity. What is it that the people want to hear. He begins to tickle their ears giving them what they want to hear.
^{KJV 2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
This is the situation today. We have great and glorious ministries that do not address people's problems, but entertain them giving them what they want. This is tragic but it is widespread.
Tithes and offerings, investment, and communal property.
So instead of supporting a man of God for himself, we support a ministry. What happens here is that a lot of money goes into a "private estate." In other words, that man's pocket. God's design is that we as individual Christians and churches should invest in God's design, which is the local church. The advantage of this is that when we invest in a ministry that is in the form of a local church, the money does not go into the pastor's pocket, but becomes communal property of the group.
So here we note the genius of God in designing a method, the only valid, biblical method, for doing the work of the ministry, a local church.
The church is organized around a body of doctrine, and norm or standard of conduct as set forth from the Word of God.
The people who publicly join and adhere to that doctrine and standard pay for everything.
Those people may die or leave, new people come in, but the norm or standard has to stay the same.
Those church members and ministers are responsible for holding the church on that standard.
Ministers work in that church and are paid livable wages, a salary that they can comfortably live on.
Nobody can take the tithes and offerings given by people ascribing to that doctrine and standard and divert it into something of bad doctrine or of improper moral standards.
God has set up a way of protecting the investment of God's people over the years. In issues of separation and Fundamentalism, this is the entire matter. Satan wants to pervert the standard and doctrine of any "lighthouse" of God's people, and make the investment over the years of God's people in the work of God null by "stealing" the property and making it for the use of a group of people that are not of the same standards and doctrine.
Examples - I do not know how many times I have personally seen a "man of God" amass a lot of money in "his ministry" and at some point he turns in his doctrine and practice. He begins to speak in tongues, run around with women, or gets off into some unsound doctrinal position. His supporters express their disagreement with him, and his answer is "that's tough". But their investment in his ministry over the years is all lost. In the case of a local church, this can happen also, but if the church is sound to begin with, establishing clearly those doctrines and practices that they hold to dearly, as well as practice church discipline and separation, this is much more difficult to pull off.
So what's the difference if we support ministries today?
Basically there are two points to consider here. First, the minister gets shorted many times. Ministries which are big businesses are fat, bureaucracies that are inefficient at what they do. The real people doing the work on the front lines of dealing with people about spiritual issues are usually the least paid. This violates the will of God that a person should live of what he does.
The secondly, the local church gets shorted always. Ministries always promise to help the local church, but in reality they seldom or never no. The help that the local church needs is that it needs to see more people really and truly get saved, get baptized, and get discipled. After that, they need to get active and participating in the local church, and especially tithing of their income, and giving offerings to that local church. Ministries instead of this take money from the local church and their members, drain off energy and personnel, and give very little in return.

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