Thus says the Lord: "Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'" --Jeremiah 6:16

 

25 September, 2005   comments: (0) Today's Methods   Determining The Worth Of A Man Of God The 2006 Compensation Handbook for Church Staff has been published, and from it, I've come to this reprehensible but probably-accurate conclusion: Those few pastors out there who do as John MacArthur suggests - in spending 20 hours per week in personal bible study, and strive to remain faithful to God's message as Ezekiel did, deserve about the same salary as a McDonalds store manager. On the other hand, those "creative-minded" pastors who de-emphasize biblical preaching in favor of entertainment and worldly gimmicks, deserve to be paid like a corporate CEO. Sure, there are exceptions to everything, and in fact there are some biblically-faithful pastors with very large churches. But for the most part, pastors who are anchored to the bible as their highest priority, are the ones with smaller churches. Contrasting this, how often do we hear of people-pleasing mega-church pastors that water-down the Gospel message to make it more palatable? If we go according to the 2006 Compensation Handbook, such mega-church pastors are not to be shunned for their tactics of worldly compromise, they are instead to be rewarded, handsomely. For example, it is suggested that Senior Pastor compensation vary according to church attendance: 0-99 people = senior pastor salary of $47k 100-299 people = senior pastor salary of $66k 300-499 people = senior pastor salary of $81k 500-749 people = senior pastor salary of $94k 750-999 people = senior pastor salary of $102k 1000 people = senior pastor salary of $116k In all fairness, the report does suggest some other factors that can be used in determining an appropriate salary for your pastor, such as educational background and experience. Yet, it's hard to avoid the cynical thinking triggered by some of the other criteria that they suggest. For example, if a pastor signed-on at a church in the wealthy section of town, and he does an effective job of persuading the masses to contribute a lot of money, such a pastor deserves something akin to a "sales commission"? Here's the Guidebook's salary suggestion for associate pastors, based on total amount of offerings (church income): Church Income $0-$249,999 -- $43k Church Income $249,999-$499,999 -- $48k Church Income $500,000-$749,999 -- $57k Church Income $750,000-$999,999 -- $57k Church Income $1,000,000+ -- $73k I understand that the smallest churches have less money to spend on pastoral salaries, that only makes sense. But in the rest of our churches, this idea of "offerings and atendance determines your value", makes you wonder if we have a flawed way of calculating the worth of a man of God. Success may have it's perks, but the key question that I'm afraid is so often answered incorrectly today - is: how does God define "success"? Posted by: Jim B.   Link: http://www.oldtruth.com/blog.cfm/id.2.pid.60   Be the first to post a comment about this article        Home  |   About  |  Videos   |  Calvinism