Should Pastors be Rich?

Many have asked this question out of sincerity and confusion while others simply talk out of contempt. I consider it a very valid question to ask in this time that the world is experiencing a downturn in her economy. Our churches are filled with poverty stricken people and yet, our pastors go around in expensive cars and they are getting more. A very controversial one is the use of private jets by ministers of the gospel. These have compelled some people to see the church as a business with the sole aim of making money.

I always discourage taking sides when scriptural matters are being discussed because both ends of the rope tend to be over-stretched and the end product is always error. I am not after establishing a doctrine, but as the scripture said in Pro 4:7 “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.” I want to shed a light unto an understanding.

While in year 3 in College, we held a bible study in my fellowship and the then bible study coordinator made a statement that has stuck with me since then. He said “If you cannot sow my seed, don’t envy my harvest.” Ministers of the gospel are always in front of the flood light of several people that spans beyond their congregation and these behind these flood lights are millions of hand lenses scrutinizing their lives. That’s how we got to know those that have the latest cars, those with private jets and the worth of the very rich ones.

Firstly, everyone must know that judging a minister of God is a very foolish thing to do simply because you are not his master. One day, my brother told me that his pastor and wife went on a vacation in Europe for some days. I said the money used in that vacation could have been used to help the poor and he replied me that the pastor sponsors about 30 students in Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA). Now, let’s do the Math. Let’s assume the fee of the school is 20,000, which means the school fees of 30 students will be 600,000. A man sows 600,000 a year! Do you remember that scripture that said “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.” Luke 6:38. If a man sows 600,000 a year, do you expect him to remain poor?

As much as I will not deny the fact that some pastors are corrupted and all they look for is money, I still believe in the remnant that the Lord is preserving. When a man sows, he is bound to be richer and not poorer! We do not know the seeds of ministers of the gospel because they are not meant to make it public according to the scriptures, but all we can see their harvest. Men, mostly sow in tears and in private, but the harvest is always with joy and in the public.

If a man is sowing and he is not harvesting, then the integrity of the Word of God is at stake. We have read the stories of the popular ones and it is obvious that these men sowed a huge seed while others were busy eating their own seed. Don’t forget, God gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater. As long as the earth remains, seed time and harvest shall not cease. Our pastors are living epistles that these scriptures are true. Sowing has a season. We must make good use of our seeds. Many Christians have testimonies of sowing and reaping, but we want our pastors to have a different testimony. The scripture is true. The more you sow, the more you reap.

We must not allow the corruption of the devil to take away the true teachings of our Lord, Jesus. Poverty is not holiness and being rich is different from being flamboyant. If we say pastors are not meant to be rich, who should be?