THE SUPPORT OF GOSPEL MINISTERS ACCORDING TO GOD’S PLAN.
By D. T. Bourdeau
Our Lord and Saviour, in sending out His twelve apostles to preach the glad tidings of salvation, said to them, among other things, “The workman is worthy of his meat” (Matt. 10: 10); and one of the statements He makes to the seventy in appointing them to the same work is, “The laborer is worthy of his hire.” Luke 10: 7. And the apostle Paul agrees with his divine Lord when he saith, “Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith He it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?” 1 Cor. 9: 7–11. And the same apostle, giving faithful Timothy instructions concerning those “who labor in word and doctrine,” for him to communicate to the Christian churches that the apostle was soon to leave under Timothy’s care, repeats the scripture that says, “Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn,” and adds, “The laborer is worthy of his reward.” 1 Tim. 5: 17, 18. And a little further on in the same passage, still dwelling on the course to be pursued toward elders, he says, “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality.” Verse 21. Here Paul shows the importance of Timothy’s heeding instructions he is giving him, including those relating to the support of gospel laborers. From these and other scriptures, it is clearly evident that God’s ministers should have a remuneration for their services, and that they should look for support to those for whom they labor, or unto whom they sow spiritual things. This view of the subject is a reasonable one. It is based on the principles of equity and justice. God himself declares that His ways are equal, and that He is a just God. Eze. 18: 29, etc.; But would His ways be equal, and would He be a just God, if He were to lay upon His ministers, who are to devote their time and energies to the work of proclaiming the gospel, the burden of supporting themselves, and leave the laity—those who have the benefits of the406labors of gospel ministers—with only the burden of supporting themselves?—Certainly not. Such a plan would place a crushing burden on the ministers of Jesus Christ, and would greatly retard the work of the gospel. It would dry up in the laity the spirit of self-denial and sacrifice, and would develop in them selfishness, instead of noble benevolence, equal love for man, and supreme love for God, and would deprive them of the privilege of manifesting a true appreciation of the great sacrifice that was made by God the Father and God the Son to save them. How could those adopting such a plan profit, on the point of giving, by such words as the following: “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich”? 2 Cor. 8: 9. How far would those going by such a plan improve by these words: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works”? Matt. 16: 24–27. In starting out His twelve disciples as evangelists, our Saviour forbade their taking gold, or silver, or brass in their purses; and they were not to take with them two coats, nor shoes, etc.; and later, a similar order was given to the seventy as they were about to engage in their evangelistic work. Matt. 10: 9, 10; Luke 10: 4. Was this to be a permanent and invariable rule for ministers to follow under all circumstances?—No. One of the disciples was a treasurer, whose duty it was to receive money with which to purchase for his fellow disciples and his Master food and other needful articles. John 12: 6; 13: 29; 4: 8. And shortly before His death, the Lord said, “When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye anything? And they said, Nothing. Then said He unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it.” Luke 22: 35, 36. As the work should enlarge, and the gospel go to distant lands, gospel workers would need purses provided with money to take them from one place to another, and some of them would need two coats and warm shoes to protect themselves against cold, rains, and snow, in the severity of the weather. Paul believed this common-sense doctrine when he wrote thus to Timothy, in view of approaching winter: “The cloak that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee.” “Do thy diligence to come before winter.” 2 Tim. 4: 13, 21. Why, then, did our Saviour tell His disciples, when about to start on their first missionary tour in Palestine, not to take money, etc., with them? He gives His own reason in these words: “For the workman is worthy of his meat;” “For the laborer is worthy of his hire.” Matt. 10: 10; Luke 10: 7. He wished to have His disciples, at the very beginning of their ministerial work, fully learn the lesson of trust, and look for support to those for whom they labored. Then could they say, from experience, to those offering themselves to preach the gospel, Trust in God and in those who receive your testimony, for your maintenance; and your wants will be supplied. And you will be able to say of a truth, We lacked nothing when we began preaching without money and with a small supply of clothing. Covetousness and the idea of big pay and making money were not the motives that started us out as ministers of the gospel: it was an undying love for perishing men, and the strong desire of seeing souls saved, that led us to venture all at the very beginning of our ministerial work. And we have been amply repaid by copious showers of blessings from Him who commissioned us to preach His gospel, and promised to be with us by His Spirit. We have been more than repaid by the realization of our ardent desire, in seeing souls saved by the gospel,—souls willing to deny themselves and suffer for the sake of Jesus and His saving truth, willing to feed, clothe, and to give of their means to, and even lay down their lives for, those who have brought to them the good news of free and full salvation. And why may not this glorious result, and these inestimable blessings, and the power from on high, be the portion of ministers who now enter upon the work of preaching the gospel?—It may be if they enter upon and continue their work with the same faith and devotion and spirit of self-denial and sacrifice that the primitive preachers of the gospel possessed, and, by their teachings and example, infuse the same in those who receive from them the glad tidings of salvation. Such ministers and their converts, possessing the missionary spirit of their divine Master, cherishing and cultivating supreme love for God and equal love for their fellow beings, and enjoying a continual feast in a sense of God’s love and care, in communion with God, in the contemplation of the treasures they are laying up on high, and in a foretaste of the joys and powers of the world to come, will cheerfully respond to any call from God for financial help to carry forward the work of the gospel. Knowing that God numbers the hairs of their heads, cares for the sparrow, and clothes the lily, that they are the Lord’s by creation and by redemption, that the earth and all the property in it are the Lord’s, and that it is the Lord who has given them power to get wealth (Ex. 9: 29; Ps. 50: 9–12; Haggai 2: 8; 1 Cor. 10: 26; Deut. 8: 17, 18), they deem it a great pleasure and privilege to return to the Author of every good and perfect gift (James 1: 17) whatever He may ask of them to advance the cause of salvation on the earth.