Entitlement & Ministry

[acerrak]

Originally Posted by Charnock

So you are called to preach?

To evangelize nations? To pastor? To plant churches?

That's wonderful, but please remember that a calling does not entitle you to a blessed thing. This concept of "deserving" material things because you're a minister is muey loco. To deserve means to "have a claim for."

I hear people throw the word "deserve" around a lot nowadays. "She didn't deserve that," or "He deserved better than that."

How many times in life do we really get what we have a claim for?

I think we claim things that God never meant for us to have sometimes. And when we don't get them we feel cheated.

Godliness with contentment is great gain.

i remember once at a preachers conference, brother hayne preached Entitlment or passion.

He sated whats your drive that is fueling your desire to serve God.

He pointed out that people over a long period of time develop a entitlment.

He used the like figure of a family comming to church for many year, always setting in the same seat. but one day they come in and some one is sitting in it.

entitlement says he buddy, im a regular church tither, im a youth minister, and i give half a day on saturday to do lawn work around the church, and by the way i want to let you know your in my seat.

were people with passion who have love for God doesnt know its your seat, their really not concerned about the seating arrangments, they are they for God.

So again we always need to look at motives.

[RandyWayne]

While I believe things are better then they were in the 80's when we left the UPC, there still seems to be pockets of Pentecost in the country where ministers are treated like the royalty they believe they deserve. I keep going back to the church services I have seen on podcasts from East Texas, LA, and OK where all the ministers sit on the platform in their thousand dollar suits nodding in approval at every "strong holiness point!" that the preacher speaking makes.

Our own pastor during the 80's continually stuck to the "double portion" theory and took a salary exactly twice what the average annual American salary was at the time despite the fact that the church could not afford it.

[Aquila]

We need to get our focus off of earthly systems and positions.

I have a friend named Scott that was a pastor of a Baptist church in TN. All the politics, money, and power grabs troubled him greatly. After several years he got fed up and freed himself of man's system. He resigned and he moved to OH and started a house church that became a network. He hasn't been in a traditional church in years. But he's touched hundreds of families deeply. No position, no salary, works for a living and starts house churches. Great man who found freedom in Christ.

Let man have the system, God's Kingdom is greater.

[MomOfADramaQn]

Originally Posted by Charnock

So you are called to preach?

To evangelize nations? To pastor? To plant churches?

That's wonderful, but please remember that a calling does not entitle you to a blessed thing. This concept of "deserving" material things because you're a minister is muey loco. To deserve means to "have a claim for."

I hear people throw the word "deserve" around a lot nowadays. "She didn't deserve that," or "He deserved better than that."

How many times in life do we really get what we have a claim for?

I think we claim things that God never meant for us to have sometimes. And when we don't get them we feel cheated.

Godliness with contentment is great gain.

So are you saying if someone feels they are called that automatically get an entitlement attitude?