I just read a post on the facebook posted by Dayo Israel and I will be doing myself, people out there who are just Christian and are ignorant of the scripture a lot of harms if I don’t give a light to this and above all, use this post to prevent the unbelievers from misunderstanding what the Master truly sent us to do as ministers.
For the purpose of clarity, I have divided this post into 4 major parts so let us start from the first one:
THE CHURCH
The church is a term usually misunderstood these days, the word church as we know is not the meeting place and is also beyond the congregation. It means the called out ones and that was what apostle Paul talked about when he said “we have been called out of darkness into his marvellous light” however we cannot deny that among the called out ones, we still have different levels of maturity that is why God the owner of the church called some people out for a special purpose and they are called:
THE MINISTERS
This is the name we know them to be these days, but truly they are and is scriptural too. But out of them we have Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, pastors and the Teachers. God recruited and called them for a purpose;
11 He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, 13 until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ. Eph 4:11-13.
The scriptures above explain vividly what the roles of the ministers are. One responsibility stands out here; to equip God’s people, and this can be done through preaching, teaching, praying, counselling, encouraging and rebuking.
The Honorariums
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica library
on•o•rar•i•um \"ä-nə-'rer-ē-əm\ n, pl -ia \-ē-ə\ also -i•ums [L, fr. neut. of honorarius] (1658) : a payment for a service (as making a speech) on which custom or propriety forbids a price to be set
I have to paste this meaning so that we can be cleared by the time am drawing the conclusions of this piece. Hmmm if honorarium is a payment in which the custom forbids a price to be set, I keep wondering why we charge fees and reject the little given to us because it’s not up to what we think we are worth. Worst of them, ministers select the invitations to honour because of the perceived fee they are likely to get. Let me stop here and talk about the last one which is;
THE MONEY
It will surprise you to know that the only thing Jesus place on the same plat foam with God is money. Are you surprise! How will you explain the statement of Jesus that says “you cannot serve God and Mammon” both cannot be served together. Money is a very important tool to do the work of the ministry it is also very dangerous to the ministry and the ministers because many have destroyed their destiny and also have it shipwrecked so says Apostle Paul. There is a need for us to be careful how we deal with money as ministers of the gospel.
Submissively, as someone who has been in preaching for the past 14years I think I have a say on this matter and this is what am going to do now. Am I in support of what Dayo Israel said? Maybe or maybe not. But there was never at any time in the bible that Jesus said to his disciples to charge money for their preaching engagement, in fact he said is a place that they should take neither purse nor money along just to proof that he is the SUPPLIER of their needs, then in another place He asked them to take that along and that IF they were given anything they should take it but never asked for it.
I used to wonder why ministers expect so much from a small congregation and they feel bad when what they are given is not up to what they are expecting. The Question comes to mind “these ministers are they into the ministry because of money?” look the truth is, relying on honorarium is a proof that you have not seen God as the one who is capable of supplying your need. If your accommodation, feeding and your transportation is provided for what else do you need? I charge people if am consulting for them based on my business but I will never charge you or expect money from you when coming to preach in your church because is a spiritual matter.
The word you are preaching whose word? It is not your word so you don’t have the right to charge for it, how much did Jesus charged you before you start to preach the gospel? Or can you start to use someone materials in the corporate world without paying for the copyright? Or will you not take permission before you use the materials? If Jesus did not charge you anything why will you charge the saints? Will the shepherd demand money from the sheep before feeding them?
For if Paul did not charge people before preaching the gospel but decided to work with his hands to pay his bills and travel around why will today’s ministers start charging? We should not take the scriptures out of context, apostle Paul was not saying people should minister to them with money because he has minister to them spiritual things. He is simply saying it is not bad if they received it. Look at these scriptures in the NLT version
16 For preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn't do it! 17 If I were doing this of my own free will, then I would deserve payment. But God has chosen me and given me this sacred trust, and I have no choice. 18 What then is my pay? It is the satisfaction I get from preaching the Good News without expense to anyone, never demanding my rights as a preacher. 19 This means I am not bound to obey people just because they pay me, yet I have become a servant of everyone so that I can bring them to Christ. 1Cor 9.
Think of it, if Dayo is saying the honorarium should be divided with the number of the congregation to give us the amount the gospel worth. Hmmm, even if you were given a million dollar is that how much the life and the blood of Jesus worth? You cannot put a price tag on the gospel my brother! The cost of preparing is no excuse, even let them put you in the first class it is God that will give you safe trip to where you are going, then how much will you pay him for that.
That is why you see most of the ministers charging fees and they preach without power and signs. They find it difficult to say the truth so that their host will not change his mind concerning the fee. I think fees should follow the principle of honorarium which is a fee paid you without a price. If you were given take it if you were not given don’t get mad and don’t make that your target of preaching the gospel. We have preachers who bless the church they were invited to. Please let us see the Almighty God as the source of our needs; if he has called you he will supply your needs. A lot of preachers have collected their reward on earth as honorarium when they get to the heaven there will be nothing left to collect again. Let us get the gospel right if the Lord called you he will pay your bills.
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