BT28: At least one Protestant denomination refuses to have a paid clergy on the basis of I Timothy 3:3. Do you agree with the scriptural basis of their practice? Why or why not?

Not paying a pastor based on I Timothy 3:3 is bad exegesis because the verse does not say that a clergyman should not earn a salary. A pastor's primary motivation for being in the ministry should not be to make money. However, being paid a fair wage is biblical, even for someone that has committed his life to Christ. The Greek word for covetous in I Timothy 3:3 (KJV) is "aphilarguros," and it means not loving money and not being avaricious. A person can receive a fair wage and easily not love money or be greedy.

If a pastor of a small church must have a part-time secular job to earn additional money, then he should receive only a modest salary from the church. In some cases, he may choose to not receive any money, but that would be his choice. In writing this passage to Timothy, the Apostle Paul was telling the young man that the minister should be devoted to his ministry. In I Timothy 6:9-11, he would write, "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness."

Paul probably wrote I Timothy 3:3 about pastors because of I Timothy 6:10. Many people had wandered from the faith because of their love for money, and that was an unfortunate thing. However, pastors should never be so intensely drawn to money that they would be enticed by such temptations. They have a right to make a living, but they should not get rich or even want to get rich at the church's expense. One of the roles of a pastor is that of shepherd, and a good shepherd never robs from his flock.

Tom of Bethany