I heard about a couple of disgusting conversations involving God-called pastors yesterday. One of these conversations is more disgusting because it involved a guy who claims to be a Christian and is also a member at the church where the pastor he talked to serves.
But both conversations involved the same theme - money and a lack of trust in God.
God called this first friend of mine to Christian ministry years ago. My friend spent years preparing himself in school and by serving in local churches. A church member recognized his God-given abilities to teach, relate, show kindness, etc., and thought he would work great at HIS chosen career. I'll leave out the details to keep these stories anonymous So the church member approached my friend and basically offered him a job. My friend said, "I have a job." The guy said, "Yea, but you're not going to do this for the rest of your life." My friend replied, "Yes I am. This is what God called me to do. And I enjoy it." The guy said, "You're never going to be able to support your family doing this," and continued to tell him why he should make a career change.
God also called my second friend to ministry years ago. This friend is still in the process of preparing himself in school. He has also served in various ways in local churches throughout his adult life. Just like with my first friend, it's obvious to anyone who is looking that God has definitely called him and gifted him with a passion to preach the Gospel and wisdom as he goes about it. He was approached by someone he knew from a secular job, and the same conversation as the first one I mention took place.
I can't say that I'm shocked by the guy responsible for the second conversation because I don't know anything about him. But I am shocked and saddened by the first guy. He claims to be a Christian but he doesn't understand what it means to put his trust in God. He doesn't know what it means to sacrifice earthly things for God's Kingdom. And to make it worse, he tried to convince one of his own pastors to walk away from his calling based on HIS OWN sinful lust for money and doubt about God's ability to take care of him.
In the world's eyes, neither of my two friends make a lot of money. As pastors, they'll probably never be able to afford homes three-times the size they need, luxury cars, expensive vacations, or to always have the latest whatever. Both of them have families to take care of, and I'm sure they've wondered how they're going to give their children some of the things they hope to give them. They can be sure of God's ability to take care of them and their families, NO MATTER WHAT, by looking at others who have trusted God to do the same.
Here's what I know from personal experience: If you follow God where He leads, with pure motives, and you're not scared to put in time and give great effort (in other words, IF YOU'RE NOT LAZY), God will always take care of you. That doesn't mean God will give you everything you want. It does mean He will take care of you.
I've never made much money. Since I've been married, my wife has made more than me every year, and that includes the past year when she went to a reduced schedule. But God has always taken care of me - in multiple ways. At my first full-time church staff position, my salary wasn't enough to pay my bills. I knew when I took the job that if I had to buy a car, I'd be eating lots of cereal for supper. But I had a pastor who's still in my life who promised me that I wouldn't be in need. He was right, and he and his wife personally helped me when I had emergencies. Just a few months after I started there, the AC compressor on the 4-year old car I'd recently bought went out. The AC compressor was unique - to the tune of $900 plus installation. I didn't have that money. Guess who paid it, and he's never asked for it back. I didn't take advantage of their generosity, but they've always let me know that if I have a need, they'll help me.
Those church members gave me large cash gifts (anonymously or in cards and presents) at least THREE TIMES PER YEAR - Christmas, on the anniversary of the day I started serving there, and on my birthday. That amounted to an extra $1,000-$2,000 per year that I didn't even expect. My church also let me do something I both LOVED and benefited from: I got to substitute teach in the local middle school and high school, AS OFTEN AS I WANTED TO. A church member worked in the middle school office and she made sure I got called often. Due to the nature of substitute teaching, I could take my own work with me and do it throughout the day. I averaged 1 day per week for the 4+years I served that church, and sometimes I subbed several days per week. Every month when my check came from the school district office, I'd say a prayer of thanks to God for giving me extra income from doing something I actually enjoyed. I was able to build so many relationships with kids I never would've met otherwise, and some of them started coming to our church just because of me subbing.
My favorite story about trusting God to take care of ME is with my education. I've earned three degrees, and by the time I finished the last one, I didn't owe a cent on any of them. I was 37 years old with a doctorate and zero student loans. I was able to pay for my education as I went. Just so happened that the first church I served volunteered to pay for my masters classes. I took two classes per semester and had to be in class ALL DAY EVERY MONDAY. That meant, I'd never be at work on Mondays. My church was happy to give me the time "off." (Keep in mind, I was also subbing an average of 1 day per week.)
When I moved away from that church and took out a loan to finish my last masters year, I had every cent of the loan amount before any interest ever accrued. I saved every dollar I could and JUST HAD ENOUGH. Somehow during that time, I don't remember a single car repair or any other surprise expense.
I spent 6 years earning a doctorate and I paid for it as I went. Every cent. College - it took me 9 years after college to pay off my low-interest student loan. It really wasn't that big a deal or payment because God provided me with lots of scholarships, even though I didn't have a super-high GPA in high school or college.
See, God takes care of us when we trust Him. That doesn't mean we can spend our money foolishly, but it also doesn't mean we'll never HAVE anything. I play golf every week and golf and the gas I spend getting there aren't cheap. Somehow, I keep on getting to play. I have to thank that same pastor who paid for that expensive AC repair back in 1999. Turns out, he likes to play golf more than I do. I drove the same care for 10 years and now I have a truck I bought new 2+ years ago that's going to be paid off with this year's tax return. After driving the same car for 10 years, my wife got a new car last summer. I'm still waiting for how God is going to pay that thing off for us! (If you'd like to help with that, email me.)
A final story - my wife and I spent over $20,000 in about a year's time for the adoption of our first child in 2011. I still don't know how we paid that much in a single year. Our church did a fundraiser and raised over $2,000 for us. Others gave us small amounts that added up to another $2,000+. We received about $1,000 in adoption grants because I'm a pastor. But we did have to put about $8,000 on a credit card. We paid that debt off in about 8 months before we ever paid a cent of interest - by using last year's tax refund. The day I paid it off I told Kate, "Good news! They can't come repossess you!!" For the past year, we've been saving every dollar we can for our next adoption.
Most Christians will never be on church staffs, but all of us have to trust God to take care of us no matter what we do. I'm thankful that my two friends weren't swayed by the job offers. I'm also thankful that I wasn't there when the offers were made. I probably wouldn't have reacted as calmly as they did.
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