I go to a large church. There’s probably somewhere around 4K people that come over 5 services. I found out a month or so ago that 2 pastors in my church make 6 figure incomes. I used to tithe at my church with a joy in helping out. After hearing about the income levels I haven’t tithed in a few weeks. The joy I had isn’t there anymore knowing that my money is just going to our pastor. I’m all for pastors getting paid but not at such a high level. Could I get everyone’s perspective on this topic? Am I “right” in not feeling comfortable with that income level, or is it something that is ok because they are doing God’s work? Also on a side note, I do really like my church and they are doing Gods work. Please don’t talk negatively about it. Thanks
Hi Yuppers, our senior pastor's salary is brought up each year at one of our business meetings. We are a church of about 250 members, and his salary/benefits package combined amounts to about $90K (if memory serves). For a pastor with his education (MDIV) and experience, and a congregation of our size, that salary amount puts him on the high side of average for senior pastors in our area of the country (the Midwest).
That said, the Lord clearly intends on us choosing to give .. e.g.
Proverbs 3:9-10; Matthew 10:9-10; 2 Corinthians 9:6-7; Galatians 6:6-10; 1 Timothy 5:17-18, and pastors/teachers, as you can see from several of these passages, are an important part of that giving (they are often the very focus of such passages, in fact, so take a close look and consider what the Bible has to say about this if you have not already done so).
Our churches benefit from our giving, of course, as do parachurch ministries and all kinds of missions organizations that all see to the physical, mental, emotional and/or spiritual needs/well-being of many. But there is one other group that I believe has the potential to benefit far more than any other from our giving, and that group is the "givers" themselves
Jack Hayford wrote an interesting book with a provocative title once called,
The Key to Everything. In short, the "key" that he is referring to in his book is "giving", and that most definitely includes the careful and Biblical giving of our financial resources.
Your tithe is a direct financial blessing to many people (including yourself, in the case of your own church anyway
), so I'm not sure how withdrawing your tithe because you believe your pastor is overpaid is beneficial to anyone .. including yourself. Instead, why not ask someone about it (perhaps one of your elders or your deacon of finance .. you can do so confidentially)? Or bring it up in a business meeting by asking what parameters were used in deciding how much to pay him. Simply withdrawing your tithe w/o saying anything will change nothing for the better (if such a change is needed), because no one will know why you are doing it, yes?
Yours and His,
David
