Hello Carl, while that's true in a limited way, it's not the entire story (see examples below of the "giving" that he also received for support when he was ministering in/to the churches in both of those cities, cities which, if memory serves, were the only two that he chose to be partially self-supporting in).
The Apostle Paul's Epistles have many additional things to say concerning giving/support, and it seems to me that all of it needs to be considered before reaching a conclusion about it. For instance,
1 Corinthians 9
7 Who at any time serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat the fruit of it? Or who tends a flock and does not use the milk of the flock?
8 I am not speaking these things according to human judgment, am I? Or does not the Law also say these things?
9 For it is written in the Law of Moses, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING.” God is not concerned about oxen, is He?
10 Or is He speaking altogether for our sake? Yes, for our sake it was written, because the plowman ought to plow in hope, and the thresher to thresh in hope ~of sharing the crops~.
11 If we sowed spiritual things in you, is it too much if we reap material things from you?
12 If others share the right over you, do we not more? Nevertheless, we did not use this right, but we endure all things so that we will cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ.
13 Do you not know that those who perform sacred services eat the food of the temple, and those who attend regularly to the altar have their share from the altar?
14 So also ~the Lord directed those who proclaim the gospel to get their living from the gospel~.
In v12 above Paul tells us why he and Barnabus did not exercise the right that they had to receive material support from the congregation in Corinth, and he tells us later why they were able to do that (receive no financial support from the Corinthians, that is), at least in part.
2 Corinthains 11
8 I robbed other churches by taking wages from them to serve you;
9 and when I was present with you and was in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for when the brethren came from Macedonia they fully supplied my need, and in everything I kept myself from being a burden to you, and will continue to do so.
I won't post everything, of course, but here is more of what he had to say to us concerning giving/support to churches and elders/pastors.
1 Timothy 5
17 The elders who rule well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.
18 For the Scripture says, “YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX WHILE HE IS THRESHING,” and “The laborer is worthy of his wages.”
Galatians 6
6 The one who is taught the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him.
Paul's tentmaking trade, which he talked about in Acts 18 & 20, was indeed a means of support for himself and his companions while they were in Corinth & Thessalonica (he did this for a couple of reasons, to not be a burden to the fledgling congregations, and also, at least in one case, to avoid accusations of preaching for financial gain, alone), but this was hardly his only means of support (as the Scriptures above & below testify).
Philippians 4
15 You yourselves also know, Philippians, that at the first preaching of the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving but you alone;
16 for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs.
Now, it seems to me that an immediate and important takeaway about this from Paul is that it is ~anything but sinful~ for a pastor to expect to be supported financially by the congregation that he is shepherding & ministering to, because Paul tells us that this is, in point of fact, the will of God for pastors in most situations (e.g.
1 Corinthians 9:14).
That said, there are a number of reasons that Paul chose (and that others should choose today, as well) to be a "tentmaking" pastor (for a time) instead, the principal reason for this being that a young church may be too small when they first open their doors to afford a fulltime pastor's salary.
The good news is (also) that Paul tells us that neither kind of ministry support (either for and/or by a pastor) is sinful, in and of itself, and that choosing to attend the kind of church that best suits you should not be considered to be sinful (in & of itself) either.
What I do believe is sinful is the expectations of some who seem to want the best of both worlds. IOW, they expect a pastor who has spent the enormous amount of $$ that it takes today to receive a MDiv or DDiv in seminary, who works 40+ hours a week at preaching, teaching (for which preparation is the big time-consumer), praying, counseling, visitations (to homes & prisons, etc.), and who leads the church in any number of other ministries & pursuits, including administrative, to somehow do all that, without an income (perhaps they expect their pastors to live w/o sleeping)
I also believe that those who insist that pastors should never be supported financially (no matter what) is also sinful, considering all that the Bible has to say about giving and support and the many reasons for it.
God bless you!!
--David
p.s. - in
1 Corinthians 9:12 the Apostle Paul tells us that he did not use the "right" that he had (to expect to be materially supported by the congregation in Corinth) so that he and his companions would "
cause no hindrance to the gospel of Christ". Do you think & should we not all consider that the very opposite can also be true, as well, that ~
not~ expecting material support as a pastor (from a different church and a different congregation in a different situation than 1st Century Corinth was in) could be the very thing that CAUSES a
hindrance to the Gospel, instead?
I suppose that the way to begin to answer that question needs to be by considering what and also who our "giving" is really for, yes? For instance, is it for the receiver alone, or can it/should it not also be seen as a blessing to the giver, too (perhaps even as the principal blessing)? Perhaps considering again ALL of the reasons that God has commanded us to give (both in the OT/NT) would make for a very worthwhile study and discussion?
