{"id":1879,"date":"2018-04-23T09:27:46","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T15:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ndturner.com\/gracePlus\/?p=1879"},"modified":"2018-04-23T09:27:46","modified_gmt":"2018-04-23T15:27:46","slug":"financial-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ndturner.com\/gracePlus\/?p=1879","title":{"rendered":"Financial Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paul shares his departing thoughts with the elders in Acts 20:20,\u00a0 “how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable. . .I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. . .I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; . . .I coveted no one\u2019s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities and to those who were with me.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Paul did not work for his own profit, but for the profit of the believers.\u00a0 Real profit, not monetary but spiritual.\u00a0 He says something similar in Galatians 1:10 \u201c\u00a0 For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.\u201d\u00a0 He goes on to point out that his teaching is not motivated by other social pressures such as avoiding persecution.<\/p>\n

\"Rembrandt_-_Apostle_Paul_-_WGA19120\"<\/a>In I Timothy 6:5 he warns against false teachers who teach\u201cimagining that godliness is a means of gain\u201d.\u00a0 There is good money in being a false teacher, or even in being a mediocre or semi-false teacher.\u00a0 Exegesis without application, sells.\u00a0 Application and exegesis of all but the pertinent passage, sells.\u00a0 And pure lies also sell.<\/p>\n

That seems to be a concept we don\u2019t have much concern for these days.\u00a0 Paul also says that pastors and anyone who works or serves should be compensated.\u00a0 But on the other side is the consideration that pastors today are motivated by money or career advancement.\u00a0 If a pastor wants his church to grow he has to cater his message accordingly.\u00a0 His livelihood is connected to his message.\u00a0 Paul was free of these restrictions.\u00a0 Paul was not afraid to say any truth that needed to be said.\u00a0 Pastors today fear being fired.\u00a0 And then what is to become of all that training?\u00a0 Who will pay those school debts?<\/p>\n

Not rocking the boat isn\u2019t necessarily a good thing.\u00a0 We all get comfortable in our sin.\u00a0 The whole point of a pastor is to speak truth that we are uncomfortable with.\u00a0 If we were comfortable we would just do it ourselves, pastors would not be necessary.\u00a0 But who keeps pastors, too comfortable in their position, accountable? \u00a0 Firing a pastor for not being judgmental enough sounds like the ultimate in judgmental evil bad, nasty. . . implausible.\u00a0 I\u2019m offending myself.<\/p>\n

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Paul shares his departing thoughts with the elders in Acts 20:20,\u00a0 “how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable. . .I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. . .I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t