I’ve seen something on news where a pastor in Mwingi is now hawking eggs and hot dogs since his church was closed thanks to Corona, he said, ladies were giving him most of the tithe and offering but with current quarantine they may need to borrow from their husbands who may suspect them of having affairs with the pastor as the reason behind them financing the pastor. The pastor has 6 kids to feed. He is now hawking at the bus stage.
I know this issue of sadaka has become an area of derision but who is really supposed to finance full time pastor’s. Should there be full time pastor’s or should pastor’s make their own way like Apostle Paul who was a tent maker.
Kenyans are very faithful givers but I am wondering what the Biblical position is… I am a treasurer for several fellowship and whenever we get speakers or pastor’s from outside we give them a love offering. What is your take on this issue of pastor’s upkeep my fellow believers.
To me I see nothing wrong with it but I also don’t appreciate the manipulation involved to fund raise in churches. I am OK with supporting a pastor because when you are going through tough times you also expect pastor’s to counsel and console you. Travel long distances to attend or officiate your funeral so personally I support pastor’s because they do alot for us. If a pastor is getting married we must support him or her to have a good wedding, same way the pastor supports us in many areas of our lives. Some even give money, like when my grandmother who was my last surviving grandparent passed on, my pastor wanted to give me money. Actually I just go to that church for lunch hour it’s not the church I go to on Sunday. So this pastor I just mentioned in passing like pray for my family, I had to decline the money coz I was like how can I take money from a pastor. During this time the pastor from my mom’s church attended all evening meetings and even traveled to shags with us and all the pastors came to visit with my mom it was her mom. After the burial. Before my gammy passed the entire women’s group visited her plus the pastor and they do this for all members.
So guys church does ALOT for us. Alot, alot, alot but now it’s becoming a laughing stock because of rogue elements fleecing the flock but kusema kweli mtu anaitwa does a lot for the congregation to the point that I see nothing wrong with even contributing to buy cars and houses for them.
they do all that but is it willingly or because they expect something back?
if I know the congregation will buy me houses, cars, finance my wedding, then I will attend all the burials or meetings I can and visit people to advise and console them at any time. and will do all this not because I believe in the word of God but as a means to an end.
maybe the best is to create a position of pastor and have things donated to the position such that if the pastor leaves, they can be transferred to the next. so congregants can contribute willingly and also have money set aside from tithes and offerings.
We are obligated to show mercy to all. Full-time pastors need a lot of support. Most of the Apostles refused to even take part in the distribution of food so that they may devote themselves to prayer and fasting. Even Paul received a lot of support from the brethren… he is the one who taught the Church that giving is akin to showing a seed.
The devil attacks the doctrine of giving because he knows giving is a powerful spiritual secret—the hand that gives vs the hand that receives.
For the rogue elements, the tare and the wheat shall grow together until the end. If you deny water to the field in an attempt to choke the tares, you choke the wheat as well. For the Pastor in Mwingi, it’s good to hear he’s got a hustle going on. If the congregants could afford it, sparing him the labor would be nice. But then again, everything must be balanced. Unless the man of God is going hungry or being locked out of his house, take care of your immediate family first. Don’t keep your children hungry because you bought the Pastor some shoes. This happens, and it’s not right.
If everyone chips in, men of God will have a very easy time. One of the most influential pastoral figures in my life is a man of God from Eldoret. This man of God literally spent all his salary on congregants. He earns good money, but at the time most of us had very little. He would pay rent for a couple of guys, feed a few families and always chipped in when one of us had an emergency. We soon realized that he used to sota kiasi ya kutembea kuenda job because he gave is last coin to us.
The good thing with people who are spiritually nourished, they are generous givers. When we realized his financial shortcomings, we decided to buy his food every month. The first few months, we would bring the food to Church, and he would distribute it to us—the most generous giver I’ve met to date. We had to approach him and tell him to let the wife receive the food at home.
I thank God I had such influences early in my walk of salvation.
SO I believe believers should take care of their pastors, and basically anyone you can afford to help.
OK. If a Pastor is committed in church related activities all week, when will he attend to his own financial success? Basically we are compensating him or for the dedication because we’re it not for that dedication he or she would still work hard and get all those things. Basically the pastor is Levite so if it’s a full time pastor ww are supporting him as a Levite.
I disagree with you that pastor’s do this things to get the perks because if you work a job you do 8 maybe 10 hours but a Pastor is on duty most all the time. Their schedules are very hectic in fact if you told me you will do all these things for me to become a Pastor I would decline bcz it’s really all consuming. I don’t feel like it’s even compensable. I know the bad reputation of extortionists has ruined the good reputation of sincere pastors but why is it that people feel it’s a problem when a pastor drives a nice car, lives in a nice neighborhood but not people who are ruining lives like sports pesa, brothel’s, pubs, breweries and the like.
I saw a mabati church with big cars parked outside and all I could think was how can the house of the Lord be falling apart and you feel no shame filling up parking with big cars. Like the house of the Lord should be the best, have the best more than even your own house.
Do you see moslem and Hindus building for their gods the cheapest possible building? Alafu utashindwa why you worship the Living God but unashinda na mhindi kwa biz. A house of God should be like FEM costing billions hata mtu akiingia anajua this is a house for the worship of the most high not mabati. I think believers take God for granted sana. Even kutengeza church poa ni shida leave alone supporting the pastor.
There’s a prayer center I go to its built to international standards uneza fikiria ni 5 star hotel and guess who builds it, just believers who come there, you can find one person bringing containers for finishing. For upholstery, for beds, as in the vision bearer does not go to his pockets and its not built by mchango and extortion games. Ni watu tuu hujitolea, at a large scale. You will be surprised that one building may be contributed to by less than 5 people. Inajengwa faster in aisha.
So my point is that let’s not allow Satan to use charlatans and conmen in churches like wakina kanyari and others to make us be mean to the things of God but very generous to worldly things.
Of course the problem is the extortionist pastors who will tell you to go hungry to buy them a car. First off I don’t think a pastor should dictate to you how and when to give. It is between you and God.
Like Jesus said, your right hand should not know what your left hand is giving but with these envelopes where you write your name and your prayers request it seems like selling prayers or using recognition to compel people to give which is wrong. Your pastor need not know how much who tithes when and where, give the money anonymously as bishop Yegon told Ruto to do.
Personally I have a giving heart from when I was a child though am not as generous as your pastor, I think I learned it from my mom she’s a very kindhearted and caring person, she helps every one. So thing is there’s joy in being a giver than in being a receiver, when you help someone because you can and it changes their life , it’s very fulfilling. And it’s true if you are a genuinely kind person you will never lack and not just materially but alot that money can’t buy. I mean you will not even miss a parking spot. My friends laugh about that alot bcz we go to places with long queues of cars and we get parking immediately. I just ask God to give us parking even that I learnt it from my mom. But even as a human being to give resources to, one would hoard everything and the other will help many people who would you allocate resources to? Obviously the one who will help others. So I think that this is why people who give are more blessed bcz they’re good stewards so God entrust them with more.
The problem is that giving in Christian circles has become a kind of batter trade. I give God or give alms to the poor bcz I expect some return from God exponentially, which to me is a wrong motive. Say that you help someone who is really destitute and they get off the streets and their life turns around completely isn’t that enough of a reward ? The fact that God used you to turn around someone’s life for the better is a great privilege, in an age where majority are used by Satan to destroy the lives of others. Personally I’ve found it to be very fulfilling. To help especially the destitute or to contribute towards the house of God or to God’s servants. Even when it’s not monetary, just washing church is a very fulfilling activity. Or doing something for God is in and of itself fulfilling and rewarding. I don’t like that it’s been cheapened into a batter trade type thing, where you should give a, b, c, d for God then you will get X, Y, Z from Him. That’s really wrong because majority of what God gifts us is things money can’t even buy but we’ve cheapened it to give 10k and God will give you a meter. Like surely it’s an abuse and misuse of the house of God and the name of God.
[COLOR=rgb(44, 130, 201)]Thank you for the opportunity. Good question here. Nevertheless, i disagree with you on some issues. If you look at the tribe of Levi among the 12 israelites tribes, they were not given an inheritance but were to eat (get their livelihood) amongst their brethren. Likewise, i believe wacha pastr afanye kazi ya ziada. In Matthew talks of freely you have received freely give, when you go for a journey (evengelism) do take an extra coat for the journey. The LORD will provide all your needs according to His riches in glory.
[B][COLOR=rgb(44, 130, 201)]Most cases what i see if a priest or pastor comes to officiate a ceremony, harudi nyumbani empty handed anapewa stipend or some facilitation. We understand ako na needs that have to be met. Extra source of income you have to tafuta. if you depend solely on tithe and offerings and a case scenario now when ata watu wamehangaika and hakuna kwenda church you become vulnerable just like your flock. Look at catholic priests, hawapati mishara but get thier livelihood from what we offer as christians and they have something to offer.
[/B]
[COLOR=rgb(44, 130, 201)]Watu wasome Bibilia and do what the Almighty wants. Do what God wants and you will always walk upright. You wont be misled !
extortionist ni wengi am am sure that now wanahangaika. Kila mtu now ni vulnerable hatuna kakitu. utaextort nani…theres a difference in a Calling from God to feed His flock and a persona call to try feed the flock. Hii ya pili ni ngumu.
Kenyans are nowadays alert than ever. Once your exposed your done. its hard to recover.
Actually it was a team of pastors, not one, 2 ladies and 4 gentlemen. We are all Christians so there’s nobody to recruit. Even my pops who would only push us to attend church but hardly attend nowadays attends church religiously. We are already members so unless they were going to recruit neighbors. They came to condole with us and even brought money. I know that the church gets alot of bad press but the clergy do alot for believers. They do alot.
my problem is that we will build churches worth billions but leave our fellow human beings suffering.
Muslims and Hindus do a lot of charity works and am sure most of the money comes from donations and not harambees.
for most Christians, most of the churches, church projects, cars for pastors are usually from harambees where the congregants are forced to contribute.
it might not be fare to compare Christian churches and mosques or temples. we are not sure where they get their funds from and Jesus was not touched by those who offered a lot but by the woman who offered little. so we might have the best and most expensive church but are our hearts pure, filled with love, have we accepted the Lord as our saviour?
Unfortunately church has become like corporate world, very corrupt and full of power struggles. Asians and moslem have less drama and more sincerity in their activities. Christians even con each other in church, steal church money, name it, every imaginable evil nowadays can be found in the church. It’s a very bad picture no wonder we have bcm brunt of sadaka jokes.
maybe it’s because of the freedom that Christianity accords to its followers.
maybe Christmas should unite to one denomination and have stricter measures in terms of money and control of the church.