I’ve been involved in some form of Christian, non-profit missions work since 1996, when I went on my first short-term trip. Since 2004, the title “missionary” has been my vocation, my livelihood. I have heard a lot of different opinions about how missionaries are meant to earn a living. Some is very helpful and Biblically sound, some merely a reflection of secular, cultural views.
It’s taken years to sift through all of the different viewpoints out there, and years to find the confidence to say, “Yes, this is the way that I will walk. And I am a workman worthy of my keep!” Because in reality, the Bible is full of multiple ways in which full-time ministers received the necessary funds to sustain themselves.
It’s true, Paul was a tent-maker. But not everyone was.
And it’s true, many well-known missionaries/ministers never asked anyone for a dime. But many did.
The key ingredient that we often forget when we discuss support-raising is that this support is raised by people, real people. And God calls different people to raise support in different ways.
Some are meant to be tent-makers. Some are meant to never tell a soul that they are in need and just trust God to supply. And others are meant to make their needs known and call people to join in the work. I’ve usually fallen into the last group. There’s been many times I’ve wished that God would just provide my every need without me having to make a peep, but that is not usually the way that He has led me.
In fact, I believe that some people in full-time ministry are constantly in lack because they are not willing to walk in the way that God is leading them to see His provision. (This is of course, not the only reason for lack.) It is very hard to ask people for money. But it is Biblical. It is also very hard to not ask people for money when you are in need and to simply trust that God will bring it in. That also is Biblical. It’s a matter of being willing to choose the way that God has called you to at that particular moment in your ministry, and rooting your obedience in a heart of trust.
And either way, God is ultimately the One supporting us. He can do it super-naturally or He can do it naturally. In reality, it’s all natural to Him. And God is the One who gives people the ability to earn money or make wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18) anyways, so it’s all His. By giving to missions, people have a chance to sow into the work that God is doing around the world and be part of something that would otherwise be out of their reach simply because not all are able or called to be missionaries.
Biblical Examples
Let’s look at one of the first examples that we find in the Bible of full-time ministers receiving support from others. The Bible is very detailed about it. They are the Levites.
God called this tribe in Israel to full-time priestly service. That was to be their full-time vocation. When the other tribes received property in the Promised Land, they did not receive an inheritance of their own because God told them that He was to be their inheritance (Deuteronomy 18:2).
He commanded the rest of the Israelites to give a portion of their earnings to the Levites, so that they could be supported, freeing them up to devote themselves wholly to God’s service. In return, the Israelites would be blessed as well by having God’s House well looked and His blessing remain upon their nation.
But the Israelites failed to do what they were meant to do. We see an example in Nehemiah 13. Their wall and temple were just re-built. Nehemiah left to go back to the king’s service in Babylon, but he catches wind that life is not as it should be in Israel again. So he returns and finds that the Levites went back to their fields to earn a living because the rest of the tribes were not giving them a percentage of their income, thus the temple work had stopped.
Nehemiah rebukes them and asks why the House of God has been neglected. He then assigns officials to help bring accountability to the system.
It’s clear in this example that God wants the whole congregation to support those called into full-time service. They were clearly not mean to be earning a living on the side. They were to be completely given over to the tasks of the Lord.
And what about the example we see with Elijah and the starving widow? This one has always rocked me to my support-raising core! In 1 Kings 17, we see that God had been supplying Elijah through a small brook and ravens brining him food (he didn’t have to ask anyone for help.) But then this brook begins to dry up and God tells him to move on, that He has directed a widow to supply him with food.
Elijah obeys and finds the widow of whom God had spoken. He asks her for a drink and some bread. She says that she doesn’t have any. In fact, she is gathering sticks to make the last meal for her and her son before they die!! Well, shucks, I definitely would have hesitated to send a support letter to this lady!
But Elijah continues on and says, make a loaf for me first (!!). Then make something for yourself. Because your flour and oil are not going to run dry!
God had already directed the widow to give to Elijah, but it wasn’t until Elijah asked that he received. And it wasn’t until the widow gave that she in turn, witnessed a miracle and received back 10 times over (or more) of what she had given.
Just as there are physical laws in the universe that God set up, there are spiritual laws too. There is the Law of Reciprocation. When you give, you will receive back even more. God actually wants us to test Him on this (Malachi 3:10).
New Testament Examples
But those are Old Testament examples, maybe it all changed in the New Testament. Right? No modern-day missionary wants to receive portions of animal fat and ground wheat as their monthly support like the Levites did. And doesn’t Paul give us the best example when he makes his own money and tells everyone that he never asked for a dime (or a mite) in 1 Corinthians 9?
Yes, it’s true. This is how Paul did it. (At least for a portion of his life. In Philippians 4:10-20, we see that he does actually receive funds from the church there, and does so gratefully.) I believe that, due to the nature of his specific calling and work, this was the best way for him. But this is not the only way.
Jesus himself was supported by people. Women. Mary, Joanna, and Susanna “provided financial support for Jesus and his disciples,” Luke 8:3. So Jesus Himself, was not a tent maker.
And in 1 Corinthians 9, the very chapter in which Paul says that he does not ask for any money, he actually solidifies the truth that God’s expectation is that the oxen would be able to eat while they thresh and the farmer able to partake of the crop that he himself planted and harvested. Verse 14 states, “In the same way, the Lord has commanded that those who spread the Good News should earn their living from the Good News.”
Guarding Our Hearts
We must not allow our own culture or “norm” to dictate to us how we are going to follow God. Many people who are called to full-time ministry have chosen other paths due to this topic of fund-raising.
As an American with midwestern roots, the lifestyle of support-raising that I have adopted seems to go against the very grain of how I was raised. My family prides themselves on what they are able to accomplish with their own hands, and rightfully so. They are very hard workers. But neither “God helps those who help themselves” or “Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” are Bible verses.
God does desire hard work. And He does expect us to pull our own weight. But He has also designed it so that we are a Body. We are in need of each other. His Kingdom does not value independence the way that ours does. In His Kingdom, everyone works hard to feed themselves and take care of those in need. In His Kingdom, some are called to be in the ministry arena and others in the business arena. Both are of equal value.
I think Peter Warren, leader of YWAM Denver says it well:
Living a lifestyle of complete dependence on God for financial provision is not a cop out. It’s not irresponsible or negligent, but a system that God Himself set up to provide for those in full-time ministry. If anything, it’s actually more biblical than receiving a salary for missions work because it links the giver in direct relationship with the ones he or she is supporting. The only consideration should be this: is this person a worthy workman? If so, then they are also deserving of financial support.
So whether you are the “goer” or you are the “sender” or you are a combination of both, we need to learn to look at support-raising through the filter of Jesus words, “It is better to give than to receive.”
I feel that almost nothing else tests my heart the way that money does. When things are tight financially, and God asks me to give, it is a test of my faith in Him, my willingness to trust that He will take care of me.
Money reveals if my heart is fully reliant on God or if I have begun to rely on myself and the wealth that I have acquired.
One day, we will live in a place where the roads are made of gold. We will have no need for money. But let us not have any regret when we enter that Day about where we invested our money (thus our hearts) during our time on earth.
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