Why should a Pastor be financially wealthy – J. A. Kusi

Why should a pastor or man of God be financially wealthy when there are poor people in the church? Why should he have 5 cars when someone can’t afford breakfast? I have heard this question too many times. I wish to present some approaches to this by way of Scriptural logic and rhetoric.

1) Is it a grey area in the Scriptures or is the Bible clear that God blesses those who lose everything for the sake of the Gospel?

2) Don’t men of God deserve to be financially rewarded for the ministry of the Word of God? Doesn’t the Bible instruct those who are taught the Word to minister material things like money to their instructors in the Word? (Gal.6:6, 1Cor.9:7-14)….

3) Do we recognize any place in the Scripture where religious people objected to great expense on a man of God? Would the alabaster box be a good example? Do we realize that Judas called the whole exhibition a sorry waste and advised a better use in giving the money to the poor? Do we see in Matthew 26 that this provoked Judas to betray Jesus by way of immediate cause? Do we realize that Jesus was a preacher then and the alabaster ointment was worth a year’s salary?

4) Would it be alright for a preacher to have wealth and a lot of property if there were no poor people in the world? Were the resources of the world to be redistributed so that there are no poor people, is it clear to you that some people will be poor after some time? Would a preacher then have to give away his equitable lot received in the redistribution to those who have lost all their money.

5) Why aren’t lawyers and doctors disdained for having wealth when there are poor people around? Could it be that we think their work is of some real value and they deserve what they get? Why do we then have an irritation in the gut when a man of God who works hard is financially well-off? Could it be that deep inside, we despise the value and worth of God’s work, his Word and his servants?

6) Doesn’t the Bible say Judas objected not because he cared for the poor but because he was a thief? When was the last time a part of anything you own went to the poor considering how much you begin to care for them when you see a preacher in a Mercedes? Why do you think the poor who have done no work deserve more than a preacher what he has worked for? Do you respect the work of the ministry?

7) Do you realize that all givers receive? What makes you think men of God don’t give to the poor? Before you criticize Bishop David Oyedepo for owning a private jet, are you willing to account for the fact that he pays over 2 million dollars in school fees from his own pocket every year for people he has not met? Do the blessings conditioned on being a giver apply to men of God? If Jesus told us to give not for men to see, how do you expect to know which man of God gives how much to the poor?

8) How is a poor preacher supposed to become poor for the poor? If we expect a man of God to lose somethings for the poor, isn’t that a presupposition that preachers are supposed to be financially well- off? If a man of God is not supposed to be rich enough to have six cars because of the poor, how is he then supposed to have feeding money for the poor worth the price of six cars? After all, those six cars should be converted to feed the poor, shouldn’t they?

9) Aren’t preachers supposed to make sound and responsible financial decisions like everyone else? If a man of God wisely buys a plot of land which increases in value later, and he sells it for several million, doesn’t he deserve to have the finer things in life with his family? Should his money then be taken and given to the poor? Would you sleep better if you knew he had already given abundantly to the poor and could still afford a million dollar house? Hmmmm. Would your lunch digest better?

10) Do you honour the Word of God? Do you mock God or you believe that what a man sows he reaps?

…..Continued in comments….