Fulfilled Living on Ministry Pay
Brent Honshell, M.M.
Although it is understood by most people that those in full-time Christian service are usually not earning large salaries, does a call into a ministry mean you must take a vow of poverty? No. However, it will probably require an adjustment in your life-style.
What are the keys to making ends meet on ministry pay? You can begin by mastering three principles: stewardship, contentment, and patience.
The Lord's calling comes before consideration of the wages. If you are not fully committed to your calling, you will never be satisfied with your paycheck.
The individual called to a ministry must be blameless, as the steward of God (Titus 1:7). A steward is one who manages another's property. Since God graciously provides all that we have, we are to be faithful stewards of His possessions.
A good steward will therefore be careful with the assets the Lord has entrusted to him. For example, given proper care a quality pair of shoes should last many years. I frequently polish my shoes, and occasionally have them half-soled. I use shoe trees purchased at a yard sale, and I use Totes to keep my shoes from being exposed to rain and snow.
Likewise, a car should last many years if properly maintained. Wash and wax it often to protect the body. Change the oil yourself every 3,000 miles. Take care of minor repairs before they become major, or before you find yourself trading it in to avoid dealing with the problems. If you cannot perform minor car or home repairs, perhaps you can barter with a friend who can. I offered to help a friend prepare his tax return in exchange for his helping me repair my garbage disposal.
A good steward is conservative, not wasteful. You can save a lot of money on utilities by turning down the hot water heater, turning off lights when you leave a room, and keeping the thermostat set at a moderate comfort level (68-70 in winter, 74-78 in summer). Six inches of insulation in the attic will cut 10% off your energy bill. Long-distance phone calls made during off-peak hours are cheaper. Annually cleaning your heating/air conditioning unit will extend its life and enable it to run less expensively.
A good steward will adopt a budget and stick to it. The rule in budgeting is to include everything. A conscious, prayerful evaluation of your current spending should enable you to target areas where you can cut costs. Categorize and record every dollar spent for a three month period, then target certain areas for cost-cutting. Most families can save a substantial amount of money by being more frugal, shopping for bargains, and negotiating purchases.
For example, always use a list at the grocery store. My first-year Marketing students know that someone from the average household goes to the grocery store 2-3 times per week, shops 90 minutes a week in the store, and spends $1.89 each additional minute he or she is in the store. They also know that because few shoppers use lists, 66% of purchases are unplanned, and often unnecessary. Don't become a statistic--use a list.
Another tip is to avoid recreational shopping. A casual trip to the mall will often result in a budget-busting impulse purchase. On the other hand, bargain hunters may find clothes and household items that are very affordable. My wife finds great deals on children's clothing and casual adult clothes at secondhand shops. Our kids' wardrobes consist mostly of barely used, popular name-brand clothing purchased at a fraction of the cost of a new item. Many of our furniture pieces were purchased secondhand at yard sales or through the paper, and then refurbished.
The same approach applies to car shopping. Smart shoppers ignore the urge to buy a new car when a late-model used car will meet the need. A used car is nearly always a better value. Whether you are buying a car, a house, furniture, or a major appliance, don't be afraid to negotiate. According to Herb Cohen, author of "You Can Negotiate Anything," every price on every product is negotiable--even a Sears refrigerator.
A good steward will also find that with proper planning vacations can be fun and relaxing without wreaking financial havoc. Our family enjoys frequent, but brief, vacations centered around free activities such as hiking and camping. Even our Disney vacation was relatively inexpensive when we swapped homes with a Christian couple from Orlando for two weeks.
Finally, good stewards will tithe faithfully and give gifts, thus esteeming the needs of others above their own (Phil. 2:3-5).
In reality, we all occasionally find ourselves with too much month left at the end of our money. One good measure of a true servant is whether he obeys Hebrews 13:5 when it says, "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have."
God does not measure the amount of money we have; He measures our attitude toward money. I Timothy 6:6-10 says we should be content with food and clothing...for "they that will (to) be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts..." Many Christians have left their ministry because of debt or discontent, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also (Mt. 6:21, 33).
Debt can easily become your master and thereby distract you from your ministry. Although an obligation paid on time is not forbidden in Scripture, the root cause of most debt is the sin of covetousness. Ephesians 5:5 calls a covetous man an idolater.
Realistically, financial obligations are sometimes unavoidable. Few people can afford to pay cash for a home. Some people must borrow money for a car. Be aware that borrowing money makes you the servant to the lender (Prov. 22:7), often causes you to worry, and may prevent you from giving freely to meet others' needs.
The smartest way to borrow is to borrow money from your own savings account and then pay yourself back at a high interest rate. If that is impossible, at least be certain you do not overcommit. Avoid using credit cards unless you have the money in the bank to pay for the purchases, and are using the card for convenience. I prefer to carry a credit card rather than cash because I am less likely to waste a dollar here or there on "insignificant" little purchases that eventually add up. I always use the grace period offered by the credit card company, then I pay the balance off in full each month, thus paying no interest.
Don't buy the most expensive home or car that you can possibly afford and finance it for as long as possible with the least down payment acceptable. If you can discipline yourself to pay off your home in fifteen years, or your car in twenty-four months, you will save thousands of dollars in interest.
An attitude of contentment should enable you to meet your family's needs without working a second job to pay debts. If you are already overcommitted, however, remember that I Timothy 5:8 says, "But if any provide not for his own (house)...he is worse than an infidel." Watch that you do not sacrifice your family or your ministry by being too busy earning extra money to satisfy your greed. If it is necessary to supplement your income, perhaps you have a marketable skill, such as consulting. Avoid the many get-rich-quick schemes available, such as network marketing companies. They will compromise your ministry.
Christians could avoid most of their financial woes if they would patiently and prayerfully wait on God to provide for their needs. Although God sometimes uses financial hardships to test our faith, other times we create our own trials by not waiting on Him. Our purchase decisions ought to be made after prayerful consideration (Phil. 4:6). Let emotion die before you buy. Give the Lord an opportunity to supply that need in a way you had not considered. The Lord recently answered the prayers of a fellow faculty member by giving his family the gift of a new vehicle in response to a prayer. The Lord asks us to pray for things (Mark 11:24), but sometimes He withholds certain things from us for our own benefit (James 4:3). Exercise greater faith, improve your prayer life, and allow the Lord to pour out blessings on you that you had not imagined.
Allow your Lord, your family, and your ministry to be your first priorities. Although you live in the world, you are not to adopt its materialistic philosophy. As my wife says, "I grew up in a family where there was little money, but we never knew it from the attitude my parents had toward life. I always figured our priorities, not our paycheck, were the difference in what we had or did not have." Ask the Lord who provided everything you have to change your attitude about money, and perhaps you will discover that you can live a fulfilling life on ministry pay.
Reprinted from Balance, a publication of the School of Education, Bob Jones University. Used with permission of Bob Jones University. Please write BJU Press, for permission to reproduce this article.
