IT’S NATURAL
Let’s admit it. While no one ever enters the ministry with the expectation of growing rich, it is also true that none of us think that we are even remotely paid what we are worth. It is easy for us to fall into the comparison trap with other professions. How many professions that require at least a masters degree, and two languages are paid at the level of most clergy. Consider also that you are expected to be a manager of an organization, make at least a weekly public presentation, teach, and have skills in counseling, and you have quite a complex set of responsibilities. Do all that work and in the process have difficulty meeting the basic bills of living, and you have a formula for envy and resentment.
When we began, we knew that our calling required a certain amount of sacrifice, but in the process, especially if it also causes marital strain, it is hard not to feel a little sorry for ourselves. This is where we need to not only become conscious of our feelings but also bring them into conversation with our sense of call.
FIRST STEP
A first step would be to compose a stream of conscious essays. Begin by writing for about 20 uncensored minutes on how you feel about your salary, the stresses that it causes in your life, and the feelings that arise when you compare what you are receiving versus other professions with considerably less demands. Again, the more honest you are when you write this, the better it will be for you. No one else has to see it.
SECOND STEP
Next, write for 20 minutes or so on your sense of call and the often unfair challenges that you know you have to confront in pursuing this call. Assume for the purpose of your essay, that God is truly asking you to make this sacrifice. Where is God in all of this. Don’t dwell on the “poor me” aspect but rather the “nobleness” of the cause toward which you are working.
If we feel like a victim, we are trapped by negative feelings. If, on the other hand, we are convicted that we are making sacrifices for a greater cause, then there is honorable purpose to what we are doing.
God Didn’t Promise a Rose Garden
Now consider these financial realities from a theological perspective.
Throughout the biblical story, there has always been a certain amount of tension between what God provides and what we want with respect to the material aspects of life. Consider a few examples.
One of the first decisions about how much wealth is enough came between Abram and his nephew Lot in Genesis 13. Their respective wealth caused the tension between their peoples. When Abram offered Lot the choice of land, he immediately chose the more prosperous section of land to occupy. His greed would eventually have devastating results.
Later, in the Exodus, when God was leading the children of Israel across the wilderness, God provided them manna so that they could survive but it was not enough. Then, when they entered the Promised Land, God ordered the dividing up of the land so that each tribe had sufficient to feed their families. Knowing that over time there would be an inequality that would develop, they set up the year of Jubilee so that every generation would have a fresh start with sufficient to experience a secure life. The theme of wealth and its distribution continues throughout Scripture.
For Christians, the most significant evidence of God’s intent is contained in the words of the Lord’s prayer. We are taught to pray that God will give us each day our daily bread. Christians pray that prayer on a regular basis without considering that from God’s perspective, that is what we need. In contrast to that, Jesus told the parable of the man who built a larger barn to contain his abundant harvest, not recognizing that the blessing of this harvest would not protect his future and could be of benefit to his neighbor. (Luke 12:13-21)
Even for clergy, it is easy to get infected by society’s emphasis on the value of having more and never feeling we have enough.
Next blog, we will explore some steps we can take.
