www.SILICABIBLECHAPEL.COM - The Sacredness of Service

Alfred Edersheim in his timeless classic, “The Temple its Ministry and Services,” tells us that the injunction of the Lord to His disciples in Matt. 10:9-10, which reads - “Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves; for the workman is worthy of his meat"- is the same injunction that applied to one entering the Temple and its precincts.

The injunction stated, according to Edersheim, that "no man might go on the Temple Mount with his staff, as if on business or pleasure; nor yet with shoes on his feet - sandals only being allowed; nor with the dust upon his feet; nor with his scrip, nor with money tied to him in his purse,"(1) for the Temple was the house of God and should be considered sacred and holy. It was disregard for this sacred respect that caused the railing judgment of our Lord upon the money changers who trafficked within the Temple precincts, as told by the Apostle John:

"And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, 'Take these things away; stop making My Father's house a place of business. Jn. 2: 14-16.”

The Lord was heartbroken and upset when the sacredness of the Lord's house was profaned, and in applying the same temple injunctions to the ministry, the Lord was clearly telling His disciples that ministry was to be considered with the same sacredness that one accorded the Temple and its environs. As the Temple was to be an expression of the Lord and His mercy, so too, ministry was to be considered an expression of the Lord and His mercy.

A ministry received by the Lord is sacred and its purity must be maintained. Unfortunately, the opposite is true today in many Christian circles, and as the temple of old was profaned with the things of the world so too ministry today has been profaned.

Christian ministry has become “a place of business”. No longer is it necessary to trust in the Lord for financial support. Profit drives the finances of many ministries today, not just prayer. When we depend upon the Lord for financial support it purifies our service and hearts, but today we don't need to depend upon the Lord, we just need a good marketing strategy (and our service and hearts have suffered for it).

It was reported in a local newspaper that a well known Christian ministry generated $6.6 million dollars in profit from the sale of souvenirs including shirts, hats, books and tapes." Why does not shame fill our hearts when we hear of such things? The work of the Lord is being profaned and changed into "places of business" just as it was in the temple of old and no one is crying out, “This must stop!

Not only that, the sacredness of the Lord’s ministry is also being profaned by the common practice of charging people money to come hear the Word of God being taught at a conference or a seminar.

Once men would teach the Word of God freely, but now it is common to charge money to come and hear the Word. This same ministry, the paper tells us, would charge people $60 to come hear the Word of God being taught at some rented facility in the town.

Now the usual excuse for the charging such money is that people are paying for materials or they are paying for accommodations, or perhaps for the food, but even if that is the case, where is the Christian’s faith in the provision of the Lord? When the five thousand came to hear the instruction of the Lord, did He charge them money for the fish and the loves He provided (Luke 9:11-17)? Or did He provide the food freely?

If the Lord leads His people to put on a conference or seminar, can he not provide the means, so that His injunction “freely ye have received, freely give,” may be fully manifested and honored? The only reason Christians would not do this is because they are either impatient to wait for the Lords provision or they do not realize that such a practice is contrary to the example of the Lord.

Imagine if Paul were to manage a ministry like we do today. He could have charged people to come hear the Word of God when he taught in the school of Tyrannus (Acts 19: 9). He could have then made many copies of his message and give it to those who came to hear him teach as something included in the price.

Did Paul give us this example to follow? Did he tell us this is how you fund the work of God? No! What did Paul do instead? He preached the Word of God without charge. And he encouraged those in Ephesus to do the same thing saying, "I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20: 33-35.

This is the example he gave us to follow! Never did he give us an example of charging money for ministry. Never did he give us an example of charging money for hospitality. Never did he give us an example of charging money for his written epistles! (He wrote many other epistles that were not a part of Scripture, but were full of instruction). And never did he give us such an example of charging money in order to fund the work of the Lord.

Ministry is sacred because it is an expression of the grace of God. Our salvation is free and it is complete sacrilege to offer a message or the instruction of the Lord for money, let alone finance a work of the Lord with worldly means and methods. It seems a cloud of biblical ignorance and lack of spirituality has descended over the eyes of the modern day Christian. If one really understood the sacredness of ministry, they would never utilize such tactics.

Granted, some do so out of ignorance - we should pray for them that they learn to hear the voice of the Lord and understand the example He left for us to follow and the example of His apostles that He gave to us in His Word. Others do so out of the weakness of their faith to trust in the Lord and His promises - we should pray for them that their faith be strengthened. And others, unfortunately, in some parts of Christendom do so out of greed and the desire to live a life in religious self-comfort, protecting their religious livelihood no matter what comprise might be necessary - for those we need to pray that they would soften their hearts to the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul tells us to be imitators of him, just as he was of Christ. Paul patterned his life and his ministry after the Lord Jesus, and Paul gave us his life and ministry to be a pattern for us today. (I Cor. 11: 1; 4: 16; Phil 4: 17; 4: 9; II Thess. 3: 7-9).

This noble pattern has been followed done through the centuries by godly men like Anthony Norris Groves who gave up a lucrative business and followed the Lord in simple childlike faith, or Hudson Taylor who trusted in God alone to finance China Inland Mission, or C.T. Studd who gave away a fortune and died in poverty freely giving himself and the Word of God to people in China, India, and Africa.

Other untold men down through the centuries, while not being called of God to sell all and leave for the mission field, nevertheless, lived modestly and worked with their own hands in some livelihood in order to offer the Word of God without charge, or others served after the example of Peter and ministered freely - full time to the saints - never seeking a salary but trusting in the care of their heavenly Father to move the hearts of the saints to give cheerfully to the work of the Lord. These too lived modestly and not in palaces or mansions.

We should realize the work is the Lord’s, and when we charge people money to come hear instruction, we are in reality saying the Lord is charging money (as it is His work). When we sell things for profit to finance the Lord’s work, we are in reality saying the Lord is selling things for profit to finance His work.

Dear brethren, why does the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, need to charge money for the instruction of the Word, or sell things to further His work? That would be like a King sending an ambassador to another country, and then having the ambassador charge the host country money to pay for his own salary and the cost of his operations. What would the citizens of that country think of such a King that could not even provide for his own embassy and ambassador? And yet, that is what we are doing.

If we truly confess that we only do things as the Lord leads, then when we charge people money for ministry, we are telling the world, that after much prayer, the Lord Jesus spoke to us and said, “I do not have the money for you right now, but I want My work to go on, so charge people money until the time comes when I am able to, once more, provide for you the money you will need.”

Forgive me for even thinking such a thing, but that is exactly what we are saying if we say the Lord has led us to utilize such means to do His work. Where is our faith today? May the Lord provide eye salve for our eyes that once again we may all be able to see and buy the gold refined by fire that we may all learn to operate by faith unto the glory of God.

Our God is a great God and He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. He can supply the needs of the ministries He raises up without using the ways of the world. O may we seek the Lord’s forgiveness on this issue. Our King takes care of His servants. He provides for all the needs of those He sends out. May we repent of our lack of trust and restore sacredness to the Lord's ministry.