Galatians: A Study of Christian Freedom
Lesson 20: Good Things Galatians 6:6
Several years ago, when Pat and I visited London, we saw the beautiful gardens of Hampton Court Palace. The palace dates back to the 16th century and one of several palaces lived in by King Henry VIII. That king is famous for his many wives and for breaking from Rome to found the Church of England so he could get a divorce and marry the ill-fated Anne Boleyn, mother of Elizabeth I. Henry and Anne walked those same gardens where Pat and I walked.
In the years immediately following Henry VIII’s assuming supremacy of the church in England in 1532, the crown began seizing the great wealth of the monasteries. You should know the monks lived infinitely better than the ordinary people who toiled on the lands owned by the monasteries. And, by the way, Henry’s beautiful palace at Hampton Court began as the home of Cardinal Wolsey, the priest who was his chief advisor.
Things had come a long way from the time Paul had to remind the church to pay the preacher.
Preachers and money have long been a topic of debate and humor. Years ago I heard the story of a pastor and his wife who were awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of someone searching through their bedroom.
The pastor said, “What are you doing?”
The burglar said, “I heard there’s money in here and I’m looking for it.”
The pastor said, “In that case, I’ll turn on a light and help you look.”
Don’t worry, I’m not going to spend all my time talking about money. But I do want to offer some observations on Paul’s words, 6 Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.
- Paul refers to this support for the teacher as sharing all good things. The word Paul uses for sharing suggests that this support is an expression of the fundamental “koinonia” or fellowship that marks the Christian community. At the same time, while Christians are not to be materialists they are to remember they live in a material world. What Paul calls “good things” includes what is needed to sustain life and do good in the world. The Reformers rejected so-called “vows of poverty” for the clergy because they reflected an unrealistic standard, opened the door to hypocrisy, and created a class of Christians who often became a burden on others.
The definition of “good things” might vary from place to place. Thinking of it in monetary terms is probably the simplest, however that’s not always the case. Years ago, while I was a student at Rice University in Houston, I spoke at a small Methodist church on the edge of a state park several miles outside the city. I was happy to do it because this little church was the outgrowth of the first Protestant sermon preached in what would become Texas. I don't recall what I preached to the congregation of twelve or so, but I was paid with a sack of vegetables.
- Some churches—like WBC—do well in caring for the pastor.
- Some churches don’t do so well. Years ago in Texas I talked with a pastor search committee from a church that offered a very small salary and wanted the pastor and his family to live in a ramshackle parsonage—which they refused to allow us to look at. One young member of the committee said he wished they could pay more; an older committee member growled, “We pay enough for any preacher.” That attitude probably reflected the old notion that preachers work only one day a week.
- While the media focuses on the fantastic salaries and benefits “celebrity” pastors and evangelists enjoy, most pastors make much more modest salary. It’s difficult to come up with an accurate average salary since some pastors at some very small churches actually don’t take a salary and at least one “mega-church” reports paying a salary of $600,000 a year to their pastor. In any case, you can be sure the average pastor makes less than the average journalist complaining about the money pastors make. Not every pastor has a master’s degree but those who do rank with teachers as the lowest paid professionals with advanced degrees. In case you're wondering, female pastors make less than male pastors with the same education and who are serving churches of the same size.
- Some denominations offer better retirement programs than others. I have a friend who used to say he planned to leave the Southern Baptists during the last decade of his ministry to become a Lutheran because they offered such a better retirement program. (On a related note, I attended a convention where I heard the annuity board director complain that pastors were using their mental health coverage too often.)
- In any case, most reasonable Christians realize pastors should be paid as fair a salary as the church can afford; I wouldn’t be able to fix the unreasonable Christians in a single sermon if I tried.
In this verse we see the hint of the beginning of a full-time ministry in the church, a ministry dedicated to teaching; or, at least, the presence of what we would call “bi-vocational” teachers in the church. Paul’s words don’t mean there was a “professional” ministry as we know it but there may have been those in the church who cut back on the amount of time they were involved in other work (their craft or trade) or quit that work completely in order commit themselves to the work of the church. This would have reduced their earnings. Paul may have seen the church’s contributions as helping make up the shortfall.
James Montgomery Boice points out that Paul did work as a “tentmaker” but this seems to have been limited to the “pioneer” phase of establishing a new work. Centuries later, during the Middle Ages, priests in some European villages were allotted land on which they could grow crops or raise livestock for their own use. And, on the American frontier, the so-called “Baptist farmer-preachers” started churches in many places, preaching on Sundays and farming during the rest of the week. Of course, today, many “house churches” are led by those who work at jobs unrelated to their “church work” to provide shelter and food for their families.
In short, Paul sets out a fairly clear principle that churches should support their ministers. However, the shape of that support may change according to circumstances.
- Some churches provide full support for the pastor-teacher.
- Some churches provide partial support for the pastor-teacher while the pastor-teacher works at another job at least part-time.
- Some churches support their pastor-teachers by allowing them freedom to work at “secular” jobs. (In both this and the previous situation the churches must understand the pastor-teacher may not always be phone call or text message away and may not be able to deal with situations immediately.)
Churches in each of these situations have been blessed by God.
Now, let’s move on to what Paul is telling us about a church at its best beyond the issue of remuneration. I’d rather talk about this anyway.
6 Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.
Certainly Paul is speaking of providing for the material needs of the pastor/teacher but his words make something else clear.
The young church placed great importance on teaching. Jesus’ words in the Great Commission instructing the church to “make disciples” could be understood as “make learners.”
Luke reports the new converts reached on the Day of Pentecost “joined with the other believers in regular attendance at the apostles’ teaching sessions.” Some New Testament scholars believe there are fragments of the apostles’ lesson plans quoted in the epistles. The Pastoral Epistles picture men and women learning the fundamentals of the faith. It seems to have been understood that those taught would eventually become teachers.
There is evidence of the early second-century church maintaining regular training sessions for new converts; it’s not clear if these converts had been baptized or were preparing for baptism. Christians believed it was important for converts to understand the fundamentals of their new faith. Through the centuries the religious education of children and adults has been a part of the church’s work of nurture. Religious pamphlets, creeds, catechisms, and even stained-glass windows were tools to help teach the Faith. The famed British Baptist pastor Charles Spurgeon prepared a catechism for the youngsters of his church.
On a related note, recently I read the dust cover of a book on American religion that suggested Christians with an evangelical bent practiced a religion of the heart while more progressive Christians practiced a religion of the head. Apart from being a somewhat simplistic and pompous distinction, it misses the point that evangelicals tend to be voracious readers. Most best-sellers in the field of religion are on evangelical themes and evangelical bookstores remain open while bookstores from more liberal denominations are closing.
Of course, the best-known modern venue for religious education is the Sunday school. I say “modern” because the Sunday school has only been around since the late-eighteenth century. (Even then it was started to teach poor children to read, not as a ministry of the church to teach Bible.) When Sunday school is done well, it is very effective. Several years ago we took our youth on a mission trip to Cherokee, North Carolina. We worked with young people from various denominations rehabilitating houses and conducting Vacation Bible Schools. During the evening the program leaders sometimes conducted Bible quizzes. Though we were the smallest church there, our kids won every time.
I’d been assigned to work with a leader from a denomination that puts youngsters through confirmation training before they become church members. These churches apparently have no Sunday schools. I overheard one of her teens ask, “Why do they know so much about the Bible?” “Well,” she said, “you guys have been studying the Bible for about three months. These Baptist kids have been studying it their entire lives.”
It was good to hear that. I think Sunday school has contributed much to our churches. To some degree, though, it’s in decline. It’s no longer clear why we have it in the first place. Once, it was where you learned the Bible, then it became a means of outreach; ask most people today and they’ll tell you Sunday school is for fellowship.
Attendance is declining across the nation. Could Sunday school be revived? Possibly. It may also be that we will need to look for new ways to make opportunities for people to get an understanding of the Bible and Christian doctrine.
The internet offers opportunities for online Bible study. Resources are provided by churches, denominations, and organizations promoting Christian nurture. You can compare various translations, read classic commentaries, and use basic dictionaries and word-studies. It lacks the give-and-take of a Sunday school class but it allows people to schedule study on their own time. However, for those so-inclined, there are online “communities’ that exchange observations on certain passages. Such comments may vary from one person sharing why a verse “touched” their heart to another explaining a Greek term the verse contains. You will hear from participants from all walks of life and from all over the world. These online experiences are not a replacement for church-based Bible study but a means to enhance it.
Church-based Bible study, when it is done properly, is done in an atmosphere of encouragement. That’s important because of the special nature of Bible study. When we study many things we gather information that has little impact on our lives. If we study American history and learn the Civil War began with the bombardment of Fort Sumter we have a bit of information that is important but not life-changing. The information itself demands nothing of us. Often, studying the Bible uncovers something we need to act on. In church, believers encourage one another to act on that knowledge.
By encouraging the support of the teachers Paul was encouraging study. He knew it was life-changing.
Back in the mid-80’s Pat and I participated in a partnership mission in Australia. Australian Baptist adults usually don’t attend Sunday school; they believe it’s for children. Some churches were trying alternative ways to get their adults to study the Bible. Some met at local restaurants before the church service to have coffee and discuss some Bible passage. Other small groups met in homes during the week. The important point was not where or when the Bible study took place but that it took place.
Our churches may have to explore some of the same options or create new ones.
Of course, the sermon is or ought to be a means of digging deeper into some portion of the Bible. That’s getting tougher as general knowledge of the Bible declines. Preachers once were confident an offhand reference to “a city set on a hill,” Aaron, or Isaiah’s vision would be recognized by their congregations. No more.
The world has changed in other ways. Back in the 1980s, John Stott lamented the state of preaching in the English churches. He reported that most congregations expected their preachers to limit sermons to ten minutes. Stott—a master expositor—argued you couldn’t explain the context of some Bible passages in just ten minutes. Still, he recognized the modern audience does have attention-span issues. All those signs around football stadiums and baseball fields are there because advertisers know even the most ardent fans won’t be watching the game the entire time.
I have a dear friend who preaches for at least an hour each Sunday, sometimes longer. I don’t know how he does it. He has a tolerant congregation and a sound system.
Years ago, when I first became a pastor, I began preaching—as I had been taught—by attempting to open up a Bible passage, exploring its context, meaning, and relevance. A woman in the church told Pat that they had liked the former pastor’s preaching because he told lots of stories from the Readers’ Digest. She then suggested I might try to do the same. Sometimes, the preacher’s lot—like the policeman’s—is not a happy one.
I like to think of the sermon not as the end but as the beginning of understanding a passage or some Biblical concept. Certainly, I don’t always succeed but I hope I’ve sometimes encouraged listeners to dig a little deeper on their own.
Conclusion:
So, this little verse provides a glimpse back into the earliest days of the church. I want to end by focusing on the vision of the church as a learning community.
As a learning community, the church helps new converts understand the Faith they have embraced, grasp the implications of something as simple as a child repeating the “sinner’s prayer” or as complex as an adult coming to faith only after years of reluctance and reflection.
As a learning community, the church continually confirms believers in the Faith, preparing them to face the challenges of life.
As a learning community, the church helps us obey that command Christ called the greatest: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind….”
As a learning community, the church points believers to the moral and ethical guidelines we need to model God’s love in a culture as confused and broken as ours.
As a learning community, the church builds safeguards against false teaching that distorts the gospel and undermines our hope. (Did such false teaching make inroads into the Galatian churches because they failed to appreciate the discipline of learning?)
As a learning community, the church prepares believers to better explain and defend their Faith as they invite others to trust Christ.
As a learning community, the church fuels the impulse to praise God “for the great things he has done.”
