Mission dignity

You may have seen or heard negative stories concerning pastors and religious organizations. Most pastors struggle financially, and most churches give sacrificially to minister to the needs of their members as well as their communities. However, there are people who believe all clergy live like health and wealth televangelists. Such people are calling for the removal of pastors' tax-exempt statuses.

Our denomination has a program to help financially support retired pastors and their spouses, Mission Dignity. Our financial company that manages this is Guidestone Financial Resources, not to be confused with Guidepost, the secular company who ran the investigation I mentioned in a previous column.

It is moving to watch the recipients tell their stories. Did you realize that there are pastors who started out serving churches without pay? One couple tells a story of preaching at a church and receiving nothing for their labor. They were hungry, and no one had invited them to lunch. The wife saw an advertisement for cheeseburgers for one dollar. She searched her purse and could only find 95 cents. She asked her husband to pull the car over so she could search the seat cushions for loose change. As she got out of the car, she stepped on a nickel that was on the ground in front of her. They rejoiced knowing that the Lord had provided for their need. She said that was an example of how God always took care of them.

Would it make you feel good to take money away from people like these? There are multiple stories of people like this couple who served little churches for low wages. Now they are in their retirement years, and they have nothing. Not because they refused to work, but because they did not serve God for the money.

One story was of a widow who said that she had to decide between medicine or groceries. She was about to give up when she found out about Mission Dignity. She rejoiced with tears in her eyes that she now has just enough to get by and how good God is to take care of her through Christians who donate to this cause.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual wage for clergy would put them in the middle class. Even so, not all ministers take advantage of tax breaks or invest their money in retirement programs.

The Bible teaches that is acceptable for ministers to receive compensation. We read in 1 Timothy 5:17-18, "Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, 'You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,' and, 'The laborer deserves his wages.'"

Do not underestimate the contributions made to society by religious and nonprofit organizations. Most small church pastors are already making a financial sacrifice by being in the ministry and the majority of them tithe ten percent of their income. I wonder if those who want to increase the pastors' taxes contribute anything to charity.

Mission Dignity Sunday is June 26. There will be offerings collected in most Southern Baptist Convention churches. You can learn more about this ministry from the website guidestone.org/Mission-Dignity. May God bless you as you give to those who served us well.