A LETTER TO YOU, DEAR PASTOR: ABOUT FAMILY, MONEY, SUPPORT AND FINANCIAL LIFE

A LETTER TO YOU, DEAR PASTOR: ABOUT FAMILY, MONEY, SUPPORT AND FINANCIAL LIFE

And you'll find it's for you too, even if you're not a pastor. It is a short course on these topics, written four years ago in Portugal.

Angra do Heroismo, Ilha Terceira, Portugal.

October 21, 2019

Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear brother and dear sister, allow me to be objective. My initial intention in writing this letter is to help you prioritize your family over your ministry.

I must humbly assure you that this simple task will only work if you and your spouse change your mindset about all things in life, not just the ministry. You will agree that we should change our thinking about everything in life, won't you? To suit the thoughts of God.

What I share in this letter has been applied and is working well for many leaders. However, some of these teachings are difficult to accept because many Christians everywhere harbor a religious church mentality rather than a Kingdom mentality. The church is the center of their thoughts and lives. And that, you will find out sooner or later, is no good.

In the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus, the church is not the center, your family is; the church is not the center, the Kingdom of God is everything.

If you are struggling financially, my heart is filled with compassion for you and your family, as well as others who are very close to me, such as relatives and friends who are in a similar financial situation. But only you can solve this situation. This can be changed! This change is not a matter of receiving funds. For many years, my wife and I have helped many people, but until they learned to be responsible and manage their finances, all the resources we shared fell into a bottomless bag.

There is one essential thing you must believe. I want to encourage you to believe that. You are the solution to your own problems, and like my friend and partner, Dr. Paul Taylor, teaches us, you can be the solution to someone's problem.

The first principle, what I mean is that you cannot depend and rely on other people to provide and take care of your family. God's desire is that you and I have the most rewarding experience of our lives. Instead of being a receiver, let's become a giver. The apostle Paul describes it well: “You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my needs and those of my companions. In everything I did, I showed them that by hard work we should help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus himself, who said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:34,35

Ministers often put the church first and their families second. Don't be disappointed in me, but I must emphasize that you and your wife must prioritize your family over the church. The Church is God's priority, not yours.

And it all starts with a new understanding of your "calling". Many pastors say they are called to do God's holy ministry and not to be involved in the "dirty business of this world." This is very strange, because ministers do not get involved in the dirty business of this world, but depend on people involved in this world to support them.

When you see your family in great need, it's good to pray for it, but don't be like a little bird in the nest with its mouth open, begging its mother to feed it. This has been the long-standing lifestyle of many ministers in Brazil, Africa, India and many parts of the world. These pastors don't move to provide for themselves because they depend on people from richer countries to help them. Nobody is obligated to support your house, not even the church is. When I see a pastor whose wife and children are lacking in the basics of life because their husband and father do not adequately provide for them, I say to them, Get a job! Get a job!

Don't be fooled into false expectations of God when He has already provided you with the source of your income. That's called work! I am not saying that ministers cannot rely on the ministry for a salary. I'm not saying ministry isn't work. And I'm not saying that believers in rich countries shouldn't help our needy brothers around the world. What I'm saying is that you have to take responsibility for taking care of your family! How foolish it is to expect other people to provide the means to support your family! That you must not be a minister who exploits God's people and does ministry as merchandise. That you shouldn't depend on money as the first thing on the list when starting a relationship with your brothers and sisters around you, abroad and elsewhere.

Pastors cannot look after God's children as sheep, as if they had a right to their fleece. I've heard pastors use this term: "The pastor makes money by shearing the sheep." He most certainly does not. He should never extort them. “Sheep provide wool for their shepherds.” Sheep are not commodities and they are not sheep, in the sense that they have to supply something for you. They are from Jesus! He who looks upon the flock of God with this intention is the hireling who came to steal, kill, and destroy. The one who came to kill, steal and destroy is not the devil, according to John chapter 10, because the one who came before Jesus is the mercenary who is also a thief and a robber. Jesus was referring to the false leaders of Israel who came before him.

Many missionaries and pastors who continue to expect funds from abroad and resources from other people will always depend on their money and not on God.

Some people get offended when they hear me say these things. But they are liberating words. While I am not sure why they are offended, I must assure you that these words do not come from an unfeeling heart, but are from my own experience and based on the Bible.

I had to decide to take charge of my life and my family and I started begging God for help. If God can help me, He can help you too. Be brave.

I was born and raised poor, but I prayed persistently and acted with God's wisdom to change my life. He opened incredible doors and gave me many opportunities. I am not talking about becoming rich, but having what the apostle Paul encourages by urging each of us to work first, “doing something useful with our hands, so that we may have something to share with those in need.” Ephesians 4:28

God will do the same for you regardless of your situation and no matter where you live. But God's recipe is always work, work, work. And there is no secular work for Him, all works are as sacred as what we call the ministry. You are no more anointed for being a pastor than are the doctor, the carpenter, the builder, and the housewife. You are not the anointed one, all of God's children are anointed ones. You are not a priest, all of God's children are priests.

Let me point out something else on this subject. Many pastors and missionaries from Africa, Brazil, India and even the USA always approach us to ask for money. Their main objective is often nothing else but attaining money. This practice permeates the ministry life of at least 80% of the missionaries and itinerary preachers I met. When they say they want to come and minister in our churches in the USA, it's not really to offer anything, but to raise funds to carry out their ministries and to get income to do their “mission.”. This practice has no support in Scripture. Although in the New Testament many supported the ministry of Jesus, helped Paul and others, you will not find anyone traveling to raise funds. This is absurd, offensive and greatly saddens the heart of God, because He never commanded this to be done. What they really do is seek money to promote their ministries, and they don't feel and realize that they are just running a religious entrepreneurship.

I want to see people coming into our churches and approaching us to offer something good and not desperate to fill their calendars and solicit money. I want to see them approaching for communion. It is because of all this abuse that people don't want to donate anymore.

Honestly, I've hardly ever heard of anyone intentionally coming to bless our people with a legitimate interest in our cause. To be fair, there were some people, but a very small percentage.

I don't ask people for money for "my ministry". Very rarely have I done this. And when I did, it was always for a cause that benefited others and not myself. I don't depend on people to do what God puts in my heart. I work for it. If God provides, I will, if not, I assume it's not His will. And then, I move on. It is wrong for pastors and missionaries to raise their funds for the sake of money and not based on relationships.

As I said this, let me be very practical and list seven things you and your wife can do:

1 - Please get a job that you can do efficiently.

Cut out all education that doesn't support you financially. Reading theological books will not help you to take care of your family. Learn something you can earn money from. People in some of these countries I mentioned are addicted to government jobs. Get a private job or start a business that doesn't depend on the government. Prepare a business project and ask people to invest in it, not give you money.

I am much more inclined to invest than to give an offer, because with the profit from the investment I will be able to contribute to those who really need it. This in itself is already a huge paradigm shift and one that generates very positive results.

2 - Develop a small business idea that requires a small amount of investment to help your family.

And an idea that will make money the fast way. Especially a sales business. And learn to manage your finances.

Tithing and offerings don't offer financial freedom if you don't know how to manage your financial life. Tithing and giving is not magic. There are millions of people in the world who are very blessed and prosperous financially and do not pay tithes.

3 - Close any congregations or ministries you cannot support, especially those that require your time to support.

Focus only on the main thing. You must get rid of all external concerns in order to prioritize your family.

Something is very wrong with what we call a ministry where people get sick to maintain it. Be free from everything that disturbs you and your family. If I had learned this early on I would not have made my family suffer so much.

4 - Prioritize your family by asking this question. "Will this thing I'm going to do or get involved in directly benefit my family?" If not, don't.

5- List all the expenses you have and prioritize your family by cutting out everything that does not support them.

It's hard to do this when you have so little, but you must reduce your lifestyle if you don't have the means to maintain it.

Don't get into debt. Financial debt is Satan's strategy to enslave God's people. Being debt free is a must. What the world calls a credit card is really a debit card, and what is called a debit card is really a credit card.

With so much preaching about tithes and offerings, it is curious to me that 70 to 80% of people who are faithful tithers are deep in financial debt.

Don't buy anything you can't afford. People buy things with a credit card and say they are doing it by faith and that God will provide. Generally, God does not supply because they did not buy by faith, but by credit.

6-Make a budget with your wife for family needs.

List all items on a budget. And pray and work for it. Cut expenses. Increase your income. Get help from a mentor with experience in family finance.

"Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness" does not mean putting the church first, it does not mean prioritizing the church, dedicating yourself to the church. It means practicing and doing justice everywhere, starting with your family.

Everything is pure for the pure. What many Christians call the mundane is actually part of what Jesus called the world. Jesus did not ask the Father to take us out of the world, but to deliver us from evil.

The worst evil in this world is the one that disguises itself as good.

7 - And finally, go back and try to reconcile with everyone you have a broken relationship with, especially other pastors.

Whether or not you had reason to break up with them, forgive and reconcile. You may not be able to reconcile with everyone, but forgiving everyone will be the greatest financial release you could experience in your life. Your financial life is closely linked to the issue of forgiveness in your heart. There are many rich people who are full of hate but never experience the freedom of a life unencumbered by bitterness.

Unforgiveness and a bitter heart hold your life back in all areas, especially when it comes to finances.

““Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift. “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. Truly I tell you, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny." Matthew 5:23‭-‬26 

In prayer,

Josimar Salum

PS: This is feedback from a minister in Burundi who read the English version.

Hello, my friend!

Are you still in Portugal?

I have tried to read this text carefully, it is so interesting, accurate, challenging and relevant to the context in Burundi.

I wondered why most pastors' children don't behave like children of God. I found out that most of their parents left their family behind. They are prioritizing their churches over their families. They don't have time to disciple and guide their children.

Most pastors are like beggars. They want to depend on other people's pockets and, as you said, they want to depend on people from western countries. This is so bad. And accordingly, these people give them money unconditionally.

Indeed, this is a big challenge.

In fact, for example, you cannot find many children who want to be pastors in the future here in Burundi. It is also a challenge for a young pastor to get a wife as pastors seem to be the poorest people in the community.

However, they are poor because they don't work.

We need to teach them that they are the solution to their own problems and also the solution to the problems of others.

Thank you for your advice, love you very much.

Jérémie Marinakiza

#ASONE

Translated from Brazilian/Portuguese into English and Edited by: Filipe S.S. Gouvea