Common mistakes preachers make – Clint Pressley

By / Jun 30

Ftc.co asks Clint Pressley about common mistakes that preachers make.



Acedia: The Noonday Demon We Forgot

By / Jun 25

What Is Acedia?

I’ve spent much of my Christian life wondering what’s wrong with me—more than I care to admit. Why is it that I not only fail to want the things of God, but sometimes feel a strong urge to resist or even reject them? Some years ago, I learned there’s a name for what I’ve felt. Earlier generations of Christians referred to it as acedia (from the Greek akedia, meaning “lack of care”).

Most Christians today have not heard of acedia, but in the fourth century the desert fathers numbered it among the deadliest temptations, precisely because it can attack subtly, quietly, and without warning.

Acedia should not be confused with doubt. A person experiencing acedia still holds to the faith. It is not overt rebellion. People with acedia usually don’t storm away from God. Nor is it identical to depression, though it often resembles it and may accompany it. Acedia is more specific, and in its own way more alarming: It is a deep-seated weariness with the divine good. It is a condition in which God and the means of grace by which we know Him—His word, His table, His people, His presence—become genuinely unwanted.

Drawing from Psalm 91:6, one fourth-century monk—Evagrius of Pontus—nicknamed acedia “the noonday demon.” This nickname was well chosen. Acedia does not usually attack in the morning, when the day is fresh and God’s mercies are new, nor in the evening, when rest is close at hand. Most often, it attacks at midday when the sun is at its highest, the heat is at its worst, and the day feels like it will never end.

Three Symptoms of Acedia

Christian tradition has identified three primary symptoms of acedia.

Lethargy

A heaviness of soul that makes the means of grace feel like burdens rather than gifts. Prayer feels futile. Reading Scripture is tedious. Going to church fills you with dread. It’s not that the means of grace have changed—it’s that your soul has grown numb to them.

Restlessness and Fantasizing

A tendency to fantasize about a different life—a different job, a different city, a different set of circumstances. You find yourself staring out the window and wonder if the grass is greener someplace else, convinced that your circumstances are your biggest problem. Yet the problem is your soul’s refusal to receive the life God has given you. The noonday demon always makes you want to leave.

Irritability

The people and responsibilities God has given become sources of frustration rather than fulfillment. Friends and family become insufferable. The congregation you’ve covenanted with becomes a cacophony of pet peeves. Everything near looks like a problem and everything far feels like the solution. Acedia turns the people you serve into problems you’d rather avoid.

The Downward Spiral

As acedia takes hold, these symptoms become a vicious cycle that feeds itself. Left unnamed and unaddressed, it subtly hollows you out like a tree that’s dying at the root while still budding in spring.

The cruelest effect of acedia is that it shuts down the very means that has power to break its grip: prayer. Not because you deny God’s existence, but because you cannot stomach one more forced or artificial conversation with Him.

You know what Christians are supposed to sound like in prayer. But you can’t bring yourself to pray that way. The distance between how you feel and how you know you should pray feels too wide. So you go silent—and that silence feeds the noonday demon.

Learning to Pray Honestly

Yet—for those experiencing acedia— something worth considering is this: The most honest prayers I’ve ever heard did not come from polished believers, but from people who appear in the pages of Scripture itself.

Jeremiah accuses God of deceiving him. Habakkuk demands to know why God seems silent while the wicked prosper. David asks why God is hiding His face. Elijah sits under a tree and begs to die.

Notice that these are not villains in the biblical story! These are the good guys and examples of faithfulness, and they prayed with a gut-level honesty that would make most churchgoers blush. Which raises a question: What makes that kind of honesty possible? What makes it safe to say, “Lord, I don’t want you right now, and I don’t know how to change that”?

God Can Handle Your Honesty

The answer, I am convinced, lies in one of the most misunderstood doctrines in Christianity: divine impassibility.

In popular theology, impassibility is often portrayed as the cold indifference of a distant creator. However, this doctrine shows us one of the most important ways that the Creator is different from the creature—and why that’s such good news. Impassibility means that God is not subject to sudden emotional change. Unlike you and me, God is not destabilized by shifting circumstances.

Impassibility is not the absence of love, but the infinite perfection of it. Scripture tells us that God is love. Because love is His essence and glory, His love for His people cannot be replaced with a different reaction to your acedia.

This means something extraordinary for the person who no longer wants God and has stopped praying: Your brutal honesty about where you are spiritually cannot make God have a bad day.

Every human relationship involves some level of calculation—what is safe to say, how it will be received, whether it will be misunderstood. In most cases, there is such a thing as being too honest with your friends, your pastor, or even your spouse. But there is no such thing as being too honest with God.

Security in Christ

In Christ, God’s love for you is not contingent on your prayers sounding good. His commitment toward you is not dependent on you feeling the right way or wanting the right things. Because He is impassible, He’s not threatened by your acedia. You can say to Him what you’re too scared to say to anyone else—you don’t have to perform. That’s not because God is indifferent about how you pray, it’s because His Son—your Advocate—is perfecting your prayers at the Father’s right hand. It’s because His Spirit is interceding for you according to the will of God. The entire Trinity is at work to ensure that every prayer you’ve prayed from the throes of acedia will reach the throne of grace.

Perhaps lately you’ve wondered the same thing I’ve wondered so often: What’s wrong with me? Why don’t I want God and His means of grace? Not only is there a name for that feeling you can’t shake, but there’s also a way forward: Pray the unvarnished truth, even if it feels too raw and ugly to face. Your Lord will by no means be damaged by it. To the contrary, in Christ, He will welcome it. After all, He’s God! He can handle it.

Though our desire for Him fluctuates—though there are days when that forgotten noonday demon gets the better of us—the God who hears your prayers will not forget you and does not change. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.



Desert Island Books

By / Jun 24

Here’s a fun one! Jared Wilson and Ronni Kurtz discuss what books they’d want with them if they were castaways on a deserted island. Ronni mainly wants to know how many he can bring. Jared wants to not overthink the question. The guys share books and authors and genres that would make their exile from civilization more enjoyable, survivable, and spiritual.



Reverence in Worship

By / Jun 23

A few years ago, I spoke with a college senior about his recent conversion from Evangelicalism to Catholicism. One of the reasons he gave was the reverence he witnessed during Mass. Many other young adults share his sentiment and have acted similarly.[1] Their departure offers a helpful critique of what is lacking in many churches today.

Biblical Foundations of Reverence

The Holy Scriptures provide tangible principles—drawn from key events—that church leaders can use to foster reverence every Sunday morning. Two such passages are Isaiah’s vision of God in the temple and the high priest’s duties on the Day of Atonement.

Encountering the Enthroned Lord

In Isaiah 6, the prophet recounts his encounter with the Almighty. He describes God sitting on a “lofty and exalted” throne—a seat built for a monarch. Its elevated position signifies God is above all earthly rulers in power and authority. Likewise, the “train of his robe … [which] filled the temple” displays the extent of His royal dominion. In the ancient world, a king’s conquests were represented by portions of the conquered kings’ robes sewn to his own robe. A train long enough to fill the temple communicates that this Monarch’s authority is worldwide.

Another striking image is the seraphim who stand above the Lord. Despite being great in power and physical presence, their subservience to the Lord highlights how great His power and majesty are compared to theirs. Isaiah’s immediate response to this display of God’s monarchical glory is telling: he confesses his desperate state and uncleanness. Confronted with divine holiness, he is undone.

The High Priest and the Weight of Worship

Leviticus 16 describes the high priest’s preparation and duties on behalf of himself and the Israelites. First, he bathed his body, and then dressed in prescribed linen garments: undergarments, a coat, a sash, and a turban. He proceeded to offer specific sacrifices according to God’s command. Each animal type served a distinct purpose. For example, a bull was killed for the sin offering, and its blood was placed on the mercy seat and on the altar.

The sacrificial system communicated to Israel that entering into the Sovereign’s presence and beholding His holiness was an extreme honor and a weighty matter. The author of Hebrews explains that these practices were shadows of a greater reality—the heavenly “throne room” and and the once-for-all priestly work of Christ. The earthly rituals, he writes, were “copies of the true things.”

From Isaiah’s experience, we learn that being in God’s presence is humbling. His confession, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips; my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts,” flows from the staggering enormity of the Almighty he saw. The appropriate response to such purity is awareness and confession of one’s own sinfulness.

From the high priest’s duties, we learn that being in God’s presence is sobering. He followed meticulous, sacrificial preparations and directives so God would be pleased and His wrath averted. The event’s seriousness was also reflected in the priest’s attire, which pointed to purity and righteousness (Rev. 19:8)—realities that find their fullness in Jesus, the “great high priest” (Heb. 4:14). This emphasis on purity was further seen in the command to bathe before offering sacrifices. With his life on the line, the high priest demonstrated reverence by obeying every priestly directive without deviation (Lev. 16:2–5).

Approaching with Reverence

These two passages serve as reference points for New Testament believers in understanding what it means to “offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28). The language of “offering” connects our worship to the priestly actions of the Old Testament. When the high priest offered sacrifices, he was worshiping with profound reverence and submission. It is no wonder, then, that God calls Christians—His “royal priesthood”—to approach Him with the same posture as we enter the true “Most Holy Place.”

Cultivating Reverence in the Church

In light of these truths, how can churches cultivate reverence?

First, reverence can be exhibited. Church leaders can intentionally incorporate elements into a service that shape a congregation’s posture before God. These might include extended Scripture reading, the recitation of creeds, pastoral prayer, and responsive readings from catechisms.

Secondly, reverence can be taught. Cultural reference points for formality have waned over the past half century. People no longer dress formally for work, church, or travel, nor do they consistently use honorifics in professional settings. These touchpoints once helped communicate appropriate behavior for particular settings. Today, church leaders must be more intentional. By teaching the passages above, they can help believers recover a sense of the uniqueness and weightiness of corporate worship. Whether in a cathedral or a cafeteria, a formal setting can be marked by reverence.

Finally, reverence cannot be commanded. It is a response to the beauty and power of God rightly seen. The Apostle Thomas insisted he would not believe unless he touched Christ’s wounds. Yet eight days later when Thomas placed his finger and hand on Jesus’ hands and side, he responded with belief and reverence: “My Lord and my God!” The same can occur in our hearts when God’s power and holiness are faithfully proclaimed regularly on Sunday mornings.

The God Who Is a Consuming Fire

A recognition of God’s power underlies each instance of reverence above. The high priest knew it and modeled reverence by carrying out his sacrificial duties precisely. Isaiah encountered the Lord’s superiority when he beheld His majestic throne room and was undone. The author of Hebrews reminds us that God is a “consuming fire.” Unlike earthly fire, which burns and dies out, His holiness is unending. The God of heaven and earth is always worthy of reverent worship because He is forever supreme. May these truths ring out from our pulpits, take root in our hearts, and produce deeper reverence in our churches.

[1] Matthew McDonald, “Eucharist, Unity, Clarity: What Attracts Converts to the Catholic Church?” National Catholic Register, https://www.ncregister.com/news/easter-converts-2024-by-the-numbers; Orthodox Studies Institute, Converts to Orthodoxy: Statistics and Trends from the Past Decade (Saint Constantine College, July 2024), https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1722890523/saintconstantineorg/wwfz57wzdrdkx7tj1xu1/ConvertstoOrthodoxy.pdf.



King Jesus Changes Everything

By / Jun 18

I grew up as a pastor’s kid.

Every week, you would find me at church, and at the age of eight, I confessed my sin, realized my need for forgiveness, and gave my life to Christ.

Like many believers, I grew up saying that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. I knew He had saved me from my sin and that my life was meant to follow Him. But there was a gap between what I confessed and how I lived. I said Jesus was Lord, but I didn’t fully understand what that meant. His rule and reign felt abstract—something I affirmed theologically but hadn’t learned to live under practically. It wasn’t until I began to see Jesus as King that my faith moved from belief to worship, from confession to genuine submission.

In 2017, my wife and I started attending a church in St. Louis where we heard a phrase that caught my attention and, over time, reshaped the way I think about my faith:

King Jesus.

We walked into what is now our home church, and the pastor welcomed the congregation and encouraged us to prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. As someone who had grown up in the church and was already a believer, it immediately stood out—especially when we realized it wasn’t just a one-time phrase. It was regularly used to describe Jesus in the worship service and in the life of the church.

King Jesus Rules Over Every Area of Life

The title King Jesus has helped me move beyond thinking of Jesus as simply my personal Lord and Savior to seeing Him as the triumphant King who rules and reigns over every area of life.

Jesus Himself declared, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). As believers, we are called to relinquish our self-rule and submit our identity and worship to the One who has all authority.

Seeing Jesus as King reminds us that our faith is not confined to a moment of salvation or a private belief. Every part of our lives—our careers, finances, children, and futures—falls under His good and rightful rule. Everything He has given us to steward ultimately falls under His dominion, not ours.

King Jesus Is Reigning—Even Now

Viewing Jesus as King has also given me greater confidence in the midst of life’s uncertainties and society’s instability. The Bible reminds us that Christ is not only our Savior but the One who holds all things together.

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:17).

As the nations rage, kingdoms rise and fall, moral decay deepens, and the world feels chaotic or uncertain, we can rest knowing that King Jesus reigns over all of it.

In a culture that protests authority, we are reminded how deeply the human heart resists the true King who already reigns over everything.

King Jesus Has Brought Us into His Kingdom

Seeing Jesus as King has also reshaped how I understand the story God is telling in Scripture. The gospel is not only the forgiveness of sins; it is the announcement that the true King has come and that through Him we are brought into His Kingdom.

Through His death and resurrection, Jesus defeated sin and death and was enthroned as the rightful King over all creation (Col. 1:13).

The story of the Bible is the story of a conquering and redeeming King who stepped down to earth, died so that we might live, and invites us to become citizens of His Kingdom. The gospel is God’s story of redemption told through the life of a gentle and lowly King who was slain for a sinful and undeserving people.

Living Under King Jesus Today

Seeing Jesus as King has changed the way I understand God and what it means to live a life worthy of His calling. It reminds me that Christianity is not simply about what Jesus has done for me in the past, but about who He is right now.

Jesus is not only the Savior who forgives sins. He is the risen King who rules and reigns over heaven and earth. Because He is King, my life is meant to be lived in joyful submission to Him (Phil. 2:10–11).

The invitation of the gospel is not merely to acknowledge that truth someday, but to begin living under the good and gracious rule of King Jesus today. The title King Jesus has shaped me not only to receive salvation by grace, but also to actively worship the One who secured it.

I spent years confessing Jesus as Lord without fully living under His rule. The phrase King Jesus changed that. It took a truth I had always believed and made it something I could actually live—in worship, in submission, in the joyful recognition that He is King over every part of my life, not just my salvation.



FTC Mailbag

By / Jun 17

In this latest installment of the FTC Mailbag, Jared Wilson and Ronni Kurtz discuss listener-submitted questions and topics, including: family worship, elder pathways, ministry calling, loving a dying church, and sermon scheduling. As always, you can submit a question or topic for the mailbag at any time by emailing [email protected]



How Should Christians Think About Addictive Substances?

By / Jun 16

For most Christians in America, the use of marijuana has been a nonstarter, mainly because it was against the law. But in the last few decades, the move to legalize weed has gained steam. Today, marijuana is still considered a Schedule I illegal substance by the federal government, though twenty-four states and the District of Columbia now allow recreational marijuana. Forty states allow the medical usage of marijuana. So believers must now think biblically and theologically about the use of this increasingly popular plant.

First, we should understand the terms. Cannabis refers to the entire plant, and marijuana refers to the part of the plant grown, harvested, and produced specifically to produce a “high” and thus psychoactive effects. There are parts of the cannabis plant that are neither addictive nor designed to generate a high. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the primary psychoactive compound. For instance, CBD is a popular ingredient in restorative and medical applications. It does not have THC and therefore doesn’t have mind-altering properties.

How should believers think about marijuana and similar substances that have psychoactive effects? While no specific Bible passage addresses marijuana, there are several biblical principles and ideas we should consider.

In Cannabis and the Christian, ethicist Todd Miles recounts visiting a weed dispensary to learn what customers seek:

In doing some research for my presentations on this topic, I visited one of the seemingly ubiquitous marijuana dispensaries near my house. The staff at this shop were extremely patient and helpful, answering many of my questions by pulling out large visual aids with charts and graphics, showing me the different THC products and how they worked. At one point, I asked, rather embarrassingly, if there was any reason to smoke pot recreationally other than to get high. The clerk looked at me like I was an imbecile and laughed, “Why else would anybody smoke pot?”

While there may be a secondary purpose in consuming marijuana, let’s be honest: People use it to get a high. What is a high? A high is a form of intoxication. Scripture doesn’t speak to marijuana, but it does strongly condemn intentional intoxication. To the Ephesians, Paul urges, “And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit” (Eph. 5:18). This passage, like many others, frequently references alcohol, as it was the primary substance in use during the context addressed by the scriptural authors.

Consider this warning from Proverbs 23:

Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has conflicts? Who has complaints? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has red eyes? Those who linger over wine; those who go looking for mixed wine. Don’t gaze at wine because it is red, because it gleams in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say absurd things. You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast. . . . “They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I didn’t know it! When will I wake up? I’ll look for another drink.” (vv. 29–35)

This passage discusses “lingering over wine,” consuming so much that one becomes intoxicated and drunk. Scripture warns of its perils: loss of coherence, lack of control of what one says, hallucinations, and addiction: “I’ll look for another drink.” Scripture never portrays intoxication as a good thing for God’s people. What’s more, often drunkenness—intoxication—is seen as sinful. In Galatians 5:19–21, it is listed as a characteristic of people who “will not inherit the kingdom of God” and is inconsistent with a life in step with the Holy Spirit. A similar sentiment is expressed in 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 and 1 Peter 4:3. In 1 Thessalonians 5:6–8, intoxication is contrasted with sobriety and self-control, that is a characteristic of the spiritually mature follower of Jesus. Nine times the New Testament refers to drunkenness or intoxication in its list of sins.

Scripture also offers examples of the kind of debauchery that can result from intoxication: Noah embarrassed himself with public nakedness (Gen. 9:21). Lot committed incest (Gen. 19:30–38). Nabal risked his life and family before the king (1 Sam. 25:36). The Corinthian Christians blasphemed the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:21). David Mathis is right when he says, “When we turn to the New Testament, drunkenness has no place in the church but belongs to the course of this fallen world and the pattern of rebellion against God.”

Scripture warns against it because the effects of intoxication are many. Families, lives, and communities are often destroyed by violence, infidelity, and loss of control. Scholar Christopher Cook asserts from church history, “At least up until the nineteenth century, these ethical conclusions were remarkably uniform. All agreed that drunkenness was a sin.” If the primary purpose of marijuana is to get high and if intoxication is seen as a sin in Scripture, can a Christian seek to get high and be in obedience to Christ?

 

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Life: Ethical Answers for Cultural Questions, by Daniel Darling, released by B&H Publishing (May 2026).



Sustaining Strength for the Complexity of Pastoral Ministry

By / Jun 11

In 2 Timothy, Paul gives Timothy more than 30 imperatives to guide his ministry to the church at Ephesus—highlighting just how comprehensive the work of pastoral ministry truly is. An overview of some of these imperatives demonstrates this:

  • Share in suffering for the gospel (1:8; 2:3; 2:5)
  • Guard the good deposit entrusted to you (1:14)
  • Entrust what you’ve heard to faithful men (2:2)
  • Think over what I say (2:7)
  • Remind them of these things (2:14)
  • Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved (2:15)
  • Avoid irreverent babble (2:16)
  • Depart from iniquity (2:19)
  • Flee youthful passions (2:22)
  • Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace (2:22)
  • Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies (2:23)
  • Continue in what you have learned (3:14)
  • Preach the word (4:2)
  • Be ready in season and out of season (4:2)
  • Reprove, rebuke, exhort with complete patience and teaching (4:2)
  • Be sober-minded (4:5)
  • Endure suffering (4:5)
  • Do the work of an evangelist (4:5)
  • Fulfill your ministry (4:5)

Faithful oversight of the church—seeking to model these imperatives—is hard, good, and all-encompassing work. Paul’s commands cover the task (guard, think, entrust, preach, evangelize), promote endurance (share in suffering, be ready in season and out of season, continue in what you have learned, fulfill your ministry), instruct discipleship (remind, reprove, rebuke, exhort), and requires integrity (present yourself approved, flee youthful lusts, pursue righteousness, be sober-minded, avoid irreverent babble, and have nothing to do with foolish controversies).

Paul’s heavy list of imperatives presents a high calling for pastors. How should a pastor “fan into flame the gift” (2 Tim 1:6) so that he can do what it takes to fulfill this ministry and to conclude at the end that—“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7)?

Empowered by Grace

It’s interesting to note that all the imperatives carry an active sense to them, except one: “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus” (2:1). This is the only passive imperative in the entire letter.

Pastors can only meet Paul’s commands by being strengthened by grace through Jesus Christ.

Paul describes the grace in detail:

Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God who saved us and called us to a holy calling not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Tim. 1:8–10)

What will keep pastors from being ashamed of the gospel during a hard season? What will keep them from deserting Paul like Demas who was “in love with this present world” (2 Tim. 4:10)? It will not come from merely affirming that death has been abolished and that life and immortality have been brought to light—but they must be strengthened by such grace, deriving strength, faith, and conviction to carry out the work of ministry. This is a supernatural work of God through the Spirit. It’s experienced—not just affirmed—and the experience comes from outside as we meditate on the reality of grace—“remember Jesus Christ risen from the dead” (2 Tim. 2:8).

Paul concludes the letter with his testimony of God doing this in his ministry:

At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (2 Tim 4:16–18)



When Church Prayers Go Weird

By / Jun 10

In this episode of the FTC Podcast, Jared Wilson and Ronni Kurtz discuss the prayer in the church. Why do some of us find it so difficult? What do we make of awkward or even absent prayer in our gatherings? Why does public church prayer sometimes feel so weird?



Do I Have to Give to My Local Church?

By / Jun 9

While many Christians give to their local church, many only give directly to specific people and causes in the name of careful stewardship. Their reasoning goes something like this: “If I give to my church, while some of it goes to its various ministries, much of it funds staff salaries, building overhead, fellowship events, and VBS crafts. To be sure, those are good things, but I want my financial generosity to help starving children, trafficked women, villages without clean water, and missionaries. It’s not that my church isn’t important. I just think my money can make a bigger difference if I give it elsewhere.”

As long as believers give generously to needy people and worthy causes, do they really need to give to their local church?

Who Funds the Church?

Of all the justifications I’ve heard for not giving to the local church, the “maximum impact” argument is the strongest I’ve come across. After all, sheltering children in Uganda does seem more urgent than helping fund your church’s weekend parenting conference.

And yet, as intuitive as this line of reasoning might seem, it’s problematic to make perceived impact the sole determinative metric for how we give.

While there are a variety of reasons believers ought to give to their local church, the NT repeatedly offers one that renders the “impact only” giving strategy unbiblical despite being well-intended.

Consider for a moment: How has God designed the church to be supported financially? Who funds its ministries and ministers?

Students of church history know that in the past, the state served as the church’s primary benefactor. Indeed, the title ‘Magisterial Reformer’ refers to Protestants like Luther and Calvin who “worked for the reconstruction of Christendom in alliance with the secular magistrates of Europe”[1]

While well-meaning Christians continue to debate about church-state relations, it’s important to recognize that the Scriptures themselves never place the responsibility of bankrolling the church at the feet of Caesar. Instead, they call the church’s members—the believers who directly benefit from its ministers and ministries—to provide the needed resources.

Not Charity, but Fairness

For Paul, giving isn’t merely a call to dig deep and show compassion. It’s often presented as an issue of fairness.

For example, while he personally forgoes financial support, he exhorts the Corinthians to provide materially for those who sow among them spiritually: “The plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop. If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things from you? If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we even more?” (1 Cor. 9:10–12).

Similarly, in Galatians 6:6, Paul writes, “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.” Finally, Paul tells Timothy: “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.” (1 Tim. 5:17–18).

For Thomas Schreiner, Paul’s logic is straightforward: “Those who proclaim the gospel have sown, so to speak, spiritual seed, and because they have done so, they should reap a material harvest—that is, they should be supported financially.”[2]

Contribute Where You Benefit

Notice that in each of the exhortations cited above, Paul consistently articulates two principles: (1) Those who give themselves to teaching the Word should be financially supported and (2) their financial support should come from those who benefit from their instruction.

Providing the “laborer’s wages” isn’t the responsibility of the state or a few wealthy church members—it’s the collective responsibility of the believers who reap spiritual fruit from those who labor among them in preaching and teaching.

Stated plainly: If you benefit, you should contribute.

Properly examining your giving strategy is not a matter of asking, “Do Paul’s instructions resonate with me?” but “Am I doing what God’s Word says? Are those who are sowing spiritually among me reaping materially from me?”

If you answer, “No, because I think my money can serve better ends by giving it elsewhere,” then not only are you disregarding apostolic instruction, but you’re also allowing your share of the burden to fall on someone else—in the name of God-honoring generosity!

Don’t Forget Commonsense

We have no problem giving money to things we value.

That’s why it’s difficult to conceive of believers who tip their server after a meal out (after 45 minutes of service) more than they gave to their church last year. After all, the church is not a mere product we consume but the blood-bought institution ordained by God to make and grow disciples of all nations.

Similarly, if you have Netflix, Amazon Prime, or Disney+, it’s because you value the benefits it offers enough to pay for it.

And yet, what does it say if we compensate Netflix because we value Stranger Things, but don’t give a penny to the church that invests in our souls?

If your local church isn’t interested in disciple making or doesn’t benefit your soul in the long term, by all means find another one (after you’re certain that church is really the problem). But to regularly gain spiritual benefit from its various ministries and to make no financial contribution is simply a failure to submit to Scripture.

Both-And

Must believers restrict their giving to the local church? Absolutely not. As a pastor, I directly support a number of worthy causes and individuals and encourage others to do the same as they have opportunity. Rather, we should make sure our relief-oriented giving serves as a supplement to—not a substitute for—local church giving. Scripture calls us to more than giving materially where we reap spiritually, but not less.

[1] Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation: A History (New York: Penguin Books, 2005), 143 (Kindle Edition).

[2] Thomas R. Schreiner, 1 Corinthians: An Introduction and Commentary, TNTC (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2018), 186.