Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. – Nehemiah 5:14

 Today's Scripture Reading (October 3, 2020): Nehemiah 5

What should a pastor be paid? It is an argument that probably has as many answers as there are people who are willing to tackle the question. Admittedly, there are a few pastors who are very well paid, sometimes living in rural mansions worthy of a CEO of a major corporation. And whenever the question of a religious leader's pay comes up, some people usually send me a picture of these magnificent homes with the question, why do these people get a tax break? But the reality is that for every one of these "rich pastors," there are probably a hundred and more likely a thousand pastors barely getting by.

So, how much is enough or too much? In my circles, usually, the question of pay goes along with the idea of education and experience. So, I hold a Master's Degree in theology, which means I get paid less than someone who holds a Doctorate, but more than someone who has a Bachelor's degree. I also have almost thirty years of experience, which means, on most scales, I am on the higher end of the experience chart, so I should make -?

But there is another way of looking at paying the pastor. And this one avoids considering education and experience, and looks at the people who pay the pastor, the congregation, and asks this question; How much do they make? The argument is that the pastor should make approximately the average of the people that he serves. In a congregation that is made up of people who are good wage earners, the pastor should be well paid. For those who serve a more impoverished community, the pastor makes less. The idea is that the pastor needs to understand the challenges of the people, and a rich pastor serving a poor congregation misses one of those critical challenges.

I have no idea where I am on the chart. And this is not a message sent to my board requesting a raise, because I suspect according to the last standard, my wage is not far off of the average. And that means that I have should have a voice when it comes to understanding the struggle of the people to whom I am a servant.

Sometimes I wish other servant positions worked the same way. I mean, how much does a millionaire (or billionaire) political leader understand about the daily financial challenges of the average citizen? How can they know when it is outside of their everyday experience?

Nehemiah seemed to understand this concept. The people worked hard and often went hungry. And so, Nehemiah believed that he should as well. If he was to empathize with his people, he had to share in their experiences. As a result, Nehemiah shared the food allotted to him because of his position with the hungry people living in the area. They did not want to be a burden on the people. And when the people went hungry, so did the government. They would share now in the trials present in Jerusalem, hoping that one day they would be able to share in the bounty.  

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 6