Day 3: The Inheritance of a Servant

The Lord said to Aaron, "You will have no inheritance in their land, nor will you have any share among them; I am your share and your inheritance among the Israelites." Numbers 18:20

Not only is their a huge privilege and responsibility when serving God, but their is much sacrifice as well! Let's distinguish what we are speaking of here.... We, as followers of Christ, are all called to serve the Lord. Though the call is the same, the direction the call will lead each one of us is usually different. Some are called to a life of volunteering and living as an example to others in their walk with the Lord and in their daily lives. Others are called to a life of full-time ministry which is dedicated solely to preaching and reaching the lost! Now, neither one of these calls is better than the other. However, the weight and responsibility is definitely heavier on those who claim to be called by God as His ministers.

Once again this is a beautiful picture of the body of Christ. It is essential that we have a variety of people within the body to provide all the needs! For each of us to be challenged where we are weak and to thrive in our strengths. This includes financial situations as well. There are many ministers and missionaries who depend on the body to provide for them financially in order for them to give fully to the work of the Kingdom. This would not be possible without others in the body who work, make money and give to the Kingdom! Do you see how both positions are important and necessary in order for the Kingdom to function? Don't get me wrong, God doesn't really need our money, but He does challenge us in these areas to serve Him and trust Him!

I also believe there is another real issue here.... Taking care of the leaders of the Church does not merely include a paycheck! Remember how God instructed the Israelites to make the Levites a part of their celebrations? We also need to be concerned with building up our leaders and taking care of them emotionally as well. It must have been a problem even with the Israelites as it is today. We don't see the ministers as real people. Let me explain... this is our attitude toward them: We treat them as if they're at our disposal because that's what God has called them to. They do all the work at the church, we don't--we're not paid! And then we feel, since we're "tithing members, " that we can complain when the minister(s) does something we don't like! We hold them to higher standards than we do ourselves! And on top of that, it never crosses our mind to give them a word of encouragement or thank them for the hard work they do!.... It's sad, really... In the "real world" a person usually doesn't stay at a job where they're constantly critiqued (especially by people who haven't been trained in their expertise)! In the "real world" a person wouldn't stay at a job where they never get a raise (because that's not godly, right?).... I understand not everyone has this attitude, and certainly there are plenty of churches that work hard to take good care of their ministers. I just want to expose the attitude that I've run into often.... God has called these people to minister for Him to YOU! They are not perfect, but they are called by God. We should love on them, encourage them and take good care of them so they are better able to do Kingdom work instead of being weighted down by abuse or discouragement within the body.

How have you encouraged leaders within the body of Christ where you are currently serving? Have you yourself experienced being taken care of or not being taken care of as a minister? Do you have any other thoughts concerning all of this?