Honorable Work (1 Timothy 5:17-18)

Whatever you’ve got going on this morning as you start a new week, I just want to remind you that being a good pastor is honorable. That’s what our text, 1 Timothy 5:17 and 18, is going to show us.

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.’”

The first thing I want to point out: Elders who rule well are honorable.

That’s what the beginning of verse 17 says: “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor.” Now, “rule” basically means manage; as it’s translated elsewhere when it talks about the elder qualifications, that they must be able to manage their households well. It has the idea of leading with oversight, administrating, and taking care of business.

“Well” means excellently, nobly. It’s where we got the title of this podcast. Where it says that whoever desires the office of overseer desires a noble task, that’s this same word here. It’s the idea of excellence. So, elders who rule or manage and administrate well, nobly, and excellently, let them be considered worthy of double honor. That word “honor” means value, respect, and it often includes the idea of financial compensation, which we’ll see a little bit later.

The big idea for you this morning, as you’re starting your new week, is that your day-to-day work as a pastor is honorable work. Your shepherding work, your visits, your notes of encouragement, your awkward words of correction where necessary, your protective eye over your congregation is honorable work.

Your oversight work, the decision-making, the giving direction to volunteers and to boards and committees, the ordering of the life of your church, the resolving of conflicts is honorable work.

When you have to engage in church discipline, the “dirty work” of being a pastor. Your time spent in prayer over your church members in the sanctuary that nobody knows about. The little acts of practical service that you do. All of this is honorable work.

So, as you order your week, as you sit down ask yourself, “What are my priorities? What’s urgent? What’s important? What do I need to be focused on?”, whether you’re a full-time pastor or bivocational, however you’re thinking about your week ahead, just remember that the energies you give to serving as a pastor, to ruling well, are well spend on honorable work. So, do it with the highest level of excellence that you can. Do it with this nobility that we talk about, because it’s important, it’s valuable, and it’s honorable. Even if our society doesn’t acknowledge it, even if it doesn’t feel like it, it is, according to the Bible.

Second thing I want to point out: Elders who rule well and labor in preaching and teaching are especially honorable.

Look back at verse 17: “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.” Don’t miss that word “labor.” It’s a strong word. It’s the idea of exerting yourself to the point of exhaustion, fatigue, and weariness. It’s the notion of straining toward the completion of the task.

It’s hard work to preach and teach well. It’s not the only task you have, but it is one of the most challenging tasks you have as a pastor. And so, as you plan your week, make room for that labor. I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, both inside the church and out, but I want to encourage you to remember that it is hard work to preach and teach well, and this is one of the highest parts of our very high calling.

So, block off time, find a place where you can focus, give it its due attention, and embrace the fact that it’s going to be hard. There’s no getting around it. It is laborsome, but it is honorable.

The third and final point: Elders who rule well and labor in preaching and teaching deserve their wages.

Now, that’s an odd and awkward one to talk about, but let’s look back at it again in the text: “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor… For the Scripture says… ‘The laborer deserves his wages.’”

When I was first coming out of seminary, I had this kind of idealistic notion that I wanted to basically serve in ministry, but I wanted to do it in a financially “no strings attached” kind of way. I actually remember saying that to someone who was serving in vocational ministry, and I look back and think, “What an idiot,” to say that to that person, because he was receiving compensation and it must have come across kind of arrogant and judgy for me to have said that.

But then, when the doors opened and I had the opportunity to focus fully on pastoral ministry, I jumped at the chance, because everything in me wants to devote myself to this work. And for that to be possoible, we have to be compensated. There’s no way to provide for a family otherwise if you’re going to be in full-time vocational ministry.

What I see here and what I want to convey to you is just that it is fitting for you as a pastor to receive compensation for your work on behalf of the church. It’s not something you should feel ashamed of or bad about; it is encoded in Scripture. Just like the ox was allowed to eat while it treaded out the grain, pastors should not starve to death, and their families should not starve to death.

So, it is fitting and okay to receive compensation from your church. However, it’s also okay to do otherwise, like Paul chose to do. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul talks about his right as an apostle to receive compensation for his labors, but he set aside that right because he felt like it might be a stumbling block in his situation. He had a skill to earning money otherwise, and so he took care of himself that way, and that’s an honorable route to go as well.

If you have a skill that could take care of your family without compensation from your church, and in your setting and situation that seems better, either because the church can’t really afford to compensate or there’s some reason that it’s a stumbling block for the church to do so, that’s great. Go for it. If you’re in a circumstance where your church can afford to compensate you and that’s what you want to do, that’s good and valid as well.

High and Holy Privilege

Whether you’re full-time, bivocational, or volunteer in your pastoral ministry, it is honorable work, and it’s worth every effort this week to do it nobly, with excellence.

If today is your day of rest because yesterday, Sunday, was so exhausting, get your rest. Let that rest rejuvenate you to hit the ground running tomorrow morning. If you are bivocational and you’re hard at work at your normal job right now where you’re listening to this, I commend you, admire you, and encourage you: when you’re able to give attention to your pastoral role and responsibilities, do it with all your might. Do it with all the excellence you can muster.

If you’re like me, you look back on a lot of weeks and you feel like, “I don’t know if I really did an excellent job this week,” not from lack of desire, but just because I was tired, or I had this unexpected thing come up, or whatever. The grace of Jesus Christ covers all that. You don’t need to beat yourself up. Pick yourself up this week and remember the high, holy privilege we have to serve in these ways. We get to do this, and it is an honor. And so let’s do it in an honorable fashion.