by Kent Leslie ✉️
Share all his good things with the teacher. [
Now there are some Christians who don’t like this interpretation, and insist Paul’s only talking about spiritual good things. Like sharing your testimony with your teacher: “Hey, I took the things you taught in class, and applied them, and God did this ’n that.” I like this idea; it’s encouraging. But the reason Christians have historically gone with the material interpretation, is because it fit the culture of Jesus and Paul’s day; and because the other verses in this paragraph make it sound like yes, Paul really did mean “You need to pay your teacher.” (Whatever a person sows they reap in verse 7; let us work for all, particularly those of the household of faith, in verse 10.)
Okay, cultural context. In Jesus and Paul’s day, when someone ministered to you, the custom was to give them something. Like food, like money; like a tip. In fact (and this happened to me when I went to Israel in 1998) certain rabbis will offer to pray for you, and once they finish praying, they immediately stick their hands out for a tip. I haven’t seen this done in the States, but I was told by eyewitnesses it happens. Still.
I gotta admit: This custom bothers me a little. I don’t like the idea of tipping your pastor; as if every time Curt preaches a really good sermon, we oughta slip him a five. In practice, this is gonna tempt people to tweak their messages to get tips, and please people instead of pleasing God. (I’m not at all saying Curt would do that; but let’s just not put that temptation in front of him, shall we?) Regular paychecks are far more appropriate.
I should also point out Paul made himself an exception to this rule. Paul didn’t wanna get paid for preaching the gospel. He went out of his way to raise his own money. He talks about it more than once in the scriptures.
1Th 2.9 : For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you.
Paul also made this a requirement for everyone on his team. You remember the saying, “If any would not work, neither should he eat”? (Some Christians really love to use this saying out of context, and claim it applies to any person they consider lazy.) It comes from Paul’s rules for his ministry team:
2Th 3.8 : We did not eat anyone’s food free of charge; instead, we labored and toiled, working night and day, so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 It is not that we don’t have the right to support, but we did it to make ourselves an example to you so that you would imitate us. 10 In fact, when we were with you, this is what we commanded you: “If anyone isn’t willing to work, he should not eat.”
Now this was Paul’s custom. He wasn’t saying all ministers should raise their own funds, and pay their own way, like he did. He’s only saying he wanted to donate his time. Lots of us want to donate our time. I don’t wanna get paid for teaching Sunday School. “Freely you received, freely give,” [
I admit I personally prefer the interpretation where “share all things with the teacher” is purely spiritual… but it’s probably not the correct interpretation; the traditional one is. And I’m not allowed to reinterpret the scriptures to make myself comfortable. That’d be fleshly.
Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked. [
And if we indulge in works of the flesh, or as Paul puts it, sows to his flesh, such a person will reap destruction from the flesh. [
We should particularly do good by the household of faith. [