10250 North Freeway @ West Road
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10250 North Freeway @ West
Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
What
We Believe and Why - Vol. II
Written by Dr.
Lester Hutson
Copyright
- Lester Hutson - 1982
This material is copyrighted and may not be copied or reproduced
without the express written permission of Dr. Lester Hutson.
Chapter Twenty Nine
A Hired Priest
INTRODUCTION: TEXT: Judges 18:4
Today I shall talk to you about "A Hired Priest." The story of this priest is found in Judges 17-18. The story begins in Judges 17:1, with a man of Ephraim named Micah. He and his mother made a molten image and a graven image of gold. Of course, this was expressly forbidden of God, who said, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth" (Exodus 20:3-4). Micah and his mother, though they were not Levites, also made "an ephod and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became his priest." (Judges 17:5) This same verse says Micah "had an house of gods."
In time a certain young Levite man came traveling through Mount Ephraim. When Micah learned he was Levite, he said unto him, "Dwell with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee ten shekels of silver by the year, and a suit of apparel, and thy victuals." (Judges 17:10) The remainder of Judges 17 continues, "So the Levite went in. And the Levite was content to dwell with the man; and the young man was unto him as one of his sons. And Micah consecrated the Levite; and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah. Then said Micah, Now know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." (Judges 17:10-13) You talk about a man who was willing to pervert things and delude himself, this Micah was. Like a lot of people today, he mixed a little bit of correctness and orthodoxy with his own religious error, and yet was as self-righteous and pious about it as can be. When it was convenient, he was happy to have a Levite to be his priest, because only Levites were to be priests. Of course, he had no real conviction in the matter, because when there was no Levite handy, he just made his own Ephraimite son his priest. And, while he had an ephod, he also had a house full of graven, false gods of gold. Here is a fellow who was bound to have his religion one way or the other. If it was convenient to have it the right way, then that is how he would have it. But if he couldn't easily have it the right way, he was still going to have it. Right or wrong really didn't matter too much with him, just so long as he was doing his religious thing.
Micah thought the Lord was going to bless him and do him good just because he had a Levite for his priest. It never seemed to dawn on him that the priest was an hireling and that he had violated the will of God at every turn with his graven images, counterfeit priestly artifacts, and his illegal house of worship. Well folks, the fact is that God didn't bless and preserve this man just because he had a Levite priest. Chapter 18 tells how a band of warriors came from the tribe of Dan. When they discovered the Levite priest, they decided they'd take him and make him their priest. This bunch of Danites were really no better and had no more convictions than Micah the Ephraimite. They should have all been worshipping in spirit and truth at Shiloh, where the true priests served in the tabernacle, but they weren't. So they took this renegade Levite priest reasoning that he would be better off serving their whole tribe than he was serving just the house of Micah. (Judges 18:19) Judges 18:20 says the Levite was glad about that. It is a classic case of the highest bidder, most prestige policy. Of course, since there were more of the Danites, and they were stronger than the house of Micah, there was nothing Micah and his bunch could do to prevent the loss of their hired priest. (See Judges 18:22-26.)
Now folks, there is a real lesson here for us. Though there are some strong differences, yet there are also some very strong parallels between the priest-people relationship of the Old Testament and the pastor-church relationship of the New Testament, including our time period. Let me make very clear that no priest-people hierarchy exists today. Every believer is a priest. Revelation 1:5-6 speaks of Christ who "loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father." Revelation 5:9-10 says He has "And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." Revelation 20:6 says, "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." The priesthood of every believer is a well established, Biblical fact. Not just the pastor and staff members, but the deacons, the Sunday School teachers, the choir members and every other born again member of the church is a priest. No member needs to come to me, or any staff member, to say confession or offer a sacrifice. Members of the church are to go directly to Jesus Christ, who is our high priest.
Nevertheless, as there was a distinction between the priests of the Old Testament, and the people they served, likewise, there is a Biblical distinction between the pastor and those who serve the church in a full-time capacity and the other members of the church body. In fact, in some ways the Old Testament priest-people relationship is a foreshadow of the current New Testament pastor-church relationship. The priest did serve the people in a full-time capacity, just as pastors serve the church in a full-time capacity. Just as the Old Testament priests were never to be hirelings, likewise the New Testament pastor is never to be a hireling. And, just as it was an Old Testament abomination for the people to think the priest belonged to them and that they could hire him to do their work for them, likewise today it is an abomination for the members of the church to think they own the pastor and full-time workers and that they can hire them to do their work for them.
I. ONE OF THE PROBLEMS IN OUR TEXT IS THAT THERE WAS A PRIEST FOR HIRE.
A. The Levite of this text was nothing more than a fickle hireling.
1. Judges 17:8 will show you that this young man was looking for a job. It didn't seem to matter to him that he had to compromise and go to a house of graven images (false gods) to get it. As a typical hireling, as soon as a better offer came along he gladly took it. You can see that in Judges 18:19-20. He had the "highest bidder" concept. Be it Micah, or the Danites, he went where the money and action was. He was much like Balaam, the son of Beor, in Numbers 22-24. He spoke the right words, and you'd have thought, from what he said, that he was a dedicated, God-fearing prophet. But he wasn't. He loved money, and while he spoke like he'd say and do only what God told him, he consistently sought in his heart to find a way to appear like a faithful prophet of God, yet violate what God said, so that he might get the money.
2. This Levite was really just a hireling. Job said, "A servant earnestly desireth the shadow and as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work." (Job 7:2) The hireling has no real concern and conviction for the job he is doing. He's only interested in his own personal well being and gain in a matter. Selfishness has prevailed in his life. Jesus said, "But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep." (John 10:12-13)
3. It is sad to say, but there are still hirelings in full-time Christian service today. With some, it is just a job. There is no conviction of dedication to God. Some preach and do what the people want to hear and see done, not what God's Word teaches or what is right. They'll change churches regardless of what they have to compromise to make the change, providing the money and prestige is right. Some serve on their jobs, doing as little as they can get by with doing and still hold the job. It is a sad state of affairs when those who pastor and serve God in a full-time capacity are mainly interested in pay day and "getting off" time. It is a sad state of affairs when a servant of God is swayed by public opinion, or by people in the church who have power, money, or influence.
B. God's pastors answer to God, and they ought to preach and do what He says, regardless of what the wage is or what the people say and do.
1. Though he didn't practice it, Balaam put it well when he said to Balak, king of Moab, "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more." (Numbers 22:18 and Numbers 24:13) He further said, "The word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak." (Numbers 23;26) He asked in Numbers 23:8, "How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the LORD hath not defied?"
2. God's desire for the integrity of pastors and those who work full time in His service, is as clear as crystal in Deuteronomy 5:32-33. God said, "Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess." The New Testament counterpart to that is II Timothy 4:1-5, "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry." Folks, preachers are not to preach and do what the church wants to hear and be done. They are to be true to God's Word. They are to preach the truth and do right whether the people like it or not.
3. It is God who puts a man into the ministry in the first place, (I Timothy 1:12), and they must give a direct account of their ministry to God. (Hebrews 13:17) No church owns its preacher; God does. The church is not the boss and directory of the preacher; God is. They must work in harmony with each other, taking their mutual needs into consideration, yet be always aware of the fact that God owns the preacher and charges him to be faithful to the word of truth, regardless of the cost. Any time a preacher (or other full-time worker) starts looking to please the people, and say and do what is popular rather than seek to say and do what pleases God, he has become an hireling and is a reproach to the cause of Christ. James clearly says, "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons." (James 2:1) He continued in verse 9, "But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors." God forbid that any of God's servants, especially His pastors, would seek to ignore God's will in favor of pleasing people or in favor of money other material considerations. II Timothy 2:4 says, "No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." Those pastors who fail in this have "a lying spirit" according to I Kings 22:22-23. Such ones are hirelings and a reproach to the ministry. God's pastors need conviction and dedication to His will, not the spirit of the Levite who went to the highest bidder.
C. Some reason that since the church pays the pastor's income the church is the pastor's employer and boss.
1. It is true that the church has the God-given responsibility of providing the economic needs of its pastor (or pastors), but God is the boss or employer. Even the Internal Revenue recognizes this. Remember that it is God who puts men into the ministry, (I Timothy 1:12), and to whom they must answer (Hebrews 13:17). Whatever is done is to be done to honor and to please Him. (I Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:23)
2. It is as though God says to the church, "This is my man. He answers to me, but I have sent him to supply your need for spiritual food and leadership. I want you to supply his economic needs. In order that you might to that, I'll supply your needs." We've already seen that pastors are to preach the truth to the church. (II Timothy 4:1-2) God says to His pastors, "Feed my sheep." (John 21:15-17) Then He says to the sheep in the church, "Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." (1 Corinthians 9:14) The apostle Paul spoke from the pastor's viewpoint in I Corinthians 9:11 and said, "If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things?" In Romans 15:27 he said, "For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things." Jesus said, "The laborer is worthy of his hire," (Luke 10:7), and "The workman is worthy of his meat." (Matthew 10:10) Specifically speaking of pastors in the church, I Timothy 5:17-18 says, "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward."
3. The pastor doesn't own the church, and the church doesn't own the pastor. They both belong to God. Yet, it is the God-given responsibility of the pastor to feed and minister to the church, and it is the God-given responsibility of the church to supply the economic needs of the pastor(s). Both the pastor and the church need to be aware that God is the one who is ultimately sustaining them. If one pastor will not supply the spiritual leadership for the church, God can move him off the scene and bring in one who will. And if one church will not supply the needs of its pastor, God can take him to some other place where his needs will be met. God proved that with Elijah in I Kings 17:1-16.
II. THE SECOND MAJOR PROBLEM IN THE TEXT IS THAT THE PEOPLE HIRED A PRIEST.
A. The people of this text had them a religious man hired to take care of their religious matters.
1. Micah just paid a salary to the Levite, then went about his other business. The Danites came along and did basically the same thing.
2. That was such a convenient arrangement. They just paid somebody to take care of their work. It wasn't that they weren't religious. Obviously they were or they wouldn't have put out money to have somebody like the Levite in the first place. Their problem was in thinking they could pay somebody else to discharge their personal responsibilities to God. Their sin was in their service to God "by proxy" approach.
B. Oh how much like many churches these people were.
1. Too many church members view the pastor and staff just like Micah and the Danites viewed the Levite. They've hired a pastor and staff to do their work. They don't figure they need to do any soul winning. After all, that is what they're paying the preacher to do. They reason that they shouldn't have to work on the maintenance and improvement of the church properties, plan or organize for special occasions, or help recruit people for the church. That is what they're paying the preacher and staff to do.
2. It is the same age old rotten-to-the-core "I'll do my serving God by proxy" attitude. It is the idea that the success of the church is the responsibility of the preacher and staff. "As long as I go to church and pay my tithes, I've done my duty. I'm paying them to do my work for me." Many could adopt the words of Micah for their very own. He said, "Now know I that the Lord will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to be my priest." (Judges 17:13)
C. But, oh how foreign that is to the Biblical concept of service of God.
1. The truth is that every member is responsible to some degree for the church's success or failure. Every member, including the pastor, is to support the church with his tithes and offerings, and at the same time support the church to the maximum of his capacity with his time and talents.
2. Listen to Ephesians 4:16, "From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." I Corinthians 12:12-27 is a detailed passage showing that every church member has the responsibility to be actively engaged in the work of the church. There is not one hint of Bible evidence to support the idea that you can do all your soul winning through the pastor and missionaries, or that you can discharge any of your other personal responsibilities to God by proxy. Christianity is not just a professional business to be practiced by a group of professional pastors and staff people. Folks, Christianity is a personal matter for every child of God. Paul wrote, "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." (II Corinthians 9:6-7) There is no reason to believe this reference is limited to the giving of money. No. God's church members are to give however much their particular capacities will allow in every area.
D. Some then ask, "Why then do we have a paid pastor and full-time staff?"
1. The work of a church is of such a magnitude that there is a need for someone to give full-time attention and leadership to it. Naturally, the larger the church the greater the need for more full-time personnel members. Such a statement is not based solely on logical, human reasoning, although the fact is readily obvious, but it is based upon God's Word. Remember I Corinthians 9:14, "Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel." Notice that the Lord ordained this principle. Again remember, I Timothy 5:17-18, "Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward." The Old Testament foreshadows this in that the priests were to live exclusively of the income provided by the people, and in turn, give themselves wholly to the work of the Lord. The apostles in Acts 6 indicated the same applies to New Testament preachers, when they said in verses 2-4, "It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word."
2. Pastors and full-time staff people are not paid to do the spiritual work of the people. To the contrary, their economic needs are to be met so that they may give themselves fully to the work of the Lord. Most of the members must work at secular jobs in order to support their families and meet the economic demands upon them. They cannot give their time and talents fully to the work of the church. They should do all they can, but the demands of life limit them. But with the pastor and staff people, the church provides for their economic needs, thus freeing them from the normal economic demands of life, so that they may give themselves fully to the work of the Lord.
3. They are not hired to do the work of the people. They are paid so that they will be able to give all their time and talents to the work of the Lord. This work is not "in the place of" others within the church. In fact, by their being free to give their entire energies to the work, a much greater and better job should be accomplished than would be accomplished without any full-time people.
4. This is God's way. Adherence to His principles gets His work done best. It is when His people begin to twist and pervert His teachings that troubles begin. Therefore, may God forbid that any member in any church ever get the idea that he has a pastor and staff hired to take care of his spiritual responsibilities. May he always determine to personally do all he can, while at the same time, through his tithes and offerings, enabling some others to give their entire lives to full-time Christian service.
"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"