It's interesting to note that the great Apostle Paul worked as a tentmaker, a laborer, a part-time preacher, one might say. There are very few passages where he urges the churches to support him financially. In contrast, today's radio and television evangelists routinely "communicate their needs" to all of the listeners.
Today the radio and television ministers continually tell the listeners how giving to their ministry will meet the listeners' requirement for fulfilling the great commission (to preach the gospel to every creature). This evokes a picture of Christians pulling out their checkbooks (or booting up their computers), writing a check or posting a donation, and heaving a sigh of relief that they have met their Christian obligation. While it is true that some people's motivational gift is giving (mine, apparently, is not) one questions the integrity of this money-raising technique.
The Apostle Paul, on the other hand, writing to the churches, frequently shared that he was working night and day so as not to be a burden to anyone. How different from the Christian celebrities of today. In I Thessalonians 2:9, the following sentence from his letter appears: "For you remember, brethren, our labor and toil; for laboring night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, we preached to you the gospel of God."
The point is that Paul worked like everybody else. Although he expressed that "the worker was worthy of his hire" and that he had a right to be supported by the gospel, he did not report that he depended on the people's donations for either his livelihood or the spreading of the gospel.
Paul did not tell his listeners that his message would be going off the air if they did not come up with the funds. Of course, in the days when Paul was preaching there were no radios or televisions (lucky for them).
Paul may have remembered that Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew 10:8, "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give." He knew the gospel was not intended to be reduced to a corporation.
Whatever Christians do for a living, they are ministers of the gospel. They may consider themselves in the “wilderness” while God prepares them for “greater things.” They may stay where they are. What’s important is to live wholeheartedly for Jesus.
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