WEDNESDAY’S WORD – TENTMAKING – Sadell Bradley- 12/7/16 New Life Covenant Cincinnati

These days most think of clergy as a paid profession. Preachers teach that the Levites had no business inheritance and were set aside to be wholly devoted to the Lord. (Deut.10:8-9) Catholic priests and nuns with vows of poverty and chastity lead neighborhood parishes. There are full-time denominational and megachurch pastors. But 59% of America’s churches

have 100 members or less and 94% are under 500 members. (Hartford Institute for Religion Research) So MOST clergy are bi-vocational. They shepherd their flocks and have other jobs to meet their family’s needs. I’ve been on both sides of this equation, and both present challenges. There is a struggle with work-life balance. We are torn between the demanding commitments of the day-job and leadership responsibilities. On the other side, it’s easy to lose touch and empathy with parishioners’ experience if you’ve never worked in a secular job.

The Apostle Paul was a bi-vocational minister, as were Priscilla and Aquila, two other prominent teachers. Now we associate Tent-making with missionaries who go overseas and teach English or do another job in a clandestine fashion to open doors for the Gospel in closed countries. Paul was working a regular job, but he also believed in material compensation for spiritual work (1 Cor,9:11-14; Gal. 6:6) He worked and he received support from the churches. In certain circumstances, he committed to working as an example, or he didn’t want to be a burden to the churches in a region, (2 Thess. 3:7-8) but he made tents.

The other day one of our members, who happens to work with me proclaimed, “your Jesus never goes off!”  What a glorious thing to hear! (wish it were 100% true, lol!) Se

eing me be the same in a secular setting said what we teach in church is real and not just conjecture or for show. Tent-making is NOT a second-class ministerial status. We are ALL to be preachers of the Gospel in our spheres of influence! Perhaps more pastors might consider this example, if even for a short time. Sure, sometimes I long to devote all my time to leading and caring for the flock. Then I recall that my leader, Jesus the Carpenter, was a small business owner!