First, give freely and joyfully.
The pastor is not spending the church’s money when he is paid. Tithers are not buying stock in the man and do not become a board of directors managing his household budget. Don’t determine where and how he should give by paying him little.
Second, aspire to free your pastor from financial pressure.
A shepherd should not be spending his time and energy worrying about how he will pay the electric bill.
Third, give the man some dignity.
He has studied long. He works hard. “Worthy of double honor” (I Timothy 5:17) may be difficult to define precisely, but it should at least mean that the pastor is paid well enough that he can pick up a check from time to time and is not always dependent, like a servant, on the occasional, unexpected generosity of his friends.
Fourth, pay him well enough that he is able to give with great generosity.
There are a few other principles I’d encourage us to remember.
Don’t begrudge the pastor’s other paying work. If he writes a book or speaks at a conference, do not see it as robbing your church of the hours he is to put in. See it as an opportunity for your pastor, and your local body, to serve the broader body.
If your pastor is well-paid and still feeling financial pressure, send him to Financial Peace University or a similar program.
Finally, if he really and truly is in it for the money, such will show apart from the money. A hireling is a hireling no matter how well or poorly he is paid. You don’t avoid hirelings by paying little, but by paying attention.
Finally, remember that the pastor is not an employee of the church.
To be sure, he is under the earthly authorities of the session and his presbytery. But he is also a servant of the king, an undershepherd under the Great Shepherd. His job description includes the dangerous business of speaking the truth to power. Never let financial fear be used against his calling.
I leave you with no magic number, no calculus to come up with one. But that’s OK, for neither did the Bible.
