Psalm 35:27 *Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant*
*THE EXCESSES* (b)
During my service year, an incident happened with one of our guest ministers. I won't forget that incident in a hurry. We invited him to preach on the last sunday of one of our orientation services. As the president, I was unavoidably absent on that day so I left the service in care of my lieutenants.
The afternoon of that Sunday, I received a call and was told that our guest raised offerings. After the service, he entered the counting room, he took the money and blessed it and then divided it into half and went away with it. The money was huge because what was left was over half a million or close to it.
He told the counters and my excos that they can give me some parts of the money. Probably, he said that thinking that would buy me over. His action infuriated me. I felt like flying from where I was to the place. I reported the case to our national office. That was the last time I invited him.
If he had told me he was in need, it was within my power to give him something good but he took what does not belong to him manipulatively. That leads us to another extreme or excesses about ministers support.
*2#.Raising Honorarium for self*
2 Corinthians 2:17 NLT
*You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us*.
What that preacher did is unethical and sinful in my own opinion. I remember another meeting where a preacher raised offering and his P.A.collected it and took it straight into his car.
The host did not authorize him to do so. He got the emotions of people so high and vulnerable to the point where they were willing to drop anything. That is manipulation not conviction. People should give out of conviction. I'll prefer the host raise such monies and hand it over instead of the guest doing it by himself.
*Dear minister, it is wrong to raise offering for yourself in a meeting probably because you feel your host may not treat you well. In fact, the idea of bargaining with your host on percentage of offering to be shared is not biblical. It shows you are a contractor not a preacher*.
Dear minister of the gospel, no amount of honorarium given can meet your needs. Your needs are meant to be met according to His riches in glory not according to the amount of honorarium you can raise for yourself. Stop depending on honorarium to meet your needs.
If there is nothing called honorarium, will you still honour invitations? We are meant to be in ministry not "money-istry".
Father, rid me of greed in the name of Jesus Christ.