Is It Ever OK to Peddle God's Word? Reacting to Mike Winger on 2 Corinthians 2:17

The Ethics of Monetizing Ministry

Recently, Mike Winger shared some thoughts on the monetization ministry. Let's take a look at what he had to say.

And if I was on the board of a church setting the salary for a pastor, I'd be wanting to set him a salary where he can not only own a home, but save for retirement and be one who provides for his family.

That is his job. And if I set a salary that's too low, he has to get a second job because that's his responsibility. And so I agree with that 100%. Enriching yourself is going way beyond that and saying like, yeah, well, I'm going to.

Why not?

Why not get myself a million dollars a year? Why don't I have $2 million a year? Can I make that happen? What sort of deals can I make?

Yeah.

What kind of videos can I make? What can I sell next?

Yeah.

And I don't, I'm not saying you can never do any of those things. Not at all.

Yeah.

And I would do some of that stuff if I didn't have support coming in.

Okay.

So I'm put my cards on the table, right? I would, I'd be like, like, I have to, I gotta, I have to pay the bills. But if I don't have to, I don't want to do it. And then I don't want, I don't want anyone to be able to look at the ministry and have a justification for saying you peddled the word of God to enrich yourself.

Yeah.

It wasn't that you got paid so you could do ministry.

No, no.

You did ministry so you could get paid.

All right.

Supporting Pastors Without Peddling God's Word

Well, he started off with a lot of good things there. It is important for pastors to be well supported in order that they be honored, as it says in first Timothy five, in order that they not have to be entangled in civilian affairs, as it says in second Timothy three.

However, then he goes on to speak of this category of enriching oneself. Now, this is similar to biblical categories. The Bible forbids greed. That would be wrong. It forbids taking a bribe. That also would be wrong.

However, it never quite speaks in terms of enriching oneself. And what he seems to be doing here, which is what people typically do when they speak of this topic of money and ministry, it's assumed that the main driving ethic in scripture about this is one of moderation.

There are some magic amount where before that, if you receive money, you're fine. But then after that, if you receive too much, you are not fine. Now, certainly there are notions of excess, but this is not the main driving ethic in scripture on the topic of money and ministry.

2 Corinthians 2:17 and the Meaning of "Peddlers of God's Word"

And this is especially interesting because he alludes to second Corinthians two 17, where it says precisely the opposite. Let me share with you that verse. This article is on sellingjesus .org, and it talks about the proper translation of this.

Verse.

However, I just want to look at the ESV, which addresses this well enough. For we are not like so many peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God in the sight of God, we speak in Christ.

You can see here it forbids being a peddler of God's word. Now, Mr. Winger said that he did not want to be accused of being a peddler of God's word to enrich himself. But what is the alternative? Would it be okay to be a peddler of God's word to pay the bills?

Would it be okay to be a peddler of God's word to feed your family? None of those things would justify being a peddler of God's word. Now, he also said that if he found himself in that position, he would do it because he would have to.

The reality is no one has to. No one has to do the work of ministry. This is not something that God absolutely requires, even if it would mean that you would have to be a peddler of his word. You can simply not.

And I would recommend that everyone that finds himself in that position, where they think that they have to peddle God's word in order to survive, simply not that they do some other honest work with their hands, laboring diligently to the Lord.