Rev. Don Campbell
Judges 17-18
THOUGHT FOR TODAY, April 5, 2019
“PREACHER OR PROFESSIONAL PEDDLER OF RELIGION”
Micah had stolen 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother who pronounced a curse on the thief, not knowing it was her son. Perhaps frightened that Momma’s curse might come true, he confessed, and she forgave him. That wasn’t enough, she took 200 pieces of silver and sent them to the silversmith to make an image for Micah’s house. Micah then ordained one of his sons to be his priest. However, when a young Levite came to live among them, he offered him a job: “‘Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living.’ And the Levite went in. And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons” (Judges 17:10-11). Micah was sure that God would now prosper him because he owned his own bona fide priest.
To Micah’s surprise and chagrin, his hireling priest sold out to higher bidders from the house of Dan. Six hundred of them came to the home of Micah and went into Micah’s house to steal his silver gods. When the priest asked what they were doing, they replied: “‘Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?’ And the priest’s heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people” (Judges 18:19-20).
Sometimes, in order to “care for his own household,” a preacher must seek a larger church that can and will pay him a wage which is adequate for him to do so. That was not the case with this hireling priest (Judges 17:10). He had sold out to the higher bidders and the prestige of being a priest to a clan.
CONNECTIONS
1. Both Paul and Peter condemn preaching and pastoring for shameful gain (Titus 1:11; 1 Peter 5:12). What are some evidences that one is not a preacher or pastor, but a professional peddler of religion?
2. Paul also wrote, “‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain.’ Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and the thresher thresh in hope of sharing in the crop” (1 Corinthians 9:9-10).
On the other end of the spectrum from those who sell out to the highest bidder are those who are treated as if they are no more skilled than a janitor. What should be the rule of thumb for how much a preacher should be paid: no more than the lowest paid member, as some have argued, or an amount commensurate with the duties and comparable to the median income of the congregation?
