B
ben_dy
Guest
I know that it was only fairly recently that the leaders of the hierarchy in the LDS church began to receive a salary or stipend and that it was customary that others leaders, if they were not wealthy enough by their own means to support their families, were customarily appointed as directors of corporations owned by other, more affluent, LDS members: but I can’t find, in any of the standard works nor recall reading in The History of the Church when, or why, the practice of a ministry, free from sustenance from the church at any level, began or why it remains the practice.
I assume, from a number of readings, that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and perhaps a number of the early prophets were given sustenance in one form or the other and it seems that this was also the case with some of the early apostles. I may have run across some Biblical citations noted by LDS apologists that seem to sort of take things out of context in insisting that Christ instituted an “unpaid ministry” but none of these verses are inclusive of the verses of 1 Corinthians where Paul, in defending his reasoning NOT to receive sustenance for his preaching admits that “the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel”, yet he admits that this is one commandment that he is not following. And though his reasons may sound logical, he certainly doesn’t always abide by his own ‘rule’, as seen in Philippians 4 and certainly didn’t condemn those apostles and disciples who had come before him or would come after him for receiving sustenance - as long as they were preaching the true gospel which, I have to assume, LDS members expect of their leadership.
Although Paul’s letters are the only scriptural basis we have for looking at a paid/unpaid ministry, we also have the Didache - completely independent of Paul and yet so congruent with Paul in so many ways that we can be assured that Paul was preaching the “same gospel” as the Jerusalem church. And the Didache, now dated with it’s foundation in around 50 AD with some additions through 70 AD (and a minor addition no later than 150 AD, which has no bearing on this topic), does a good job of laying out the ground rules for members of the church, leaders of the church, sustenance to be received by those passing through, staying a while, joining the community, appointed to leadership roles, etc., and the ethical and economical rules set forth pretty plainly that some were, as Christ commanded, inclusive of “those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel”.
So what’s the story? Is there something in the exclusively LDS standard works that I’ve missed or is this merely a practice that developed - like callings on lasting for a specific time, for instance. And when practices change are they noted in a ‘manual’ of some sort? I am just assuming, of course, that there are manuals for the regional presidents, bishops, etc., on down to perhaps the ‘lowest’ calling (although I hate to call any calling which is believed to have been made directly by God ‘low’ - I simply mean that men with greater responsibilities in the hierarchy of the church must have some sort of reference to guide them as their responsibilities would incur more responsibility and time than, for example, the person called to Sunday childcare).
So what’s the scoop? What’s the story as to the practice of an unpaid ministry? How did it come about and what is the reasoning behind the practice?
I assume, from a number of readings, that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and perhaps a number of the early prophets were given sustenance in one form or the other and it seems that this was also the case with some of the early apostles. I may have run across some Biblical citations noted by LDS apologists that seem to sort of take things out of context in insisting that Christ instituted an “unpaid ministry” but none of these verses are inclusive of the verses of 1 Corinthians where Paul, in defending his reasoning NOT to receive sustenance for his preaching admits that “the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel”, yet he admits that this is one commandment that he is not following. And though his reasons may sound logical, he certainly doesn’t always abide by his own ‘rule’, as seen in Philippians 4 and certainly didn’t condemn those apostles and disciples who had come before him or would come after him for receiving sustenance - as long as they were preaching the true gospel which, I have to assume, LDS members expect of their leadership.
Although Paul’s letters are the only scriptural basis we have for looking at a paid/unpaid ministry, we also have the Didache - completely independent of Paul and yet so congruent with Paul in so many ways that we can be assured that Paul was preaching the “same gospel” as the Jerusalem church. And the Didache, now dated with it’s foundation in around 50 AD with some additions through 70 AD (and a minor addition no later than 150 AD, which has no bearing on this topic), does a good job of laying out the ground rules for members of the church, leaders of the church, sustenance to be received by those passing through, staying a while, joining the community, appointed to leadership roles, etc., and the ethical and economical rules set forth pretty plainly that some were, as Christ commanded, inclusive of “those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel”.
So what’s the story? Is there something in the exclusively LDS standard works that I’ve missed or is this merely a practice that developed - like callings on lasting for a specific time, for instance. And when practices change are they noted in a ‘manual’ of some sort? I am just assuming, of course, that there are manuals for the regional presidents, bishops, etc., on down to perhaps the ‘lowest’ calling (although I hate to call any calling which is believed to have been made directly by God ‘low’ - I simply mean that men with greater responsibilities in the hierarchy of the church must have some sort of reference to guide them as their responsibilities would incur more responsibility and time than, for example, the person called to Sunday childcare).
So what’s the scoop? What’s the story as to the practice of an unpaid ministry? How did it come about and what is the reasoning behind the practice?
