Should pastors be poor? It is said that Jesus was poor, he came from a very humble background and was born in a stable, his disciples too were equally poor fishermen, when they travelled he asked them not to take any extra pair of sandals, clothing or cash, but in my hometown I have seen pastors who are filthy rich, is it wrong for a minister of the word to amass great amounts of wealth? When you see a minister travel in a luxury SUV as he visits believers, isn’t it the equivalent of people in the past seeing Jesus traveling in an expensive golden chariot with his disciples mounted on horsebacks as they travelled from place to place preaching the good news, there is probably nothing wrong about being wealthy as it is not a sin, but I am afraid such a status might interfere with their evangelical work or simply change the way people perceive them.
Jesus once said to his disciples, “you must deny yourself everything and follow me,” some of the guys I have seen are not sacrificing anything, they are taking it all and giving nothing back, what does self-denial mean? Is it to allow yourself to become dirt poor that you barely have anything to eat? Or does it have some other meaning I do not know.