The Benefits of Being a Bi-Vocational Pastor

Sometimes when I write a post, it sounds good in my head and looks good to me in paper, but it can be interpreted differently by others when they read it.  Case in point was my last post about “day off Monday” as it was NOT mean to be a criticism or an “I know better” piece, but a simple challenge from a pastor who has seen a drastic shift in perspective of what constitutes a ministry heart nowadays.  I regret the misunderstandings, but not the truth behind it.  It was meant as a challenge to SOME and not a criticism to any.

In contrast, today I write about something that is near to my heart, bi-vocational pastors, and why there is a benefit to being one, and, I pray it comes across as encouraging to ALL not just some.  It is NOT a criticism of “full time” pastors, but a perspective from being now full-time after almost ten years of being bi-vocational.

As pastors our goal should be to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 16:15) and then seek to train them so they can train others (2 Timothy 2:2).  As far as the building of a church, that is actually the Lord’s doing and not ours (Matthew 16:18).  With all that being said, it is easy to look at the level of involvement in ministry as a measure of success, IE a full time pastor is often seen as more successful than a bi-vocational pastor, because he has “greater” church.  But is that really true?

Yes, numbers can be a measure of God’s blessing (Acts 2:41) but numbers are not the only measure of success in God’s sight as Jesus went from 12 disciples (Matthew 10:1) to seventy sent out (Luke 10:1) to multitudes (Luke 14:25) back down to twelve (Luke 22:11) down to one disciple at the cross (John 19:26).  Also, numbers are not the only measure of God’s blessing as we can practically see in our world today but the sheer volume of people being added to false teaching groups which is clearly not God’s success.  So if a group has large numbers it does not necessarily mean God is blessing and conversely it doesn’t mean God isn’t blessing if the church is small.  

According to Scripture the true measure of success in His servants is faithfulness. 1 Corinthians 4:1-2, “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. -- Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”  So if you are pastoring a small church, take heart as God is looking at your faithfulness not your attendance count.  If you are faithful, Christ will draw men to Himself (John 12:32).  Thus having to be bi-vocational in ministry is not a sign of failure per say. In actuality there are benefits to being a bi-vocational pastor:

1. You don’t have to fear being fired from your paycheck for speaking sound truth from the pulpit.  When you are a full time pastor, the flesh will tell you to be careful with what you preach.  Since churches vote men in, they can vote them out too and the flesh knows this.  I know that in 30 years of preaching I have said things from the pulpit that people did not like and even some left after a single message that contained something they did not agree with.  But if a full time pastor preaches a message that enrages the entire church, he knows his paycheck goes with it.  But if you are bi-vocational, there is a different kind of liberty that protects your daily care of your family.  Now mind you, this concept of bi-vocational paycheck freedom is neither a license to preach angry or fleshly, nor is it an excuse for full time pastors to hold back truth, but a simple thought of practical freedom.
2. You connect with people at your secular work you would probably not connect with via church outreach.  This is one of the greatest benefits of being bi-vocational.  It allows a pastor to been seen by unsaved people as real and reachable.  Full time can connect with the community but often it takes more effort, as full time pastors are not daily in the work place like a bi-vocational pastor is.  Again, this is not saying one is better than the other, just a unique benefit.  Jesus went into the crowd, Paul worked as a tentmaker, yet both reached people with the Gospel. It is interesting to note that according to some statistics, it takes over four years for a man to raise enough full-time mission’s support to plant a church here in USA.  But, there is no statistical proof that a fully supported church planter builds an autonomous church any faster than a bi-vocational pastor. I was amazed when I saw this, as I assumed full time church planting pastors, including those on mission’s support, would get churches on their feet faster, but it is not necessarily the case.  Actually, according to some main-line denomination studies, bi-vocational pastors, percentage-wise, actually get a church up and running faster.  Why?  Because, according to the studies, bi-vocational pastors “connect” with the community quicker.  But not all men are thinking full time - I was so blessed this past month when I asked a ministerial class at a major IFB college this question, “How many of you are planning on being bi-vocational in ministry?”  Over half the class raised their hand!
3. Your church people know you are willing to do whatever it takes to be their pastor.  This may not mean much to some churches, but in rural areas this is HUGE!  Rural people are often in a unique survival mode as they generally live paycheck to paycheck.  This is not to say urban people don’t struggle, but rural folks usually have less opportunities for employment and thus they get what they can.  So, when man comes to a church, or plants a church, with a heart to stay no matter whether he has to work an outside job or not, it makes an impact.  People know he wants to be there for them even if they cannot pay him.  Yes, the laborer is worth of the hire (Luke 10:7) but the people/church are worthy of the pastor’s outside labor too.
4. It allows for smaller churches and communities to have “full time” pastors. Many communities across the US are small and used to have a circuit riding pastor who would minister to them once or twice a month.  But now with the big church mentality of many in Christianity, these churches are shuttered and have no pastors as the people either have to make do on their own or they must drive long distances to attend a doctrinally sound church.  If a pastor is bi-vocational, smaller communities can call them and these men can minister within the community without the people commuting to church. 

If God has called you to be bi-vocational then please receive my thanks for obeying that call.  God will bless your faithfulness.  If you have a bi-vocational pastor, can I remind you to show your appreciation regularly to he and his family as that means they love you in a very special way.  

Praise God for both full-time and bi-vocational servants!