Something we used to debate about in the Brethren Assemblies I grew up in was whether the early Christian leaders received a  ¢â‚¬Ëœstipend ¢â‚¬â„¢.

When the New English Bible translation came out (my late teens) there was this astonishing version of   1 Tim 5:17:    ¢â‚¬ËœElders who do well as leaders should be reckoned worthy of a double stipend, in particular those who labour at teaching and preaching. ¢â‚¬â„¢

An interesting article in the journal Expository Times  ¢â‚¬“  ¢â‚¬ËœDid  ¢â‚¬Å“Officials ¢â‚¬  in the New Testament Church receive a Salary? ¢â‚¬â„¢ (Prof. J. Andrew Kirk, Union Seminary, Buenos Aires, Argentina), date unknown (but you can find it with the help of Google)  ¢â‚¬“ argues that  ¢â‚¬ËœIn the local church the elders should, not as a matter of duty but as an expression of thanksgiving, be rewarded in kind according to the work they put into overseeing the congregation. This never extended, however, to a regular formal stipend for the exercise of a full-time ministry in the church… The NEB translation and many commentators have been influenced more by contemporary practice than by sound exegetical methodology. ¢â‚¬â„¢

Phew!

(BTW the NT texts the good professor tosses into the mix are pretty wide-ranging: read these, and see what you think:   1 Co 9:13-14, Mt 10:10, Lk 10:7, 1 Tm 5:18, Ga 6:8, 1 Th 2:5-8, 5:12, Ph 4:15-19, 2 Th 3:7-8,   and there were many more…).

Rowland Croucher

September 2011