Get a real job like Paul the Apostle did

The Workingman shared his credo from I Thessalonians 4:11-12 a day or two ago. Today, also from I Thessalonians, The Workingman has found a couple of verses that he wishes all preachers, Bible teachers, missionaries, evangelists and theologians would adopt as their own credo. Here they are, I Thessalonians 2: 9-10:

“Don’t you remember, dear brothers, how hard we worked among you? Night and day we toiled and sweated to earn enough to live on so that our expenses would not be a burden to anyone there, as we preached God’s good news among you. You yourselves are our witnesses—as is God—that we have been pure and honest and faultless toward every one of you.”

The Workingman has, in the distant past, sent money to an evangelist or two he liked to listen to on the radio and then was flooded with mail for years thereafter, mail that was begging for money, promising miracles, quoting scripture to inform The Workingman that he was obligated to send more money, just generally being annoying so-called men of God.

Can you imagine modern-day dispensers of the Gospel saying such a thing as Paul said about being pleased that he didn’t have to ask for money?

The Workingman does not mind giving money to his church, and does from time to time, although not regularly. The Workingman found a teaching from Paul that says to give “as the Lord has prospered you.” Currently, The Workingman is not prospering as much as he has in the past, thanks to various health problems and the like, so there hasn’t been much prosperity to return to the Lord. The Workingman is waiting on the Lord and trying to give consistently and cheerfully.