2009 was the year the stock market crashed. It was also the year I and a few other folks planted The City Church. We started with 20 people in a living room, and even with the generous support of friends, families, and organizations, there was no way I could pull a full-time salary. When I got the chance to teach public speaking part-time at the local university, I jumped at it—primarily as a means of support but also because I had already spent four years ministering to that campus. Today our church is a few hundred adults strong, financially stable, with multiple elders and deacons—some paid, others not. I recently transitioned out of the university job, to help lead a nationwide church planting organization. But for at least the past four years, our church could have paid me full time—and even did for a brief season. But consistently, I’ve been bivocational. And—don’t fall out of your chair—I hope that’s always the case.
In most of the pre- and post-Christendom world[1] the reality of a full-time paid minister is a non-reality. Even if that weren’t the case, lean close and let’s have a hushed conversation: I’ve heard leaders at many Christian organizations quote 1 Timothy 5:18: “For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages.’” But I’ve only heard it quoted to justify a raise. While that is the context Paul writes the words, the equal and opposite reaction must be considered: What if, in a specific season of our ministries and/or our specific gift mix, we’re not worth our wage? What if there isn’t enough “grain to tread,” in the specific way our proverbial ox-hoof was designed by God?
I’m not claiming it’s wrong to minister full-time; merely that it’s not always right. And at times, our ministry even distracts us from the mission God wants to send us on. So maybe God wants to redeem our view of bivocationality, just like he wants to redeem all things under the sun. As such, even if you’re rolling your eyes at the very idea, I’d invite you to consider the following benefits of bivocational ministry:
In a follow-up article, we’ll explore some practical questions to ask regarding the “right” second job. But the biggest questions as we consider bivocational ministry are, “Do I trust God’s goodness, provision, character, and joy, even in my consideration of a second job?” and “How can I best display the gospel I believe in my life, to my church, and in my jobs?” Once we answer those two questions well, we might just be one good step down the path of finding that perfect bivocational job—or at least, we might be one step closer to the one that God has for our unique situation at this unique moment in his story. And in many situations, we’ll find that God lands us in the midst of a mission field in which there are too few laborers. Would you consider laying down your full time job to seek God’s plentiful harvest there?
Adapted from Ben Connelly’s A Pastor’s Guide to Everyday Mission (GCD Books, Summer 2016).
[1] The former of which is the reality in many nations and the latter of which we’re all entering into if not already fully immersed in, whether we admit or even realize it or not
[2] At the time of writing, while my “second job” is leading church planting for the Soma Family of Churches, it’s still a job in the “Christian world,” financial and other resources that I’d otherwise take if I was employed full-time by our church, instead support other leaders, with giftings different than my own that our church needs.