The highest honor that can come to a person is a call to the gospel ministry. This responsibility makes the man the visible representative of the King of heaven. The apostle Paul speaks of ministers as "ambassadors for Christ." The ambassador, as we know, represents his ruler in a foreign court. He is to exemplify the highest ideals and standards of his native land. If he becomes involved in a financial or moral scandal, by this he brings his sovereign into disgrace.
The same is true of the ambassador for Christ—the Christian minister. He represents his divine Sovereign in this sinful earth. He is to exemplify the high principles of his King and kingdom in this world of sin. The inhabitants thus form a conception of heaven by the way heaven's ambassador lives. If he becomes involved in debt scandal, he thereby brings the kingdom of heaven into ill repute among the sinners of this world. It is a serious thing for a Seventh-day Adventist minister to permit himself to incur debt; for it paralyzes his influence with those of our faith, as well as with unbelievers.
In these days of shifting standards and changing modes, the gospel minister must be constantly on his guard, lest he find himself a victim of this sinister foe—debt. Good judgment needs to be exercised. We should confine our buying to the necessities of life; and even these must be brought within the limits of our income.
The following expressions are but a few examples of many gems of instruction from the Lord's messenger concerning this important matter:
"More and more shall we be obliged to plan, and devise, and economize. We cannot manage as if we had a bank on which to draw in case of emergency; therefore we must not get into straitened places. As individuals and as managers of the Lord's institutions, we shall necessarily have to cut away everything intended for display, and bring our expenses within the narrow compass of our income."—"Testimonies," Vol. VI, p. 209.
"The very highest kind of education that could be given, is to shun the incurring of debt as you would shun disease."—Id., p. 211.
No doubt most ministers with family responsibilities are finding it difficult to meet their obligations, and at the same time keep up a respectable appearance on the present reduced wage scale; but, even considering this, we must resist the temptation to spend beyond our income. The chance to buy nearly every commodity of life on the installment plan is becoming more enticing. Here lurks a great danger. We should never permit ourselves to borrow from members of our congregation because of our poor business ability. This course not only lessens our influence with the church members, but it creates the impression that the minister is being paid a wage far below his actual needs.
Experience has taught that the safest plan of operation for Christ's ambassador is to pay as he goes. True, there may come times in the minister's life when he may have to resort to credit in order to save his family from embarrassment, but these should be limited to emergencies. We should operate on the cash plan.
It takes careful budgeting to keep expenses within the income. Budgeting is simply calculating expenditures before they are made, and not after. When the monthly check is received, the budget should be set for the month. The following items would cover the average worker's family budget:
1. The tithe.
2. Offerings.
3. House rent for the month.
4. Estimate for groceries.
5. Estimate for clothing.
6. Estimate for operation of automobile.
7. Miscellaneous expenditures.
These items should be estimated according to the actual needs of the family. They should be totaled, and then compared with the sum of the check. If the check is the larger amount, the budget is safe. But if the budget is the larger, then the only safe policy is to bring the budget within the limits of the income.
We must give careful thought to our personal affairs in these days of financial stress. But our business is to save men; and we should heed the injunction: "Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation [A. R. V., "manner of life"], in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." 1 Tim. 4:12.
Albany, Ga.
