It's that time of the year again when congregations turn to District guidelines for compensation guidance. I happened to be preparing for a Bible study when I came across the phrase I had heard often quoted in connection with such compensation: “they are worthy of double honor.” Then I reread the full passage and my eyebrows raised in surprise: “The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor. (NIV)” That's no peculiarity of the NIV. The adverb “well” appears in the RSV, God's Word, and the ESV, just to name a few. And they should use that adverb because it is in the Greek text. Eugene Peterson's paraphrase, The Message, reads, “Give a bonus to leaders who do a good job.” It isn't that the pastors themselves are worthy of double honor over against other vocations, but those who do the work well that deserve the double honor.

Sometimes one will hear voices of protest against evaluating the pastor's work. Isn't that the Lord's business on the Last Day, when He will say to some, “Well done good and faithful servant”? What standard could be used to say that pastor's work was done well ? Who decides that the pastor has done a good job? Does the evaluation relate to the performance of the duties themselves or to the results which they produce? Stephen preached a masterful sermon to the Sanhedrin. I'm not sure the hearers voted to give him a bonus! The prophets spoke impressively, but the ears of their hearers were not often moved to repentance.

But for the most part, the preacher's work is done in a friendly, not hostile context. His work is done in the midst of people who expect to be helped spiritually by his efforts. What pastor would not want to hear feedback that his work was building up the body of Christ? To be sure, pastors need to hear a balanced report. They need to hear specifically how their ministry has helped members of the Body of Christ grow. They also need to hear feedback that suggests how improvements can be made. Those who are more spiritually advanced can keep a watchful eye so that such evaluation doesn't deteriorate either into target practice or develop into an admiration society. If corrective words need to be spoken, then forgiving words need to follow where confession happens.

While Paul says that leaders who rule well should be worthy of double honor, he goes further by saying, “especially those who labor in preaching and teaching.” While those activities can't be the only bases on which evaluation is made, they should be among the highest. It is no accident that “teacher” was connected to “pastor” in Paul's list of gifts to the Church in Ephesians 4. The pastor is a “shepherd” as he oversees the spiritual/doctrinal life of those entrusted to his care. When Paul urges the elders of Ephesus to be “shepherds,” he helps us understand what that role means by adding, “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock...men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them (Acts 20:29f).” “Pastoral” care is using the Word to build up the faith of God's people, and it is using God's Word to alert them to the danger of wolves. Those who do that well are worthy of a bonus, as Peterson paraphrases it.