The

educated elite has fits when a bachelor's degree graduate

drives around in a Rolls Royce - especially if he is

a preacher.

Why,

everybody knows preachers should be kept poor, or at

least at the same financial status as the middle class

folks in their church.

As a rule,

churches do not want their preacher/pastor/minister to

drive around in a car that is as nice as that of the

richest member. Nor, as a rule, do churches want their

leaders to live in houses as nice as the richest member's

home.

More often

than not, however, the pastor has achieved more education

than 99 percent of his members. A pastor with a

bachelor's, master's and doctor's degree has more years

in educational pursuit than an average medical doctor. A

person can have his medical doctor's degree in eight or

nine years. A person can have his doctor of theology or

doctor of ministry degree in no less than 10 years.

Yet, nobody

has any unkind thoughts or writes newspaper stories

filled with innuendo about medical doctors who own their

own planes in addition to mountain cabins, luxury homes

and houses at the beach - plus owning the very

buildings which house their practices. Why, physicians

should be rich!

Also, it's

okay for deacons in the church to accumulate great sums

of money and possessions, but let the preacher strut a

little financially, and that's heresy and unacceptable.

I remember

once when I moved to Raleigh, N.C. to accept a pastorate.

I drove from California in our used Cadillac. It didn't

take the power brokers in the church very long to let me

know it was entirely unacceptable for me to drive a

luxury car (even though American made). So, I traded in

the Cadillac for two Isuzus. I have regretted it since.

Churches

which are capable should bless their pastors with the

ability to live a life-style appropriate to its

well-heeled members. This should be the great joy of the

congregations. Congregations should take great pride in

lifting their pastors' financial circumstances rather

than taking pride in keeping them poor.

Lately, I

have been driving around in a late model BMW. People who

know me ask, "What are you doing driving a

BMW?" Then, I go into the apologetic mode: "Oh,

it's not mine. It belongs to my sister. She's letting me

drive it while she's in Milwaukee for a month." Upon

hearing my explanation, my questioning acquaintance gives

a sigh of relief thinking to himself, "Whew, I

couldn't stand it if my friend, my pastor, my fellow

minister drove around in that expensive of a car."

Of course,

you may have caught my reason for this column: Atlanta's

greatest supplier of fish wrapping paper, The Atlanta

Journal Constitution, did its very best at inciting the

metro population to jealousy and envy. The AJC focused on

the very successful Creflo Dollar of World Changers

Ministries. The reason for World Changers' success is due

to its obedience to operate under the Biblical principle

called "sowing and reaping."

Every

farmer knows this principle. World Changers has been

faithful to give generously to world missions and other

ministries. Consequently, their pastor and ministry are

blessed.

The AJC

showed a photograph of Creflo's Atlanta home, better

described, as a church pastorium, for the church owns it.

It's worth a million dollars. So what? The president of

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

lives in a similar house worth close to a million. The

pastor of the First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach

lives in a house across the inter-coastal from Donald

Trump's Palm Beach mansion. Its worth probably exceeds a

million.

The

newspaper article said many folks revere Rev. Dollar. For

one, I am happy to revere Creflo Dollar. After all, is

not that what the title "Reverend" is all

about. Some churches just call their pastor

"Reverend." Some churches, like World Changers,

believe and act like their pastor is somebody special.

Praise God and hallelujah!

The Rev. Dr. John

Hatcher is pastor of River's Edge Community Church in

Fayetteville.

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