Video Transcript: Tent Making

Video number three, last, last time, I left you with sort of the two options that you might be considering. One is, you're in the business world and you want to do  more ministry. And so if you did business a little bit better, more enterprise, you'd have more free time to do ministry. And we need people like that, or you're in  ministry, or you want to be in ministry, but you need to take care of your family.  You need to be a blessing to those around you. And so you need a way to save  money, make money, so you can do the ministry that you want to do. And I  mentioned tent making at the end of that last video. I want to talk about that.  Make sure you do the reading. There's a lot of reading on this. I'm having you  read one guy's discussion of it. He talks about the whole history of Paul, and a  lot of the different passages. There's a lot of different people's opinions about  Paul and how he did this, or what he did do and what he didn't do. I'm going to  just sort of give you a brief overview, but there's like 30 pages or so to read.  Make sure you read all of it. It's really good stuff, but sort of just a general view.  What does the Bible have to say about tent making ministry Acts 18. This is that  little section that talks about Paul. And he Paul found a Jew named Aquila, a  native of a Pontus, recently from Italy with his wife, Priscilla, because Claudius  had commanded that. Claudius was the emperor had commanded all the Jews  to leave Rome. So there was the persecution of the Jews. They left Rome. So  there's all these refugees coming, and Paul, being a Jew himself, and a Roman  citizen, was uniquely qualified to talk to them. So he meets with them, in some  ways, over business. They weren't Christians, yet he went to see them, and  because he was of the same trade. So it was a business connection. He stayed  with them and worked for they were tent makers by trade, and we assume that  Paul was too somewhere along the line, Paul learned this trade. It was  something he could do wherever he went. So he's working, first of all, with these people who are not yet Christians. And then on the weekends, he reasoned in  the synagogues every Sabbath, and tried to persuade the Jews and Greeks  about Christ. So he's doing ministry where he can, but he's working at the same  time. And because it was a tent making thing we now call this way of doing  things tent making. So some more relevant verses. There's not just the Acts.  There's other verses that sometimes people use to say, well, maybe Paul, you  know, is this the way that Paul thought everyone should do it? Should everyone  be a tent maker? Should there be no full time church workers or you know, how  are we to think about this? I Corinthians 9, Paul says, Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? He's defending his leadership with some of those from Jerusalem.  Have I not seen Jesus, our Lord? People were questioning whether he was  qualified to be an apostle. Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? He's talking to people that he's reached. You know, isn't the, you know, the proof in the  pudding, or the proof is in the fruit of the tree. If to others, I am not an apostle, I  am at least one to You, for You are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. So the proof is, do you have disciples? Your disciple maker? If you have disciples, this 

is my defense to those who would examine me. Do we not have the right to eat  and drink? Do we not have the right to take along a believing wife, as do the  other apostles of the brothers of the Lord and Cephas talking about Peter, One  of Jesus disciples, or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to refrain from  working for a living? So he's saying, don't we have the right to be supported by  the work that we do, in other words, be like full time church workers. And it  sounds like he's saying, Well, we have the right but we don't actually do it. So  now he's going to sort of justify full time working for God who serves as a soldier at his own expense. The idea is, well, no one, I mean, someone pays the soldier who plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit, who tends a flock without  getting some of the milk. Do I see these things under human authority? Does  not the law say the same, for it is written in the Law of Moses, you shall not  muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain. You. Know, muzzle keeps the ox from eating the grain that he's, he's, you know, he's stomping along the grain to  unhook the grain from the from the stock and and the idea was, you know, you  don't, you want to feed the Ox. You want him to eat some of the the fruit of his  labor, or he'll stop working. Is it for the oxen that God is concerned, but not  human beings? In other words, does he not certainly speak for our sake? It was  written for our sake because the plow man should plow in hope, and the  thresher should Thresh in the hope of sharing in the crop. People work, and  somehow they get to the fruit of their work to take care of their own lives. If we  have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we reap material things  from you, if others share this rightful claim on you, do, do not we even more. So  he's saying he has a right to be paid for his working in the kingdom. But now get  this Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything  rather than put the put up the right, but we endure anything rather than put an  obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those who are  employed in the temple service get their food from the temple. So the Old  Testament system, the Levites, all the rest of the tribes, gave of their tithes so  that the people working in the temple could eat, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offering. So they brought the animals, they sacrificed  them, but then the Levites got to eat some of that meat in the same way, the  Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by  the gospel. But I have made no use of any of these rights, for I am, nor am I  writing these things to secure any such provision. So he's saying, I have the  right to be paid as a full time church worker, but I have not taken advantage of  that right, for I would rather die than have anyone deprive me of my ground for  boasting, for if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting, for  necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me. If I do not preach the gospel, I have to  preach the gospel. I don't do it for money. I've got to do it regardless of any  money that comes my way. For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward. But if  not my own will, I am still entrusted with stewardship. So I don't, I don't do this 

because I want to. I do this because I have to what, then is my reward that in my preaching, I may present the gospel FREE of charge, so as to not make full use  of my right in the Gospel. For though I am free from all, I have made myself a  servant to all that I might win more of them, to the Jews. I became Jews in order to win the Jews to those under the law. I became as one under the law, though  not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law to those  outside the law. I become as one outside the law, not being outside the law of  God, but under the law of Christ. And why do I do all these things? Why do I  sacrifice all these things? Why do I, you know, give up my rights to things that I  might win those outside the law, to the weak. I become weak that I might win the weak. I become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some I do it all for the sake of the gospel that I might share with them in its blessing. Do  you not know that in a race, all runners run, but only one receives the prize. So I run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self control in all things. They  do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep  it under control, lest, after preaching to others, I myself should be disqualified.  So Paul goes to this whole lengthy talk. He's saying, I have a right, just like all  the other apostles, to actually be supported by the church as I'm doing this  Christian work, and he uses biblical examples, he uses just rational examples,  but then he turns around and says, But I have not made use of these rights. And I've not made use of these rights because I want to be more effective. I don't  want people accusing me of preaching the gospel to make money, I'm preaching the gospel to reach people with the love of Christ is something that was given to  me free, and so I'm giving it to others free. Now, is he saying that people that get full time pay shouldn't? No, but he's saying, For him, it's the most effective way  to go. And so. He made his living doing this tent thing and making these things  and selling them on the side, or being hired to do this. But then he kept doing his ministry. The point of doing the work was so he could do the ministry and give it  free of charge. Well, why did Paul do this? He didn't have to, but why did he  number one credibility especially when you're reaching people who do not know  Christ. I mean, I remember when I planted a church, I went around the  neighborhood and I knocked on people's doors, and I had a few questions that I  asked them. I asked them, first of all, whether they went to church, and if they  didn't, I said, Great, you're the one that I want to talk to, because I want to learn  something from you. And then the second question I asked was, why don't you  think people don't go to church? Why do you think people don't go to church?  Now, if I had asked them why they didn't go to church, they would have been  offended. But when I asked them, Why do you think people in general don't go  to church, I'm asking for their opinion. You know what? People were happy to  give it to me. I was the learner, and I'm coming to them saying, You're the  expert. Please inform me. And people told me they had no problem telling me. 

And guess what? They ended up telling me why they didn't go to church, really.  And the number one reason they thought that people didn't go to church, which  meant this is the number reason. One reason why they didn't is that sermons  are boring and irrelevant. I had one guy told me. He said, You know, if you don't  preach a sermon, I'll come to your church. But the second answer, the most  second most popular answer that people gave for not why people don't go to  church, is churches are more interested in your money than they are in you.  That was number two. So people out there, non Christians in general, have a  negative view of Christianity. Maybe it's from, you know, the television preachers and so on, you know, you know, put your hand on the screen and give me some  money, and some good thing will happen. I don't know, but people have this  sense that that that someone's after money. So Paul goes into a community and he says, you know, I'm not doing this for money. You don't have to pay anything.  It's free. The gospel is free, and what I'm doing for you is free. And he won  credibility. This person just preaches the gospel because he has to preach the  gospel. It's not to get anything number two, identification. Why did Paul work  identification? People could relate to him. You know, in some ways now, you  know, I'm 50% time at my church, and I do something other, other things that  help support me. But for most of my church career, I was a full time pastor, and  when I would stand up and say, you know, we should give money for this cause,  or, or I would say, you know, I would give examples for my own life, you know,  about, you know, working hard for the Lord, and how we should sacrifice and all  of that. Lot of times, when I talk to people, they would just say, Well, yeah, you  should do that. You're the pastor. It's almost it's your job to be good. I used to  say that to people, you know. I said, you know, you people pay me to be good.  You pay me money to be good. And I said, you're, you know, you people in the  church, you're good for nothing. You do it, and you don't get paid. But, because  Paul didn't get money, he could, you know, people could identify with him. He  had to work too. People. People work hard. It's difficult. They have to take care  of their family. And now Paul is going to come to them and say, you know, what  you really need is Christ, and you need the church and all these things you  need. And you know, if he was getting paid, you know, and lived a whole  different life, people could just look at him and go, What do you know about my  life? What do you know about what I need? You have no clue what it's like to be  an ordinary, working person. So because Paul was supporting himself, Paul  knew exactly what it was like to be a working person and all the complexities of  being out there in the world. And number three, modeling, Paul was modeling  something that the people could do, you know, when I'm a full time worker, you  know, and the things that I do and how I, you know, live my life. Most people  can't do what I do. They don't have the time that I have. They don't have the  freedom to, you know, sit down and have coffee with people in the middle of the  day they're at work. Their life is nothing like mine. So all all my talk, all my 

modeling, is like, Well, yeah, you can do these things, but I can. I can't live like  you. II Thessalonians, Paul writes, now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in  idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you receive from us. For you  yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when  we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with  toil and labor. We worked night and day just like you, that we might not be a  burden to any of you. It is. It was not because we did not have the right, but to  give you, in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you,  we would give you this command. If anyone is not willing to work, let him not  eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but  busy bodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus  to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. So Paul and the people that  he was with could say, this is, you know, our life is no different than yours. We  have to work. We have to take care of ourselves, and we preach the gospel. We try to make a difference in the people's lives around us. And so follow what we're doing. We can relate to you. You can relate to us. There's other advantages to  this whole tent, making way of thinking. Number one, more people can try to  plant a church, if a person is is supplying their own needs, and then they have  some time to try to help others. They can do a small little thing and see where it  goes. A lot of church planting at the denominational level requires a full time  person. Then someone has to get some money to help pay for that full time  person. And then that person goes and he tries to gather people. And there's a  huge investment into something that may or may not work. A lot of church  plants, you know, they get started and then they fold up. But in some ways,  number two, every convert becomes a church potential church planter. In some  ways, every single Christian, you know, they they they're making money, so  they're taking care of their family and now they're trying to influence and make a  difference in the lives of other people. And they can start with one, why not? And if you get one, one, well, why not reach two? And if you get two, why not three?  And who knows, eventually you get a small group. And if you have one, small  group, why not try for two? And maybe that's as far as you go. Maybe it doesn't  become a church, but every single Christian is at least trying. If one out of 10  actually did something, we'd have millions of churches all over the place without  the investment of all kinds of money that may or may not develop into a church.  Number three, money does not drive ministry. People moved by the Holy Spirit  drives the ministry. Right now, in most church planting, it's the money. If we had  more money, we could Plant more churches. So money is the determining factor on whether we're going to have another church plant. You know, the first 300  years, there were no church buildings. So every single Christian that had a  house, that lived in a house could be a potential church plant, every single one  of them. But then, after 300 years, Charlemagne became Constantine, the 

Emperor at that time, became a Christian. All of a sudden, he made the whole  Roman Empire Christians. And they had all these, these pagan religious places,  and they turned them into churches. And then, you know, when you get a big  crowd, you want a professional person, and all of a sudden, the you know, you  know, we started hiring people and, and average people, you know, you can't  have a church now in a house, because that's not good enough. You need a  bigger thing. And, and we sort of carried down that tradition ever since we have  a sense of what a church should be. And it needs a nice cement floor. It needs,  you know, so now it needs money. Without enough money, you can't get it  going. I spent a year in the Philippines, and, you know, in the early days of the  church planting movement in the Philippines, churches could go anywhere. You  put up some grass, things, you know, bamboo, bing, bada, boom, a church is  built. You know, in a week. It didn't cost much, and any community could do it.  But then someone got a cement floor. Well, they got some money from the  United States to put it in a cement floor. Now, everyone thinks they if you don't  have a cement floor, you can't have a church, but people can't afford the cement floor, so now they need to go out and find money to have this cement floor. And  so all of a sudden, church planting is being held back by cement floors and  finding the money for a cement floor. So this whole idea of tent making. If we  had an I had a thought that any person can do this, can try this now, not against  cement floors. What I'm against is, is, is, is making church planting so  professional, and so that's, that's part of what's behind Christian leaders  Institute. Take a class, see where it goes. Start, do a little bit ministry. See what  happens. Take another class, be equipped, do a little bit more ministry. Will that  become a church? I don't know. Will it become a half a church, I don't know. Will it become just a small group that joins the church? I don't know. But if we had  more and more people do it, 1000s and 1000s of people doing that, you know,  we're gonna move, you know, the Kingdom bar further down the trail. Well, there are some dangers to tent making as well. Number one, poorly trained people  end up planting churches. You know, if it becomes easy and anyone can do it,  then a lot of people do do it, and some people who do it, who shouldn't do it,  they've been trained poorly. So that's what Christian leaders Institute is about  too. We want to get the training to the people. We want people doing stuff, but  we want people to know what they're doing it and why they're doing it, and to be  strongly biblically based. And so that's taking these classes, not just this class,  but the other classes that you're taking, take as many as you can, be equipped  as best as you can, so that if you do a tent making ministry, you do it in a biblical manner. Number two, tent making and ministry get too intertwined. Okay, so, so  a person is trying to do ministry, maybe planting a church, but then he's got to  make a living. And sometimes what church planters, like this tent making church planters, will do is sort of get them confused. And it's like you got to join my  church, but you ought to support my business, and you don't want to put those 

two together. You know, I'm trying to do my business thing to care, care of my  family. So I can offer you the gospel FREE of charge. I don't want to offer you  the gospel and then somehow coerce you into supporting my making a living.  So but, but that's a danger. People can put those two together. In fact, they can  

make they can make sure their tent making thing, the number one thing in  ministry is just the way to get people to support the tent making. Number three,  people reached may not take on their share of the responsibility for the church  being planted. I once planted a church where we took no offering, but that, you  know, I'm going to try. You know, the number two, reason people thought were  sort of negative about church. You know, from the poll that I had taken, the  number two reason was they thought churches are more interested in their  money than in them. And so I thought, you know, I'm gonna, I'm gonna put that  whole thinking to bed. So I planted, I actually planted a church where I said,  we're not going to take an offering, so my wife and I rented the space. When  people come, we had about 100 people come, and in the next week they came  again there was no offering. And at the time where we had an offering, I said,  you're not going to take an offering, but take the money that you give as an  offering and do something with it. Help somebody. You know, see the needs out  there, don't give me the money, and then I have to figure out all the needs and  how to help people. No, you you do it. You help somebody. Well, you know, I  think it was week four, someone came up to me and said, Well, how does this  place who's paying the rent on this place. I said, my wife and I Oh, well, can we  help them then? Yeah, okay. So little by little, some people did that, but a lot of  people did nothing. So the problem sometimes with tent making is is, you know,  I'm paying for all the work that I do, and you just let me and you sit back, and  you just let other people take on all the responsibility. So that's, you know, like  with parenting, sometimes you get to give people responsibility, and sometimes  paying and taking the offer. I know that was a good idea or not. I don't know if  ultimately, having a church without an offering is good. I know a lot of churches  in the community were not happy with me, because they were taking offering  and we weren't, and they were like, what kind of church is this? You know, it's  biblical, and maybe it is, you know, it's just something that I was trying so I don't  know. You know, in the end, I don't, I wasn't sure which is the right thing to do,  but the ultimate goal is to get people to take responsibility. And the reason I  wasn't taking offering is because I wanted them to be responsible. You be  responsible for the money that God has given you. Ultimately, you are  responsible to reach the needs around you, not me. You give me the money.  You know, I got to figure out the ministry and what to do with it, and to help  people and so on. You do it, but so anyway, one of the dangers of the tent  making thing is people just let you take care of everything, and they don't chip  in. So we'll be talking more about this tent making thing as we go. But it's a  biblical concept. It isn't necessarily the thing that you always have to do here at 

CLI, we're not against full time ministry, but we realize, you know, from hearing a lot of your stories that full time ministry is not where you're going to start, and so  you need to find a way to sort of, do, you know, a little bit of half and half,  somehow make a living, take care of your family, but also have the freedom and  the time to do ministry.