Tent Making Ministry Model Debunked

The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance. Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them. For the LORD thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the LORD, him and his sons for ever. (Deuteronomy 18: 1, 2, 5)

We are a generation that seeks to amplify the exceptions of scripture. We easily focus on the exception in our effort to reduce the impact of what is plainly stated. We forget that the purpose of the exception is to increase the clarity of the normal. Grace does not negate the commandment as Paul ably argues in Romans 6. In the same way an exceptional call to ministry does not negate the Biblical norm in the way God calls His servants.

Have you ever asked yourself how many ministers in the Bible had side occupations as they served God? Have you read these verses?

Mine answer to them that do examine me is this, Have we not power to eat and to drink? Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? Or I only and Barnabas, have not we power to forbear working? Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal things? (1Corinthians 9: 3 – 11)

I hope we realize that Paul is not bashing other ministers as he shows his exceptional calling. He is actually doing the exact opposite by saying that what he and Barnabas did was not only abnormal but also ‘illegal and unscriptural’. But not only that; in the second letter to the same church we read this

I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service. And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself. (2 Corinthians 11: 8, 9)

We see the same thing when we read his letter to the Philippians. Tent making was not the sole source of his ministry support as many foolishly argue. It was an entry point into a region God had sent him. And it was in very few circumstances when we read the book of Acts. Simply speaking Paul enjoyed the support of the church as a minister of the Gospel.

And we see another reason that was even possible. He and Barnabas were single. This meant they had some ‘free’ time as they did not have the shackles of family. And we see that in the passage.

This is why I want to connect a call to ministry to the Levitical calling in the Old Testament because they are similar in many ways. In each case it is God who does the calling. But the most important truth is that He calls ministers to Himself. I will later look at the calling in a more focused way. But suffice it if I mention that that calling blocked anything and everything else.

Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. (Matthew 19: 27, 29)

Like God told Israel, that call was Levi’s inheritance. This clearly means that a call is better than anything else anyone can do. But it also means that it does not come from us. We must be called. It also means that not only is it complete on its own; it excludes and disqualifies everything else we may do.

The Levites were not denied lands and professions because they were lazy. They were denied because their call to ministry was incomparable to anything they or anybody else could do. They were not called into an easier existence. It was the most demanding of all. And that is the reason all other labor was excluded so that they served God with undivided focus.

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. (Mark 10: 21)

We do not see Christ or His disciples working since He started His public ministry. However we see the disciples ‘backsliding’ after His death and trying to go back fishing (John 21) and of course they face His didactic rebuke. We see Him enjoying the support of people.

And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance. (Luke 8: 3)

God does not call us to hustle to minister to Him. His calling is the prime hustle of our lives (Luke 9: 23). He does the hassling for us by raising people to stand with us and what He has called us to.

And that is why it is so important that one’s call is indisputable in its clarity as we know that we can’t be able to call on God to support what He has not initiated. Leaving all to follow a calling is a tall order whichever way you look at it.

I believe lack of that clarity is the reason we push the tent making doctrine. Then I will be able to function whether God is in it or not. I will build structures to sustain my ‘calling’ because I am not certain of any calling. I will build a name for myself because I am not sure that I am walking in the calling I once thought I had. It is simply a human solution to a spiritual dilemma.

Are you called into ministry where you are expected to leave everything? Can you confidently affirm that God is the source of that calling? Has He given you directions as to how you will keep that commission?

I wish I was not the one to write this. The calling is very costly. In fact like Christ taught it will cost not only everything one has but also all one is. Pursuing that call has been a very painful experience especially because of all these ‘successful’ side hustling ministers as they teach that a calling can’t be relied on its own to sustain a minister. But it has been my lot because I chose to follow God all the way and threw out my preferences when I decided to do so. I am therefore at His mercy.

It is not once that I have been threatened with eviction since my rent does not come at the end of the month like others though it always comes. There are times I leave home without knowing what my family will eat or even how I will get back home since I do not have the return fare. Yet God asks me to be still and continue ministering to Him as He directs and He always sorts me out.

If you have to have a side hustle to support your ministry I think it is important for you to know that it is ministry that is the side hustle. Ministry can never be primary if looking for money is secondary. It is the ONLY thing or it is a hobby. You can’t minister in your free time and make that the calling. Just say you love ministering and not that it is your calling, especially when pouring scorn on those ministers who have been called out of jobs and businesses because they are ‘dependents’ in your eyes.

Again I am not saying that you can’t minister when you have a job or are running a business. God led me to a media school and I worked in a media house yet He called me when I was in school. And the fruit of the ministry I was involved in at that time speaks for itself. That was my preparation for the kind of ministry I would be involved in once He called me out. I need to also say that before He took me to the media school He clearly forbid me from joining a Bible School when I had gotten one as I then thought that a calling to ministry had to lead in that direction. Again a Bible school is not sin and I will be a fool to use my clear order to pour scorn on Bible Schools.

You see God can and does call people to minister on the business front. I am not more spiritual if I am called out from that into what many call ‘full time’ ministry. Be content to minister where you are. Do not push to pastor a church as you will dilute the sufficient grace poured on you for that ministry. Minister effectively in your job environment if that is where God has called you. Do not deceive yourself that you become more effective if you have a ‘called’ title as it does not work that way.

Instead of ‘supporting yourself’ to do ministry, why don’t you support someone God has called and concentrate on ministering best where God has placed you?

If you must sell your books or sermons to support your ministry, then it is YOUR ministry. And I have written more books than most though I do not sell them. If you must ‘raise’ support to minister . . .  

The Levitical calling was such that Israel supported them or they died. God did not have any side hustle for them.

It is no wonder that a majority of the Biblical prophets were descended from the Levites. You see if listening to and serving God is the core of your being chances are that His voice will be clearest to you. That is why you see God giving all the jobs requiring impartiality and spiritual sensitivity to them. And that is why even in the New Testament the scribes were from the Levitical tribe.

And it is no surprise that probably all revivals recorded in scripture have them occupying pivotal positions; from Samuel to Ezra to Zechariah to Barnabas. God excluded them from secular occupations so that their spiritual antennae were at their best. You remember that even the David we associate with the best in worship had the Levites at his side all the time for helping him identify God’s direction. Remember that even godless Herod called on them to tell him where Christ was born?

Israel became a gone case when Jeroboam established a new priestly order, causing the Levites to defect to Judah where they were still relevant.

Our generation is not any special. We reap what we sow; and our investment into the spiritual will betray or affirm us according to the kind of investment we make. We cannot expect a paid minister to be better than a scripturally called and supported one. 

It is no wonder that we are screaming revival all over yet we have been unable to deal with fornication and adultery in our ranks. We are shouting breakthrough and favor and restoration yet we are unable to deal with come we stay marriages and divorce and dysfunctional marriages and crippling debt amongst us. And it is simply because the person who pays has a right to determine the message they will hear. A paid prophet is a soothsayer whether he thinks he hears from God or not.

In conclusion I will say that Levi was called from Israel. This means he was called out of an already called community. And this is a very critical point in my argument because it is the reason we fail God so many times. We prefer a dramatic conversion with a consistent walk of faith in identifying ministers or a healthy bank balance in identifying supporters. We clearly disregard 1 Timothy 3: 6 amongst other qualifications.

It saddens me when I see a recent convert bypassing so many people who have faithfully walked with God for generations in getting a ministerial appointment, even ordination just because their past life of sin was sordid. It shows that a dramatic conversion is better than a Christ-centred life, which is a fallacy. A few years ago I remember unmasking a Muslim who had fleeced many churches and believers by cooking a testimony of conversion and what he had lost as a result. And how did we do it? We simply decided to offer him long term assistance and therefore paid him an impromptu visit where he had told us he resided. And he disappeared, to date.

If we valued time as an item God has placed in our hands I doubt we will even be arguing about tent making ministry. This is because over time as we relate with the saints we can easily know the ones called from the ones after the drama that appears like the calling.

And of course we will know that we are expected to be hearing God Himself directing us concerning not only our responsibility to give but also where specifically He expects us to give and support.

Will we allow God to call His people according to His standards? And will we like Israel support them even when their message may bash us unless we change?