I was asked the question, 'Do you feel that the salary you receive as a Seventh-day Adventist pastor meets your needs and the needs of your family?' My answer is Yes, and there are three reasons why I don't want to compare my salary with the 'going rate.'

First, I feel that if I am truly honest with myself and choose to be a worker for God, I will be chosen. Being chosen or called is not something that we do, nor that others do. It is something God does. The first question I ask myself before I take a position in or out of church work is, 'Did God call me?' That is all that matters. If so, I will have peace and all my needs will be taken care of. It doesnít mean that I will live like the family next door or even have all my wants supplied, but I know for sure that my needs will be met. (Phil. 4:19)

Next, I must consider if I have the skill to fulfill the call. That, too, I have to get from God. All things are possible with God. He is first looking for the person, and then he will ëgiftí them to fill the position. Is God going to call the wrong person? Doesnít he know whether you have what it takes to do the job?

Thirdly, what about the blessing? How do we perceive what a blessing is? That is between us and God. In our relationship to him he shares with us beyond our greatest expectations!

Look at how God dealt with the building of the sanctuary in the desert. 'The Lord spoke unto Moses saying, I have called by name BezaleelÖ and have filled him with the spirit of God in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship. And . . . I have given him AholiabÖ. and in the hearts of all that are wise hearted I have put wisdom, that they may make all that I have commanded thee.' (Ex 31:1-6.) God called those men by name to do a special work for him, and similarly he has a special work for each of us.

Next, after the call, he prepares us. God has been urging us all the time to take advantage of the blessings and opportunities for service that he has provided right before us. Then, when the call comes, we can see how God has led in our preparation for bigger things. We may feel that we really had very little to do with the call, that we just chose to surrender to the caller.

There is no call for service that is too small, degrading, or unimportant. There is no task too big, overwhelming, or impossible if God calls us to it. If we are surrendered to him, he is there to supply the gift, skill, energy and wisdom. He did it for Bezaleel and Aholiab. They were called, because they were ready. Why? Was it their skill, or their willingness to surrender to Godís will all along? The skills they had developed in mundane tasks were to be used in one of the most important jobs of their time. And they were blessed in every way.

There is another side to this picture. What happens if someone accepts a position although not chosen or called by God? Letís say someone in authority calls the candidate without consulting God or asking his wisdom in the call, and the person accepts. Look at what happened in the building of Solomonís Temple. Ellen White says, 'The descendants of these men [Mosesí workers] to a large degree inherited the skill that had been conferred upon their forefathers. In the tribes of Judah and Dan there were men who were regarded as especially 'cunning' in the finer arts. For a time these men remained humble and unselfish; but gradually, almost imperceptibly, they lost their hold upon God and his truth. They began to ask for higher wages because of their superior skill.' Soon they were seeing that they could get higher wages from the surrounding nations. They had lost the spirit of self-sacrifice and ended up using their God-given skills to serve the heathen kings (making idols), in turn dishonoring their Maker. 'It was from these apostates that Solomon looked for a master workman to superintend the construction of the temple on Mt. Moriah. Minute specifications, in writing regarding every portion of the sacred structure, had been entrusted to the king, and he should have looked to God for consecrated helpers, to whom would have been granted special skill.' (SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 2, p. 1027)

The Phoenician king responded by sending Huram, 'a cunning man' the son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, and his father was a man of Tyre.' In the end Solomon put at the head of sacred work an unsanctified man, who later demanded large wages because of his skill. His life showed his selfish nature and his desire to grasp for the highest wages. Soon his workers were comparing their wages with his and lost sight of the holy work that they were doing. The baleful influences set in operation permeated all branches of the Lord's service and extended throughout Solomon's kingdom. Extravagance and corruption were to be seen on every hand. The rich oppressed the poor; the spirit of self-sacrifice in God's service was well nigh lost.

Ellen White wrote, 'The sharp contrast between the spirit and motives of the people building the wilderness tabernacle, and of those engaged in erecting Solomon's temple, has a lesson of deep significance. The self-seeking that characterized the workers on the temple finds its counterpart today in the selfishness that rules in the world. The spirit of covetousness, of seeking for the highest position and the highest wage, is rife.' (Prophets and Kings, p. 64)

Why don't I choose to compare my salary with the going rate? I believe I have been called. I have been gifted in a special way to accomplish the task before me. I will continue to be blessed by having all my needs met. That is why I answer the first question, Yes!