No Exorbitant Salaries
No man should be granted an exorbitant salary, even though he
may possess special capabilities and qualifications. The work done
for God and His cause is not to be placed on a mercenary basis. The
workers in the publishing house have no more taxing labor, no greater
expense, no more weighty responsibilities, than have the workers in
other lines. Their labor is no more wearing than is that of the faithful
minister. On the contrary, ministers, as a rule, make greater sacrifices
than are made by the laborers in our institutions. Ministers go where
they are sent; they are minutemen, ready to move at any moment, to
meet any emergency. They are necessarily separated, to a great degree,
from their families. The workers in the publishing houses, as a rule,
have a permanent home and can live with their families. This is a
great saving of expense and should be considered in its bearing on the
relative compensation of laborers in the ministry and in publishing
houses.
Those who labor wholeheartedly in the Lord’s vineyard, working to
the utmost of their ability, are not the ones to set the highest estimate on
their own services. Instead of swelling with pride and self-importance,
and measuring with exactness every hour’s work, they compare their
efforts with the Saviour’s work and account themselves unprofitable
servants.
Brethren, do not study how little you may do, in order to reach
the very lowest standard, but arouse to grasp the fullness of Christ,
that you may do much for Him.—
Testimonies for the Church 7:208,
209
(1902).
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