These sweet darlings can be a stumbling block for a pastor.
Of course, it comes down to money. Well, not money exactly. More the pastors who need your money for their daily sustenance.
I guess I have a Catholic view of this because I think if you want to live off other people's donations, you should not live an ordinary life. You should be a single celibate human being who has completely dedicated himself to the pursuit of God's wisdom and the ability to relay it to others via the Holy Spirit.
You should live in one room in stark stripped-to-nothing-but-essentials surroundings.
You should NOT have a nicer house, car and income than the people donating. You should be completely immersed in the goal of Christ and the coming Kingdom as your entire reality.
I think I've just described most of the new Testament Apostles.
In Southern California, Pastors are often extremely wealthy. They make six figure incomes, have beautiful wives and children and use religious donations to go on nice vacations, buy things for their kids, send them off to college...and if they don't, they spend half their time angsting and stressing over where the next dollar will come from to pay the bills.
I'm sorry but I can't help seeing the GLARING CONFLICT OF INTEREST that is inherent here!
When a man's got his basic survival needs tied up in the money you donate - it's a problem. It's a problem if he's single. If he's married with kids, it becomes downright dangerous.
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