Pastor Appreciation Month continues, and I want to share a big secret with you that might actually surprise you.

Most pastors are rich.

At least, that’s how my parents made us feel when I was growing up in a pastor’s home. Of course, I don’t say that completely in reference to material wealth. I do, however, want to focus on the fact that we were not poor, even though there were times when we had very little, materially speaking.

There were many things I couldn’t do or couldn’t have because of finances as I was growing up. However, I do not recall even one time when my parents used “we’re too poor” as the reason. More importantly, they did not use an excuse that I have heard multiple pastors’ families use through the years: “Because we’re in ministry, we can’t afford that.”

Shame on the ministry parents who even dare to speak—let alone think—those words. Do you realize what you’re telling your children? You are, in essence, saying, “It’s God fault that you can’t go to that event or have those things. He forced us into this job.” You deny it, but the filter your children have been taught to use now includes the lining of “it’s God’s fault.”

Yes, my mother probably walked to the precipice of truth and fiction when she skillfully diverted our desires to something from the “affordable” rack. But I will forever be grateful that, in my recollection, she did not use ministry as a reason for not having or doing something.

I hear pastors “joke” about the non-wealth of being in ministry. And while I fully and humbly confess that the annual income for most full-time vocational Christian workers is pathetically below that of the people sitting in their congregations, there are, in fact, many benefits that come their way. Here are a few examples for those of you in ministry families to consider when the evil ick tries to tell you that you’re “poor” because your vocational work involves ministry:

* Most Christian colleges offer unheard of discounts to those students coming from ministry families where the head of household is in full-time vocational Christian service. Meanwhile, the student from the same church—whose parent is a deacon or Sunday School teacher—is paying full tuition, sometimes resulting in literally thousands of dollars of difference over four years.

* While the salary numbers might be low on the paycheck, it is important for many—if not most—ministry families to stop and remember that their housing is automatically not added into that number. In other words, the salary can be a bit lower because the church is paying hundreds of (perhaps, in some cases, a thousand or more) dollars each month for mortgage and insurance on the “parsonage.” It is wise for ministry families to stop and add in what dad really makes each month, once all of the “benefits” are added in. This includes the cost of health insurance for the family as well. Many in secular fields pay into their insurance, while often, in ministry, pastors and vocational Christian workers are not required to pay toward their benefits.

* In many churches today, “social events” and “discipleship meetings” (such as lunches out, coffee with someone in the church, or having a family over for dinner) are reimbursed to the vocational Christian worker by the church. Additionally, those items not reimbursed are often tax-deductible—both legally and rightfully so—allowing them to not be the “hardship” or “sacrifice” they might appear to be.

Here’s the bottom line: God knows the amount on your paycheck. He is not surprised by your bills. And more importantly, He is not surprised when there is a gap between the two because you are not financially wealthy in spite of some of the benefits I mentioned above. However, what are you teaching your children, ministry parents? Are you rejoicing when God provides for a need? Are you praising Him for allowing you to learn the lessons of trust and faith when you walk through the “lean” times? Are you teaching your children that these invisible blessings of difficulty are a privilege your family gets to walk through together?

Are you teaching them that vocational Christian service is a curse or a blessing? I’m thankful that my parents, though not perfect in any way, taught us children by words and by example that we were rich—rich in what mattered—and that we did not hear them “blame” ministry for anything we could not do or have.

Though today’s post was primarily written to those in vocational ministry homes, I hope it will also serve as a reminder to those who want to honor their pastors and pastors’ families this month that there are things those in vocational ministry must do without because their take-home income is lower than most in the congregation. Maybe there is something you can choose to do this week to help lighten that load—the most important of which might be a simple note of thanks to not only your pastor but also to his wife and children. If they’re doing it right, they’re doing it together!