In the news today, there's a story about former Green Bay Packers safety Leroy Butler whose speaking engagement at a church was canceled because he tweeted congratulations to NBA player Jason Collins, who revealed on Monday that he is gay. You can read more about the story on Yahoo.

What really got my attention was the differences in opinion over the $8,500 speaking fee that the Wisconsin church was supposed to pay Butler for the July speaking engagement. Is that a lot of money for the church to pay a speaker? Unfortunately, there are no standard speaking rates and I'm not too familiar with church administration. To be paid such amount, the speaker should have a lot to offer.

Here's is the issue:

Should churches pay speakers for their appearance?

There are support of both sides of this argument, and I don't want to argue that one side is necessarily right. I just want to throw some thoughts out there and start a discussion.

So, in no particular order, here are my thoughts on the issue:

1. Many speakers rely on their income to survive

Many who speak have bills to pay and families to feed. They rely on their speaking income to live. They can't do things for free all the time, and the Scripture says that "the worker is worthy of his wages."

A lot of time goes into speaking. An effective speech takes hours of preparation and the time spent on preparing could be spent on something else - time with families and loved ones. If speakers were never to be paid, it is unlikely that they would continue to work hard like most speakers do.

Also many speakers employ people to do a lot of the administrative duties. These staff members also have to be paid. Even those without staff have to cover costs of maintaining websites, creating publication materials, travel costs, maintaining the home office, and so on.

2. Speakers who don't charge aren't as valued.

People value what they pay for, they don't place too much value of what is free. If the church has paid, there is an expectation that the speaker will be insightful and meaningful. Paid events are taken more seriously and the church invests time and energy into ensuring the success of such events.

Just as with any organization, there is an expectation to pay for good service. In fact, no organization will take seriously any professional who offers free services all the time. Free services could be a sign of incompetence.

3. Church members shouldn't bear the brunt of the speaking fees

I don't believe the burden of payment should be passed on to the congregation. Speaking fees should already be included in the church's budget for the year. I've seen some churches raise special offering to cover the speakers' fee.

In cases where the speaker is not paid, it's okay to raise love offering to cover the speakers cost but this should not be the norm for every speaking engagement.

4. Churches shouldn't invite guest speakers all the time

While I enjoy occasional guest speakers, I'm not a big fan of churches having special events all the time. Some churches have frequent special services that requires them to invite guest speakers.

Imagine having one special event every month where the guest speaker is paid $8,500 per event, that amounts to $102,000 per year. Some of that money could be put to better use if the special events are held quarterly, or semi-annually.

So, what do you think? Should churches limit how much speakers are paid? But is it wrong for speakers to ask for money? Certainly not. They are offering a service that cost time and money.

Those are my thoughts. Please share yours and feel free to disagree!

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