Be Warned

DEVOTION
1 TIMOTHY
BE WARNED
1 Tim 5:17-20
17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. 18 For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages." 19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. 20 Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that the others may take warning.
NIV
Oh, I have heard this verse used all too often in order to obtain a very handsome salary as the senior pastor of a church. But I wonder if I should not be giving them a double portion of very high esteem, or thinking of them as being of double value to the church because they teach and preach? Yet the rest of this statement does imply something to do with wages, although in the Greek this word for wages also implies simply a reward. Is not a double portion of high esteem reward enough? If these men are over paid money would that not give them opportunity to place more trust in wages, or even perhaps draw men to those positions because of the double portion of money given to them? Now it has me wondering if in those times those men were even paid a wage, and if not this could not be about a high wage but about honor, esteem, being counted worthy, deemed deserving of being thought of in this high regard. I should think of them as good men, spiritual giants so to speak, men who sincerely seek the direction of God and live a life pleasing to him out in the open, as an example to all. This is how I see this because of the rest of the statement about not entertaining an accusation against them unless there are multiple witnesses. Surely these men are not sinless, yet when they do commit a sin they are to be rebuked out in the open as well. So why should the church pay so special attention to paying them a double wage but pay little to no attention about publicly rebuking them for each and every time they sin? This just does not make any sense to me, unless again it has nothing to do with money but with honor, and when that honor is treading on by men who are truly not worthy of it, a rebuking is well in order. I really did not want to go into this, for I believe maybe I well ought to have been doing some rebuking, but certainly not publicly. Then again, I wonder because I have the opportunity to preach and teach in the church am I subject to these conditions as well? How could I get a double wage if I am not even paid in the first place? Granted I do not direct the affairs of the church so that should obviously exclude me from being in the number of men worthy of double honor, and thus also exclude me from any public rebuking. Yet I cannot help but feel because I do stand before other members of the body of Christ and explain the truths of God in order for them to examine themselves as I do to see if I am matching up, that in a sense I am directing the spiritual affairs of the church. I am not sure when God directed Paul to pen this those men such as Timothy were conducting church as a business which needed to be directed, but rather were conducting the spiritual training and welfare of those who were under their teaching and preaching. So for those men who conduct the spiritual affairs of the church, they should not be hampered or told to keep silent about certain issues, but be counted worthy and given a great deal of honor and reward them for their service to God by lifting them up in prayer, but at the same time being ready to guard against those who use this position for personal gain, rebuking them in front of all. God is to be feared. Be warned, I am.