When money is thought to be a matter of concern, it often is merely the symptom of a deeper problem.
To be sure, money can be the problem, if money is stolen, for example, from the church.
But if there is a debate about how the budget of the congregation should be structured, or who is donating how much, the real matter is spiritual. Money is merely a concrete way to express a spiritual priority.
The salaries of pastors and church-workers is a special case: if there is a perception that the pastor is serving sincerely and gladly, there are usually no complaints about him being "overpaid" and raises will be approved routinely. Privately, members of the congregation will give him gifts at holidays and birthdays.
But if there is a perception that the pastor is not carrying out his job in a way which serves the Kingdom of God well, then one hears complaints about him being overpaid.
Now, to be sure, every congregation will have a small percentage of members who always claim that the pastor is overpaid, and another small percentage of the members who always claim that he is underpaid. But we are looking here at the broad middle.
It is important to bear in mind that these comments about being “overpaid” are not actually about the pastor's salary. These comments are directed toward the spiritual nature of the congregation's interaction with one of its leaders; the money here is not the issue. But the money is a concrete way to address an issue that is abstract in nature, and otherwise difficult to literally grasp: I can touch a coin; I cannot physically touch the qualities of relationships within the congregation - they are intangible. Money makes them tangible.
We keep in mind, then, that discussions about money are often not about money.
