A small village congregation voted to raise the monthly salary of their minister from eight hundred dollars a month to one thousand dollars a month. The minister objected, for three reasons.

“First, you cannot afford to give me more than eight hundred dollars. Second, my preaching is not worth more than eight hundred dollars. Lastly, I have to collect the salary myself, which has been the hardest part of my work, and if I had to collect an additional two hundred dollars, it would kill me.”