Galatians 6:6

I came across this verse in my Bible reading today - and it struck me how misused it can be when quoted out of context.

"One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches." (ESV)

Does it refer to joining one's teacher in good and upright deeds or does it necessitate love-gifts for a preachers/ministers as some offering challenges propose? Did some reading up on this verse and realised that Galatians 6:6 has been translated in dramatically different ways.

Thought that this article shed a lot of good light on the matter.

Don't get me wrong. By sharing the article, I am not going to the other extreme of denying the fact that we need to pay our ministry workers well - and help them when they are in need. Families of underpaid clergy and missionaries do often have to bear the cruel brunt of our misguided views that God's Kingdom workers should be poor while the rest of us hoard our riches. And enjoy a comfortable life while they subsist humbly on our charitable handouts. Furthermore, we demand a strict account of their expenditures, scrutinise their monetary decisions, and are quick to tsk tsk when they don't spend their meagre income the way we think they should.

Galatians 6:6 is just, however, not the verse to support a wiser, kinder stewardship of our money.