Just Exactly What Is A Pastor? (In a biblical sense) According to the Bible, there is a thing that is given the slang term of The Five=Fold Ministry. Ephesians 4:11-13King James Version (KJV) 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: There is no question that this is valid and is needed. The ecclesia suffers without the five fold ministry. But if you walk into most traditional churches, you will discover that the man who is named pastor is expected to fill all these shoes. Nothing could be further from what God intended! A pastor is a shepherd. His job is looking out for the sheep, nothing more = nothing less. How does he do this? He leads them to pasture. A pastor opens the gate, calls the sheep out and pushes them in the direction of the food source. God provides the food for natural sheep (Grass). God also provides the food for spiritual sheep (Teaching). The pastor does not grow the grass, nor does he plant it. He does not water it, nor fertilize it. God does it all. In the same way, the pastor does not provide the teaching, preaching or ministering, but simply does his job in finding the good pasture that God has prepared. Within every body of believers (ecclesia) there is a teacher that God has sent. There may be more than one. God sent them to teach. It is the pastors job to see that and use it. He does not do this by Lording It Over the sheep (Matthew 20:25 and 1 Peter 5:3) and forcing anything, but leads by example. So, we see that the pastor is not the teacher. Next we answer the question, is the pastor the preacher? The job of preaching belongs to the evangelists that God sends to the ecclesia. Once again, it is the pastors job to make sure that the evangelists that are sent are being used and allowed to preach. So, we see that it is not always the pastorss job to preach a sermon week after week. So, the pastor is not the preacher (evangelist). On a side note I have known many men who were voted into the office of pastor because of their preaching ability. I could speak on that one for hours, but I will move on. The pastor is not the prophet, though I have known some pastors that are labeled prophet by others. What are the considerations of a prophet? He is the person that God uses to issue warnings to the ecclesia when they are wandering in the wrong direction spiritually. Nothing more, nothing less. So the pastor is not the prophet. Also, he is not the apostle. What is the job of the apostle? Leaving his life in his community and going where God directs him to begin a new work. If your pastor is a pastor, he has no time to go abroad and start churches elsewhere. He is called to you. Is being a pastor a full time job? Yes and no. It is full time, but it is not a job. It takes a special man to be a pastor in the biblical sense. He cares for the sheep that God has sent him to every day. He is constantly pointing them to good teaching. He is constantly calling to them to go straight, not to the left or right. He is consumed with their well being. And one more thing is required of him. Watch out for the wolves! A pastor will protect his sheep from heretics, false teaching and will love them in a harsh manner when needed. If a rebuke is needed, he must give it. If encouragement is needed, he must give it. One last thing a pastor is. He is a sheep too. He is not above the sheep, nor is he called to be beaten up by the sheep. He is a guide to good things, and away from bad things. That is what a pastor is.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 22:54:25 +0000
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