This is the first two pages from the chapter How Do We Choose a Pastor from my as yet unpublished book SHEPHERDING. How Do We Choose a Pastor? Now days we tend to choose pastors the same way we choose most anything else. If we need a lawn mower, we go to the lawn mower store. If we need some hardware, we go to the hardware store. If we need groceries, we go to the grocery store. If we need a pastor, we go to the pastor store. We send for a preacher catalog and we begin to analyze and match up a preacher to meet our needs. Just like anything else, we want the best that we can get for the money that we can afford. Let’s take a walk through our modern pastor selection process and see how it compares with the method Paul told us to use. Let’s check out the pastor’s catalog first: How much money can we afford? $20,000 B.Th., recent Bible college graduate, small, little known college, no pasturing experience. $30,000 B.Th., recent Bible college graduate, relatively known college, youth pastor for two years while in school. $40,000 B.B. one year post grad. studies, well known college, assistant pastor for five years since graduating seminary. $50,000 B.Th., M.Div. Notable Christian University, famous accredited seminary, assistant pastor for three years, pastor for six years. $60,000 B.B., M.Div., well known seminary, pastor for ten years, talented musician and singer, has made several music CD’s $70,000 B.A. with music major, M.Div. from notable school, assistant pastor to large church for ten years in charge of social activities, reputation as a really fun guy! $80,000 B.Th., M.Th., Th.D., honorary D.D. from major seminary, pastor for twenty years, published Author. $90,000 B.A. M.A. with major in religion, pastor for 12 years of big city church, experience as director of marketing for large corp. Attended Ringling Brothers School of Clowns and is expert at making animal figures with balloons! $100,000 B.A., M.D., D.D. already pastors the big church down the street, but would consider pasturing less people for more money, accomplished fund raiser, with experience in organizing building committees; currently only making $90,000 and says his “greedy deacons wont give me what I’m worth.” $20,000 or less, B.B. 20 year’s missionary in Timbuktu, 20 years pastor in Backwater Arkansas, already owns his own home (gift of rich former parishioner), health insurance already covered by Missionary Board, retired, health good. Only down side, loves Christ, preaches truth, could cost you some tither’s. Out of all the Apostles, there is only perhaps one that we might consider as a pastoral candidate for a modern Church. Apparently, the Apostle Paul was a graduate of a major religious university before his conversion. The trouble is, he wouldn’t meet any of our other requirements. 1Cr 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. What? No fancy speaking ability? No manipulating the masses with psychology? How does he expect to convert anybody? Paul was well educated, but apparently, he couldn’t speak all that well. Peter seemed to be able to preach all right, but he had no accredited education. Who’d want these guys for pastors? Who trained the first pastors of the early Church? Wasn’t it the apostles? What do we know about the education of the men who taught the first generation of Christian pastors to be pastors? Act 4:13 “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled; and …” We know that they were unlearned and ignorant, but what else do we know about them? “they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” Five minutes alone with Jesus will do more to build a Bishop than five years in seminary. No seminary has ever been able to make a good pastor out of a man that has no propensity for pasturing. However, many a young man with good potential for holy service has been seriously damaged by seminary. A little formal education can be a good thing, but holy living cannot be learned from a book, and a college degree is no evidence that a man knows how to live godly, let alone teach others how to do so.
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 00:13:22 +0000
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