What is the Role of a Pastor?
In the church that I occasionally attend we are in a pastoral transition period. I thought it an excellent idea when the committee in charge of finding a replacement handed out a questionnaire on what we the congregation wanted or expected in the position of pastor. This led me to reflect on all the pastors I have known in my life and just what it was that made them, in my eyes, good or not-so-good at their job. I’ve also come to the realization that the Body of Christ, because of the way we have been taught for centuries, really has no relatable concept on the scriptural role of a pastor.Interestingly enough, the word “pastor” is only used once in the NT and it is pluralized. Let’s take a look at the scriptures surrounding its use.
Eph. 4:7 – “But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” Every single one of us has a gift given by God. Here is a list of some of these gifts as found in Eph. 4:11 – “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;” and what is the purpose of these gifts we are ALL given: Eph. 4:12-13 – “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 fullness of Christ:”
This is the true meaning of what the phrase “the Body of Christ” means. We are literally His physical extension on Earth to perform His will by reflecting His character to those inside and outside of the Body. We have allowed the devil to circumvent these efforts by the great scourge in the church world known as denominationalism. The whole of His Body needs to unify through our faith so that we reach the world as one in thought, deed and works. Instead, we paralyze ourselves and create confusion by concentrating on all the areas in which we are separate in our beliefs. So when a new Christian is born his spirit is immediately attacked by a barrage of questions the devil throws at him like, now what church will you attend? Which bible should you read? How does this church differ from the one down the road? Which one is the real church? The Baptists, Methodists, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Seventh Day Adventist, Pentecostals, Apostolics, Universalists? The list goes on.
Here’s a little history about how we got to where we find ourselves today. When the early church began there weren’t any “bible schools” as we know them today. The Holy Spirit is the one who gave these gifts to us for the aforementioned purpose and He still does today. For the first three hundred years or so there wasn’t an official hierarchy of leaders, there were just simple Christians exercising the gifts they were given by the Holy Spirit. When the Roman leader, Constantine, made it “acceptable” to be a Christian, it wasn’t long before some felt a hierarchy was needed and thus Catholicism arose and quickly plunged the world into what is now known as the Dark Ages, where the so-called Christian leaders led by greed, corruption, favoritism, and absolute authority over their charges. After a little over a millennium of this abuse of authority, God finally allowed His light to shine through again when teachers such as Martin Luther and others of his generation regained an understanding of faith and what it means to the church. Many were able to break free from this oppressive style of Christianity and formed the basics of what is now called Protestantism.
However, the devil is always at work to stifle the Body of Christ and it didn’t take long for a different kind of separatism to evolve which is denominationalism. With the rise of this new schism also came denominational bible schools where leaders were trained to think and act and focus on whatever doctrines the established leadership felt was more important than others. Thus over time, church leadership worldwide digressed into a different type of hierarchy. One that wasn’t spiritually or biblically based but power/leadership based which ended up circumventing the Holy Spirit and replacing His will with their own. Now this all may come across as me being against bible schools but that is not the case. Good bible schools emphasize what the scriptures have to say, not whatever denomination that backs them has to say. They can be important to help a Christian acquire some of the tools they need to be excellent Christian leaders such as, how to effectively study the bible and pray, administrative tools, how to express oneself, practice in public speaking, which many of us find nerve-wracking. They can also help to build one’s confidence and self-esteem, to find out if they are really called of God to the position they desire. Most of these could be done in a well-established church setting but the common thought today is if you haven’t gone to a bible school then you are unqualified to teach others beyond a Sunday School type of environment and to me, that is just plain wrong.
Now with that little bit of history behind us let’s move on to the topic at hand. What is the role of a pastor? The word “pastor” as used in Eph. 4:11 means to ‘shepherd”. A shepherd doesn’t control the sheep or make them march to the beat of the shepherd’s drum. Basically, a good shepherd allows the sheep to roam and graze where they want, at their own pace, while keeping an eye out for dangers from the outside. To use an analogy, a good shepherd might turn his sheep away from the cliffs of false doctrine and questionable theology. He looks for the “wolves in sheep’s clothing” who want to destroy the flock from within. He also watches out for those who want to “fleece” his flock out of greed or self-interest and those who prey on weak-willed women.
Another term that is used to describe what we consider to be the pastor’s role is the word “bishop”. We find this usage in 1 Tim. 3:1-7 followed by a description of the role of “deacons” in 1 Tim. 3:8-13. The common denominators are maturity in biblical and spiritual matters and the ability to “rule” one’s household in a Christ-like manner. We have, in most cases, relegated the role of ‘pastor” to a degree not meant in the bible. In my Christian life I have actually heard these phrases used: “It’s the pastor’s job to save souls, not mine.” It’s the pastor’s job to pray for the sick, not mine.” It’s the pastor’s job to control the church budget, not ours.” “The less we pay the pastor, the more we’ll have for God’s work.” “I love my pastor.” “I hate my pastor.” “My pastor is too controlling.” “We need a new pastor.”
What many local bodies of Christ fail to realize is that you have a calling from God, right where you’re at, whether you have a pastor or not. When searching for a pastor you want to find one that shares whatever mission your local body is passionate about but in too many cases the local body changes and fluctuates to whatever direction the pastor has; thus when you lose that pastor for whatever purpose, you lose your identity as a church body. You end up floundering along like sheep without a shepherd until a replacement arrives instead of promoting from within as it should be and was originally designed.
The word “bishop” means “overseer”. It does not mean, controller or general. We should look at the role of pastor as being similar to the role of elder brother or parent. In my opinion, their job should be to help the flock to grow to maturity in Christ, helping their congregants to find their spiritual gifts and offer opportunities for them to use their gifts in a church setting. Besides the gifts mentioned in Eph. 4:11 there are other gifts found in Rom. 12:3-16. As parents desire the maturity and growth of their children so should a pastor desire the same for those in his care. Church was never meant to be a 10% active participation with a 90% passive non-participation role. It’s meant to be a 100% active participation role for all members whether young or old, sick or healthy, utilizing all the gifts the Holy Spirit has given us.
I will follow this up with a shorter study on “What is the Role of the Congregation?”
