Recently I had to write a paper for the seminary about my understanding of who a pastor is, and what a pastor does, and I thought I would share bits of it on here. Here’s the first part.
As the Apostle Paul traveled throughout the Mediterranean making disciples, baptizing believers and planting churches he exemplified what a New Testament, Spirit-filled pastor is.
A pastor is, before anything else is, a servant of the Lord. Paul writes in Romans 1:9 that, “God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son” and later in 2 Timothy 1:3, “I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience.” Often times a pastor will get pulled in many different directions by people within his ministry context (who all happen to have great ideas for your life), and there’s a tendency to forget that our first priority is to serve God. “It is very difficult to do one thing (serve the Lord) when most of the people around us are asking us to do something quite different, especially when these people are nice, intelligent, treat us with respect, and pay our salaries.” [1] A pastor should be able to distinguish that which is truly serving the Lord, and that which is serving someone else’s felt needs. This takes shape differently for different people, but at the end of the day, we must be able to say as Paul did, “I thank God, whom I serve….with a clear conscience.”
A pastor is like all other believers in that he is called to be a servant of the Lord, but is different than others in his community of believers, because a pastor is called specifically to be a shepherd to God’s people. To be sure, Jesus is the Chief Shepherd[2] who is the head of the church[3], builds His church,[4] and appoints called and qualified men to be under-shepherds who follow the Chief Shepherd and encourage other people to follow Jesus as well. Peter describes the Lord’s desire for His under-shepherds in 1 Peter 5:1-4 by saying,
“To the elders (pastors)[5] among you, I appeal as a fellow elder (pastor)[6], a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who will also share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers– not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”
Because the role of a pastor or under-shepherd is such an enormous responsibility,[7] the Lord gives the Church qualifications that must be met over a long period of time before a man can be considered to fulfill the role of pastor. In John 21, Jesus appears to Peter, after Peter had given up on himself, and Jesus asks him three times, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter responds, “Yes” and Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.” In essence Jesus is telling Peter to pastor His people, but notice that Jesus reaffirms Peter’s role in the ministry after Peter reaffirms his love and loyalty to Jesus. Therefore, the most important ingredient, the most obvious qualification for pastoral work is a deep love and loyalty to the Lord Jesus Christ.
In addition to love and loyalty to Jesus, the Bible lays out the qualifications for pastors in two key places (1 Tim. 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9), and since the lists are penned by the same author, and almost identical, lets simply look at 1 Timothy 3:1-7.
Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task. Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.
In these seven verses the Apostle Paul details 17 qualifications of a Pastor-Elder, which breaks down into 4 categories. 1) Relation to God. 2) Relation to family. 3) Relation to self and 4) Relation to others.
Relation to God
- A man: a masculine leader
- Above reproach: untarnished reputation
- Able to teach: can effectively communicate the Gospel
- Not a recent convert: mature, established Believer
Relation to Self
- Sober-minded: mentally & emotionally stable individual
- Self-controlled: temperate, able to master one’s own feelings
- Not given to drunkenness: free from addictions
- Not a lover of money: free from the bondage of money
Relation to Family
- Husband of one-wife: One-woman man. Honor’s his marriage covenant
- Respect from children: successful father, has kids respect
- Manages own family well: provides for, loves on, and leads
Relation to Others
- Respectable: honorable, well-lived
- Hospitable: lover of strangers, engages non-Christians
- Not violent: even-tempered. A peaceable man
- Gentle: loving, gracious, patient
- Not quarrelsome: peaceful attitude, non-contentious
- Good reputation with outsiders: well thought of by non-Christians[8]
Not only does the Bible state qualifications for pastor-elders, but true under-shepherds will also have certain traits that exhibit Christ’s character:
- True under-shepherds will exhibit dependence on the Holy Spirit.[9] Jesus’ entire ministry was done by relying on the power of the Holy Spirit. He intends us to rely upon Him as well.
- True under-shepherds will exhibit humility.[10] Jesus’ mode of preaching was quiet instruction, often times in small groups, with select men. Not in loud proclamation, not by raising His voice in the streets.
- True under-shepherds will exhibit gentleness.[11] Jesus’ life was marked by empathy for the oppressed, gentleness when correcting, and encouraging the smallest amount of faith, and pastor’s life should be as well.
- True under-shepherds will exhibit persistence. During His earthly life, Jesus experienced feeling tired[12] and troubled[13] but pressed into the ministry that was taking place around Him, and pastors must show persistence to be an effective minister.
- True under-shepherds will exhibit instruction.[14] Jesus’ ministry included instruction in learning to become more proficient at living for the Lord in this world. He intends for pastors to continue to instruct His people to live for Him.
In summary, a pastor is a servant of the Lord, and a shepherd of God’s people who meets the qualifications set forth in the Scriptures, and demonstrates Christ’s character.
[1] Peterson, Eugene. Working the Angles. Pg. 11, Eerdmans, 1987
[2] 1Peter 5:4
[3] Col. 1:18, Eph. 1:22-23
[4] Matt. 16:18
[5] Elder, pastors, bishops, and overseers are synonymous words in the New Testament, Eph. 4:11, 1 Pet. 5:2
[6] Elder, pastors, bishops, and overseers are synonymous words in the New Testament, Eph. 4:11, 1 Pet. 5:2
[7] Hebrews 13:17; James 3:1
[8] Adapted from: Driscoll, Mark. On Church Leadership. Pg. 15-16, Crossway, 2008
[9] John 20:21-22
[10] 2 Cor. 4:5
[11] Matthew 11:29
[12] John 4:6
[13] John 12:27
[14] Matthew 11:29
I’m not going to lie, I absolutely love Medford. It’s where I grew up, attending Howard Elementary, Hedrick Jr. High and for the first 3 years of high school, North Medford. I never really considered moving away from the Rogue Valley, because I always knew I would want to move back.
My wife and I recently bought the TerkTV55 digital antenna so we could watch more TV. Great idea, right? So after getting the antenna shipped to us, we pulled it out of the box and hooked it up as quickly as possible, because football season is upon us! It works beautifully. We now have more TV channels than we have had in the past 7 years. I was able to watch two football games last week! How cool is that?