Pastor
Isaiah 52:7 “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”
There are two offices in the church that are commissioned by God the office of Pastor and that of Deacon. The Pastor is to lead the flock and feed the flock. The Deacon is to relieve the Pastor from the busy work, so that he can focus on prayer and ministry of the Word. First, we will look at the role of the Pastor, the requirements to be Pastor, and our duty to our Pastor.
The role of the Pastor is to lead and feed the flock of God. Ephesians 4:11 The gift of Pastor is Pastor even teacher. The Pastor must have the gift of teaching. Since, God is the One Who gives the gift, then God is the One Who calls someone into the Pastorate. Many people worry about the number of degrees a Pastor has or who has licensed or ordained them. We need to worry did God call them. We do not take on our own initiative to be a Pastor. There are too many filling pulpits that do not have the gift and calling from God. The Pastor must be called by God filled with the Holy Spirit Who anoints the Word and the Word of God will not return void without doing what God has sent forth for it to do. John 21:15-19 Jesus instructed Peter to “Feed my sheep.” In a real sense that is what we as Pastors are to do. We must feed the sheep and tend to the lambs. We must love the flock of God enough to give our lives for them. We must shepherd the flock. Malachi 2:7 We must feed them. Too many churches starve the flock. Feeding means giving more than watered down sermons laced with the theories of man. Feeding the sheep means we will be stepping out into the deeper waters of the Word and preaching spiritual truths of God’s Word. We must preach Jesus! Colossians 1:28,29 Our duty is to present our flock each one perfect to Christ Jesus. Only the Blood of Christ washes away sin and that is the only way we can present them perfect. We must preach Jesus! We are able to turn lives from hell to heaven with the preaching of our Lord Jesus Christ! We have the cure for the disease of sin, His Name is Jesus!
In order to preach Jesus effectively we must spend time in the Word of God and prayer. Psalms 1:2 God gave the office of Deacon to alleviate the Pastor from having to do busy work in the church and be able to commit to the study of the Word and prayer. Acts 6:3,4. As Pastors we are to give ourselves continually to prayer and the Word. We must spend time preparing sermons, praying over them and the flock, revising the sermons, searching the Scriptures and pray some more. We must not feed the flock slop, but exposit the Scriptures accurately. II Timothy 2:15 We must study the Word to show ourselves approved unto God, correctly and accurately handling the Word of God. We need to strive to give God’s Word in an understandable and applicable manner that keeps the Scripture in context and accurate to its meaning in the original languages. Romans 10:17 ‘Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.’ If we want to see souls saved, then we must preach the Word accurately! God’s Word is what gets the job done. Isaiah 55:10,11
The Pastor is to shepherd the flock, which means he is the overseer. He is to lead the local church. He doesn’t beat the congregation or tie a noose around their neck and pull them. A Pastor leads by example. A church and its members cannot grow in spiritual maturity beyond their Pastor. We must be careful to maintain our walk with God so as not to hinder the church. As manager, steward, overseer we must seek God’s will in prayer and nurture the flock. The shepherd leads the flock, the flock doesn’t lead the shepherd. A shepherd doesn’t ask the sheep where to go. He leads them into the green pastures and beside the still waters. The Pastor is to lead.
Now that we have examined the duty of Pastors, let’s consider the requirements to be Pastor. Titus 1:6-9 & I Timothy 3:1-9
First, A Pastor must be “blameless” or ‘not accused.’ A Pastor must not be living in known sin. How can someone preach against sin, if they are living in sin? Pastors are called to a holy life. Isaiah 52:11 We need to depart from sin and touch not the unclean thing. Many ministries have been brought down by greed for material possessions, from ungodly women, and pride. We must carefully guard our hearts against sin. We must apply James 4:6-10 and not just preach it!
Next, A Pastor must be the “husband of one wife.” Since, only a man can be the husband of one wife, then only men can be Pastors. Adam was put over Eve. Genesis 2:20-23 & 3:16. I Timothy 2:12 The Greek word “didasko” to teach is the same root word used in Ephesians 4:11 & I Corinthians 12:28,29 “didaskalos” teacher, preacher, and instructor. I Timothy 2:12 specifically states that a woman is not usurp the authority of the man. Women are to be a help meet for the man and when they support their husbands they can more than double his ministry for the Lord. Only men may be Pastors. The next thing we can deduce from husband of one wife is that a Pastor can not be divorced and remarried. Malachi 2:16 The Lord hates divorce! Divorce doesn’t end the bonds of marriage, death does. As long as the former spouse is alive, they are still married. Matthew 5:32. Many interpret the “husband of one wife” to mean at most one living wife at a time. A widower may remarry and a single man may be a Pastor as long as he has never had more than one wife.
A Pastor must be “sober.” The Greek word “sophron” means to be sound minded. An alcoholic or drug addict doesn’t have a clear mind. Some people aren’t on mind altering substances, but they are still not sound minded. A Pastor must be of a sober mind. He must not be insane and off the wall (in a bad way).
A Pastor must be of “good behavior.” This goes back to Pastoral duties, a Pastor cannot preach against wrong behavior if he is engaging in them. A Pastor must lead by example. A Pastor must lead an orderly life. Wrong conduct hurts the flock and tears down the body of Christ. Christianity has had many great disservices heaped upon it from Pastors abandoning “good behavior.”
A Pastor must be “given to hospitality.” A Pastor could never preach Matthew 25, unless he leads by example. Many Pastors first held the roll of Deacon, because they were given to hospitality. Acts 6. Pastors must have a heart to help the hurting, feed the hungry, clothe the needy, and visit the shut-ins. By nature, a Pastor desires to help where there is a need.
A Pastor must be “apt to teach.” The duty of a Pastor is prayer and ministry of the Word. If a Pastor can not teach, then he can not be a Pastor. The gift of teaching is an integral part of being a Pastor. A seminary degree and ordination doesn’t qualify someone in their ability to teach. Charles Spurgeon didn’t have a seminary degree, yet he was a great Bible teacher. Many seminary students leave seminary without the gift from God that is needed to be Pastor. A Pastor must teach. First, the Pastor must know the Word in order to teach it. Next, the Pastor must be able to effectively communicate what he knows to his congregation. The gift of teaching is a gift and not a learned act. No amount of seminary will ever overcome the lack of God’s gift. A man must be called by God, equipped by the Holy Spirit to effectively preach Jesus Christ!
A Pastor must be “not given to wine.” A Pastor is not allowed to drink or consume alcoholic beverages. A Pastor must be of a sound mind and alcohol clouds a mind. Also, if a new convert sees a Pastor drinking or buying alcohol, the new convert may be tempted to go back to alcoholism. Pastors must lead by example.
A Pastor must not be a “striker.” He must not be a wife beater, a fighter, a reviler. He must not instigate physical brawls. Once again, a Pastor must lead by example.
A Pastor must not be “greedy of filthy lucre.” Do not enter the ministry for financial gain. We are not to lay up treasures here on earth. Matthew 6:19-21 The Bible says that we cannot serve both God and money. Matthew 6:24; Luke 16:13 As Pastors we are to serve God, so we must abandon the serving of money. Greed is one of the major destroyers of a ministry, pride and lust are the others. We must be willing to entrust our finances to God and rest in His promise to provide our needs. Philippians 4:13,19 We enter the ministry to serve God out of a heart of love for Him. We are not seeking our own financial gain, but the building of God’s Kingdom.
A Pastor must be “patient.” Patience is a virtue. The trying of your faith works patience. Pastors develop this trait through the testing of their faith. Romans 5:3,4 Tribulations try our faith and make us rely more heavily upon God. As we walk by faith and not by sight, God develops within us patience. A Pastor must be patient even in traffic (the ultimate tribulation). Pastors are not perfect, but we must strive to be more like Christ. Jesus is our example of patience. He didn’t act rashly, but was patient with his disciples and even with those who persecuted Him. We must seek to be like Christ and be patient even as He is patient.
A Pastor must not be “a brawler.” This reinforces the command for a Pastor to not be a striker and reviler. A Pastor should not be continually in physical fights. We can defend ourselves if we are attacked, but we should not provoke the attack. We also must not be the one who starts the assault. We must avoid being a brawler. Jesus said turn the other cheek.
A Pastor must not be “covetous.” In addition to not being greedy of filthy lucre, a Pastor must not covet what others have. A Pastor must not covet the other Pastor’s church that is growing faster, has the better building, location, parking lot, or workers. A Pastor must not covet the neighbor’s house, boat, car, wife, etc. One of the ten commandments is that we are not to covet. Once again, we must lead by example and be free of sin.
A Pastor must rule his own house well. A Pastor must be a daddy not just a father. A Pastor must raise his kids in the fear and admonition of the Lord. He must set the example at home. He must discipline his kids in a loving Christ like manner. He must know how to rule his home. If he can’t control his home, then how will he be able to control the household of God? How can he preach about Christian living if his home doesn’t reflect it?
A Pastor must “not be a novice.” Most Pastors serve as a Deacon or assistant Pastor to train them prior to becoming Senior Pastor. The warning here is that someone could get lifted up with pride. Pride can and will destroy their ministry for the Lord and hinder the work of God. The sin that got Lucifer kicked out of heaven was the sin of pride. Pride will tear down the work of the Lord quicker than almost anything. Many Pastors that fall into various vices all started with the sin of pride. We must be careful whom we allow to be the Pastor of our church. We must give the younger and newer candidates opportunities to preach and mold them. As they gain experience and exhibit signs of maturity then we can ordain them. We must be careful to avoid putting a well meaning “novice” into a position where they will fall. It isn’t age, but maturity that is required. I Timothy 4:12. Also, Charles Spurgeon was just a teenager when he started preaching and he was one of the best of all times.
Now that we have examined the duties of a Pastor and the requirements to be a Pastor, let’s look at our duties to our Pastor. Each Christian AKA member has duties to their Pastor.
First, we must respect and honor our Pastor. I Thessalonians 5:12,13. We are to esteem our Pastor very highly in love. We must give respect to our Pastor. When the Pastor asks us to do something we do it. We may pray about it to ask God’s help in doing it, but we do what our Pastor asks us to do within the will of God. We respect our Pastor. We work in the church. We should volunteer for jobs and not wait for the Pastor to ask us to do them. We back our Pastor as he is the man God placed in charge of us. Pastors will give an account in heaven of not only themselves, but each member. Since, they must give an account of us we need to have an account worth giving. When someone gossips and bad mouths the Pastor we defend him and also let the church leaders know so that they can deal with the situation. We must respect our Pastor enough to attend church whenever we are physically able to. He spends a large amount of time preparing the message from the Word of God, we should respect him enough to listen and apply what God lays on his heart. We must follow the shepherd God has entrusted us with.
We pay our Pastor. I Corinthians 9:7-14; I Timothy 5:17,18 The Pastor works very hard and diligently. He deserves to be paid just like anyone else. We are commanded by God to pay our Pastor. We must tithe if the church is to pay our Pastor. Malachi 3:8-11 If each member is faithful in tithing, then the church budget should be able to handle paying the Pastor. The Pastor is worthy of pay. God would not include the commands to pay the Pastor if it were not important. Pastors work more hours than most secular employees. Those who serve in our military are paid. Those who work on a farm, in a factory, or at an office are paid. God commands that we not muzzle the ox while threshing. The ox gets fed for its work. Isn’t a Pastor better than an animal? We need to make sure the Pastor’s needs are met and he is paid for his work. I Corinthians 9:14 Paying our Pastor is not an opinion, but a command ordained by God. If we fail to pay our Pastor, then we as a church and individuals are sinning against God. The Pastor is worthy of his reward or wages. I Timothy 5:17,18 As the church grows, other church leaders should be paid. The assistant Pastors need to be paid to. The primary responsibility is to the Senior Pastor. After taking care of the Senior Pastor, we must pay our assistant ministers.
There are two offices in the church that are commissioned by God the office of Pastor and that of Deacon. The Pastor has an awesome duty and requirements placed upon him. Each member in turn has the responsibility to honor, respect their Pastor and see to it he is paid and his needs are met. Click here for the next lesson that deals with the office of Deacon.
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