Ephesians 4:11-13 says:
(11) And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastor and teachers;
(12) For the prefecting 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 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.
One thing that is working all kinds of devastation's in the life of the church is the failure of the leadership to have a solid philosophy~~~a well defined concept of church life handed down to them. Should a pastor spend his/her entire life on call as a spiritual ambulance, or is there something more fundamental he/she should be doing? One of the basic implications in my philosophy of the church is that the people are the ministers. When a crisis arises. it doesn't necessarily have to come to the pastor's office. When someone passes away, for example, the situation does not call for a theological treatise. It calls for people who understand the nature of grief and bereavement to move in and in a servant way, meet the personal needs of the sorrowing.
You see, it is not the pastor's job to meet everybody's need. It is the pastor's job to see that everybody's need is meet. That is the difference between facilitating ministry and just running an ambulance service. The pastor should be a facilitator. Facilitator means to make easier. But we must have a basic health plan underlying all that, and that's where the pastor needs to be coming from. Two things are necessary: people must be trained to use their own gifts in ministry; and the church must grant the people the right to minister in crisis situations on the spot.
Crises cannot be avoided. They can't even be scheduled. When a marriage blows up, someone's heart is breaking and the whole situation is about to go up in smoke, we can't say, "Well, let's see now, the pastor can see you a week from next Friday at 2:00 P.M." But we can involve people in ministry to the point that the needs are met and the pastor is free of a constant demand to intervene in crises.
Verse 11 identifies some of the spiritual gifts given to the church.These are the God-given abilities enabling some christians to function as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, and others in the roll of pastor and teachers. The Greek construction for the last mentioned should be rendered pastors-teachers. This, I believe, indicates that a pastor-teacher has a duel function. He pastors in overseeing his congregation's spiritual lives, and he teachesby instructing them in the Word.
Verse 12 tells us the purpose for the gifted individuals of verse 11. Their responsibility is the perfecting of the saints, which is, to train and equip the christians to do the work of the ministry. This is to be done for the edifying of the Body of Christ, which is to build up the church numerically and spiritually. In verse 13, the edifying of the church is to continue till we all come in the unity of the faith, that is to say, until all christians attain spiritual maturity. Since new believers are being added to the church constantly, this will not be realized until the Lord returns. The Church is people, equipped to serve, meeting needs everywhere in Jesus' name.
Don't underestimate the preceding statment. That concept of the church will affect everything: the way the pastor preaches, the way the church is organized and promoted, the way the program develops, and the way the building is designed. Among other things, I'm saying that we are to direct the church away from professionalism and into the hands of people who do not know what they are doing. It does sound scary, but it is necessary. In the concept of the church-as-a-force, the field is the world, as Jesus said. That is where the work is to be done. The emphases in the church-as-a-field model as Visibility, Organization, Program and Promotion. The church-as-a-force emphases are Worship, Training and Fellowship, because these are the things that produce Spirit-filled people who can and will meet other's needs in Jesus' name.
To attend services is not to serve the Lord. We should have been doing that all week long. You could say that Church Services are R & R, Rest and Restoration, and this includes worship and celebration. We get together, we sing, we clap, meet one another, talk about Jesus. We don't hear any profanity or dirty stories. It's tremendous. It should be unadulterated fun and enjoyment in a pure, clean, loving environment.
When we meet, we read the Bible and the Lord speaks to us in various ways. Brothers and sisters more gifted than us in certain areas minister to us. We thoroughly enjoy it. We're healed. Our lives are changed. We reveive tremendous blessings. Why? The Church is rested and restored at meetings so that they can work in the world all week long. When we get together the next time, we'll share what's been going on. We'll rejoice together over our victories and pray about our needs. Some people are going to be present who were caught in that work for the church out in the world. They are going to begin to understand what Jesus' lifestyle is all about. It's a powerful thing. We Worship, We Pray, We Fellowship, We Learn.
The church-as-a-field has goals expressed in numbers, budget and facility. The church-as-a-force has goals that are personal and individual: We want each member to come to wholeness, be equipped, and be released into the world to minister. One should assume that the Holy Spirit that fills the pastor can fill every believer to whom the pastor preaches. And each believer is potentially capable of ministering just as surly as the pastor is, though perhaps in a different way.
The role of a pastor is to help christians start living in the light of the truth. Evangelical christians tens to have a lot of religion in their hearts, a good bit in their heads, but not much in their feet. And Christianity that doesn't walk around in shoes isn't worth much. It has to walk in shoes, all kinds of shoes~~~~~sandals, boots, high heels and suede's. It has to WALK. The role of a pastor is to teach people how to get their Christianity to WALK RIGHT. If they are only taught how to think Christianity and how to feel it, but not how to WALK it, they are FAILING.
Most church members are content to watch the pastor WALK. WRONG THINKING!!! Now understand, it's not the pastor's job to minister to every need in the church. No pastor should even attempt it. A pastor's job is to teach everybody in the churchhow to minister. Remember what Ephesians 4;12 said? Pastor's are supposed "to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the Body of Christ may be built up." Take careful notice of this Scripture cause it is foundational to the concept of the church-as-a-force.
Preparing God's people~~~that's a pastor's job and that is a whole different ball game from doing the ministry yourself. The Church needs to place its members in a healing environment of Love, Acceptance, and Forgiveness. They must bring people to WHOLENESS in such an environment, EQUIP THEM and then RELEASE THEM. The automatic result of great healing is great outreach. As people come to wholeness, they minister. Other people are touched.
Most pastors get nervous when the ministry is placed in the hands of non-professionals. Ordinary people start going off in all directions, witnessing, caring, praying for the sick and distressed. The pastor may not even know about everything that's going on and he/she may begin to feel that things are out of control.
In fact, things are out of control, but a pastor doesn't need to be intimidated by this. Pastor's must decide that if only what they can control is allowed to happen through their congregation, not much will happen. In the church-as-a-force, the pastoral role is dynamic and in constant refinement. That is also threatening to some pastors. You see, as the church is developing, the pastors role is also developing within that context. A pastor must keep on responding to what God is doing in the body.
The pastoral function~~~to EQUIP the saints for the work of the ministry~~is preserved. This is vitally important for, according to Scripture, that is the only true function a pastor has. That's it. And as much as a pastor can dedicate himself/herself to that single work, he/she is fulfilling his/her ministry. Individual member ministry is also preserved under this model of the church, and that too, is crucial. It seems that people get excited when they have a reason for being christians other than getting out of hell. Ministry, is PEOPLE FILLED with the HOLY SPIRIT, meeting the needs of other people, in Jesus' name!!!