THE PROFESSION OF A PASTOR

By definition, a Pastor is a Christian leader who is in charge of a church and its members.

 

I would consider the job of a Pastor to be amongst the most challenging. The Pastor’s role is to care for the people in his congregation on top of his family and personal needs. Humanly speaking, as an individual, we do well if we are able to cope with our daily handful of commitments and situations let alone those of others as well. A Pastor is expected to be there for his people. He stands in the frontline alongside his team of leaders.

 

Reverend Timmon is a Pastor. A typical day may go like this. In the morning he spends about thirty-minutes of personal devotion with God. Then, it’s time to wash-up and prepare his son for school. His wife prepares the breakfast and readies herself for work. He drops off their son and then his wife on the way to his church office. This being a Tuesday he will start off with the weekly staff meeting. Thereafter, he will clear administrative work including reading and replying e-mails, and signing various letters, minutes and vouchers. With some time left before lunch at 12.30pm, he proceeds to draft out the outline of his three-points sermon for the coming Sunday.

 

Then, it’s off for lunch with William, a student attache from Trinity Theological College, at a nearby food court. Over lunch, Pastor Timmon enquires informally on Mr Woon’s progress and ministry within the church. It is an interesting discourse, to say the least. Back from lunch, Revd Timmon saunters into the Administration Manager’s room and closes the door. There they chat and Pastor Timmon gets updated on the staff morale and performance as well as the readiness of reports from the various committees and functional groups for inclusion in the Annual Report.

 

Later, the Finance Manager is in his office to discuss and review the past week’s collections and disbursements as compared to the budget. Thank God, the figures measure up. The cash flow position looks healthy too. It is 3.00pm -- time for setting off to visit a member who is recuperating from surgery at a hospital. Then, its back to the office to clear some paperwork, return a call or two, peruse e-mails, and update his calendar with new appointments and tasks. The last engagement for the day is a sub-committee meeting on missions and evangelism. By the time he reaches home it is already 8.30pm. He showers, takes his dinner, guides his son with homework, sends him to bed, has a cuppa with his wife and reads the newspaper. He spends some time in prayer, Bible study and fills up his sermon outline before retiring to bed.

 

On the surface, a pastor’s work shares many similarities with that of an office or social worker. But I believe the scope of his work is much broader in that his people-to-people contact is much higher and accordingly more demanding. Think of him as a shepherd who cares for his sheep. A shepherd’s paramount responsibility is to be there for the sheep so that they will have no lack of needful things.

 

So what do sheep require? They require green pastures to lie down and rest their weariness from walking and to feed on the grass for sustenance and good health. They need to be led to streams or brooks of calm waters where they can have their fill in quietness. The sheep require personal attention and a good shepherd knows them as separate individuals and calls them by their respective names. Sheep follow the leader and their shepherd must have their interests at heart or they will all be led astray. The sheep must not be fearful, but comforted in knowing that their shepherd is present to protect and safeguard them from evil, harm and danger, and that they can continue with their daily activities unperturbed under the constant guard from their shepherd. When a sheep falls sick and injures itself, the shepherd is there to bind and soothe its wounds with oil for healing. The sheep brims with joy in knowing that its shepherd takes great delight in it. As the sheep’s confidence and trust in its good shepherd grows, its need for a future of well-being is assured.

 

In a church the Pastor has to take care of many sheep, so to speak. He cannot do it alone, but will appoint suitable under-shepherds (pastors) to assist him in the nurturing of his members. The members are nurtured thoroughly so that they will themselves grow up in their Christian faith and produce offspring (disciples) of their own, and, in turn, serve the church and its community in various capacities.

 

So, what does it take to be a pastor? A lot, besides the usual qualities of solid character and multiple gifting, including the gift of administration. Scripture tells us in John 10:11 that the good shepherd (as opposed to a hireling who flees at the first sign of trouble) will lay down his life for his sheep because he cares for them – love in action. In other words, a pastor will love his sheep more than he loves his own dear life. That’s the bottomline. No doubt, it’s not a calling for many, and a high calling at that.WB

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Note:

Above article was written in 2001, but was I prompted to post it now after reading the following email on 16 April 2003:

Subject: A True Disciple of Christ...
 

"You Christians claim that God will protect you from all diseases but how come He did not protect the pastor who went to pray for a SARS patient?" It was broadcast over the news that "Pastor died of SARS after praying for a SARS patient!" So, if a non-believer were to question you on the above, what will be you answer?

Frankly, I did not have a definite answer to it until the Holy Spirit dropped a verse into my heart which is John 15:12-13, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." And when I went to search out the scriptures, I then realized that the death of the pastor has created a great opportunity for us to evangelize. What do I mean by that?

"Pastor" derives from the Greek term "poimeen" which means, "Shepherd". And in John 10:11-15...Jesus said He is the Good Shepherd and He went on to say that a good shepherd/pastor will lay down his life for the sheep. When the wolf (or SARS) comes to attack the sheep, the good shepherd/pastor will not abandon the sheep and run away, but he will lay down his life for the sheep.

Thus, in laying down His life for His sheep, Christ has set the standard for pastoral ministry that goes beyond words to deeds. And the death of Pastor Loh is a picture of what Christ has done for us. Christ died on the cross so that we can live. Likewise, Pastor Loh died but the SARS patient lives on. This is what Christian LOVE is all about. To me, I would see Pastor Loh as a true disciple of Christ who had obeyed the Lord to love others to the extent of laying down his life.

So now the whole of Singapore knows that a pastor had died after praying for a SARS patient and surely a lot of people will be questioning Why? Why? Why? Instead of scratching our heads and become fearful ourselves, let us take hold of this opportunity to point others to Christ and share with them what TRUE LOVE is all about. From this SARS saga, I believe the enemy is also trying to create division among Christians: one group believes in walking by faith and another group believes we ought to exercise wisdom. Instead of pointing fingers at one another, let us be reminded of John 13:34-35 which says, "A new
command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." --author unknown