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Friday July 24, 2009 ~ 7 Comments
I shared this message July 5th at my church (weekly audio is here). This was the week before the church considered a new pastor. (He preached on Sunday and I will share his name in a few days.) My focus was helping the church to consider both the qualifications and call of a pastor. That certainly could take weeks, but I wanted to share an overview that I hoped would be helpful at this crucial time in the church's life. Here is the video: What's a Pastor to Do? from Ed Stetzer on Vimeo. Here are my notes:
What's a Pastor to Do?
To fully grasp the weight of this decision, turn to the 3 T's of the New Testament: 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus. We will move through these 3 letters Paul wrote to early church leaders. The role of pastor is a rare one. Few positions exist so few are called to fill them. Though everyone in this room serves a place of importance in their family, company, and in the church, the role of the pastor is unique. And it is referred to with a rare word: noble 1 Timothy 3:1-- This saying is trustworthy: "If anyone aspires to be an overseer, he desires a noble work." Noble is not a word we use any longer. It sounds like something reserved for the King Arthur and the knights of the round table. But the work of pastor is a high calling. It is something which most will never do and most can never understand. A few things it is not:
In the letters to Timothy and Titus, Paul lays out the character and characteristics that are required for pastors. Titus 1:5-9 These are non-negotiables. A pastor may be a sports fan or not. A pastor might be young or old. A pastor could be any nationality, any ethnicity, and from any station in life. But a pastor must be biblically qualified to serve in such a position for the church headed by Christ. Now I could go through the qualifications for a pastor/elder word by word, but I believe I can summarize it effectively with a few ideas. a. True All of the characteristics listed in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 describe a pastor whose life matches his calling. Titus 1:5-9 1 Timothy 3:1-7 Qualifications given are temperate, self-controlled, respectable, a good reputation, blameless, upright, holy, and disciplined. There is oversight here and tied in to family and children. Titus 1:5-9 someone who is blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of wildness or rebellion. must be blameless, not arrogant, not quick tempered, not addicted to wine, not a bully, not greedy for money, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, b. Spiritual A spiritually appointed office must be filled with Spirit-filled pastor. 1 Timothy 3:1-7: Titus 1:5-9:
The primary task is to provide scriptural leadership to the church a. Teach the Scriptures Titus 4:9 - "holding to the faithful message as taught, so that he will be able both to encourage with sound teaching and to refute those who contradict it" The unique work of guiding an entire congregation to understand and follow the scriptures is unlike any other responsibility on earth.
Titus 1:5 - "The reason I left you in Crete was to set right what was left undone and, as I directed you..." Titus was the lead the new congregation forward. This included the appointment of additional leaders, directing the ministry of the church, holding believers accountable for sin, and teaching the gospel. "... one who manages his own household competently, having his children under control with all dignity. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God's church?)" (1 Timothy 3:4-5). As a pastor, you lead. Now all fathers are supposed to lead. But a pastor must also lead a church. In Paul's words, "take care of God's church." You are not hiring a preacher, but a pastor. Pastors lead.
"And He personally gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, for the training of the saints in the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ's fullness" (Ephesians 4:11-13). Your job is to do the ministry. The pastor's job is to equip for that ministry. This changes the view of success. Many of you will measure success by if the pastor met your needs, visited you in the hospital, and does a good job on the stage. And, I will tell you, that a pastor can do all those things, and not be a faithful pastor according to God's job description. We will call a pastor soon and we need to remember the job to which he is called. His job is to teach, lead, and equip... and, I want to tell you, that he won't be able to do all those things and still live the expectations that many of you have. If pastors do for people what God calls them to do, they get the praise and the work of God gets hindered. So, let's be sure that we recognize the unique qualifications and unique call. Posted on July 24, 2009 at 8:29 PM ~ 7 Comments Tagged with: ministry, pastor, sermons Subscribe via RSS or Follow us on Twitter
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"Your job is to do the ministry. The pastor's job is to equip for that ministry.
This changes the view of success."
Amen. Success redefined, leading to a refining of the means used (or desired) to be successful.
I'm curious. What is "the ministry"? Is it running church programs?
Also, when Paul wrote these letters, wasn't he writing to define the roles of a pastor and not the profession of a pastor? Doesn't the fact that the pastor is a full-time paid professional change the game? Surely, someone who is not paid should not be required to do the same amount of work as someone who is paid?
In other words, isn't this passage irrelevant to this church situation, given the fact that the church is hiring someone to run the business of a church rather than writing to a small group of friends who are determining how they will be organized around the mission they feel compelled to?
It seems like you are taking giant theological leaps to make scripture fit into your situation.
Amen.
I wish that every interim would preach this shortly before the "new guy" shows up. Then let the new guy know how the table has been set for him.
One of the tensions I have found is the "personal chaplain" expectation vs. the "equipping pastor" calling.
We have made a lot of progress toward this issue, but there is still work to be done.
Thank you, Ed, for preaching the Word as it is. I believe the cause for so much divisiveness within the church today is simply because, as our Lord Jesus said to religious people, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures" [Matt 22:29]. The texts used, the letters of Paul, are not obsolete, nor obscure passages. For God's anointed and appointed [placed within the Body, given to the church] to be "successful," he must be faithful [1 Cor 4:2] to be and to do what God has called him to be and to do, to make it his goal to please God [2 Cor 5:9], to gain His approval, rather than the applause of men [Gal 1:10].
My pastor wrote a book on this topic. Just thought I'd post a link in case anyone's interested. :-)
http://noperfectpastor.com
(The second paragraph there sorta sums the book up well.)
In the interests of full disclosure, he has no idea I'm posting this link here, he hasn't asked me to post links anywhere, and I don't make any money off of the sale of these books. It just fits the topic and I think it's a helpful resource that people might kinda dig. :-}
Thank you, Ed, for preaching the Word as it is. I believe the cause for so much divisiveness within the church today is simply because, as our Lord Jesus said to religious people, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures" [Matt 22:29]. The texts used, the letters of Paul, are not obsolete, nor obscure passages. For God's anointed and appointed [placed within the Body, given to the church] to be "successful," he must be faithful [1 Cor 4:2] to be and to do what God has called him to be and to do, to make it his goal to please God [2 Cor 5:9], to gain His approval, rather than the applause of men [Gal 1:10].
Where did anyone get the idea that the 1st century church was simply a group of friends getting together to determine how they will organize around a mission they feel compelled to do? I have never seen a poorer view of the church.
It is greatly beneficial that an interim would take up this message. Very good!