Contributor:
Chad Roberts
“Doesn’t a pastor just speak for 30 – 50 minutes once a week? They just read a lot, right? The Church pays you to be there all day? Is there really that much to do?” Most people wouldn’t say this to their pastor, but they’re probably thinking it.
I thought I would give you a preview into what the job of a pastor really is…and isn’t. You may have no interest in ever being a pastor…but by reading this, you might understand your own pastor a little better and begin to pray for them in a more deliberate and serious way. Perhaps you take their role for granted. Maybe you don’t really think they work as hard as they do only because you don’t understand their true tasks. So I am praying this is helpful.
The Great Example
Paul planted many churches. He had a pastor’s heart and understood the work of the ministry. God used him to write the textbook (the Bible) on how to be a pastor. Do you know what he said to the congregation at Colosse? He wrote to the Colossian Church and said, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you…” Colossians 2:1
I can identify with Paul’s words. I struggle for my congregation, and I bet your pastor does as well. Shepherds love their sheep and pastors love the families that are under their care. Being a pastor is not a job that you clock in and clock out. No, we carry the burdens of our people whether we are in the office or not. Hundreds and hundreds of prayers at the oddest times. Morning, throughout the day even in the middle of the night. I’ll think of a family that I know is struggling and I’ll feel a prompting from the Lord to begin praying for them. I think this what Paul meant when he said, “For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you.”
For my congregation, I worry most about their salvation. I worry if people come for the right reasons. Maybe they begin attending because they like the music, or it’s that they feel welcomed and comfortable? Those things are important, but that is not what converts a soul and changes lives. It’s repentance! I worry about those things. I struggle with the Lord over people’s souls. I think Paul did the same. I don’t want people to “feel comfortable” at PCC and go to hell. Eternity is at stake and it is cause for serious concern.
The task of Preaching
Warren Weirsbe teaches what a rudder is to a ship in giving it direction, a pulpit is to a church. However strong your church is going to be begins and ends in the pulpit. I trust we have modeled this at PCC. There have been many times Satan has attacked our church and we have chosen to fight him from the pulpit!
So what’s so difficult about preaching? Well, it would probably determine how you define preaching. If you define it as “inspirational” then it’s probably not that difficult. If you define preaching as “good communication skills” then it wouldn’t be too hard. Anyone can learn a skill set to be a better communicate to an audience. But when you consider what Biblical preaching is…then it becomes more difficult.
I think Biblical preaching is the heralding, the proclaiming of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It isn’t funny jokes, touching stories, inspiriting history lessons or relevant movie clips. Serious Biblical preaching is a great task because the stakes are high. What is at stake is the glory of God, the salvation of souls, the priceless treasures of truth.
Martin Luther of the Reformation compared the preaching of the gospel to opening a treasure chest. You wouldn’t be careless with diamonds, rubies, sapphires or emeralds. Neither should the man of God be lazy and thoughtless in the unfolding of such treasures.
Paul instructs us to, “Study to show yourself approved” 2 Timothy 2:15. That same Scripture commands us, “rightly handling the word of truth.”
How do you rightly handle the word of truth? The message of the Gospel is vast and magnificent. It is sometimes a message of hope and sometimes a message of judgment. It can be a message of restoration as well as a message of rebuke. It can be encouraging, convicting and challenging. Knowing how to get it right week in and week out is an important task. It requires enormous time studying, preparing, praying and sensing the direction of life changing sermons. It is preaching that God has ordained to save sinners and it is the chief and primary responsibility of the pastor.
The task of Counseling
I remember reading an article from a minister who was retiring in the early 2000’s. He had pastored for nearly 5 decades, beginning his career in the 1950’s. I was surprised at the changes he had seen in the church, especially in the area of counseling.
He said that when he began his career, the expectations of a pastor were much simpler. He had two primary responsibilities…preach his sermons and make visits to the congregation. He said when you fast forward to the 1980’s things had changed drastically. The expectations increased and the demand to wear multiple hats intensified.
He explained that today’s pastor must wear multiple hats and excel in multiple areas. He is expected to be a great leader effectively managing his staff as well as the many ministry teams within the church. He is to be an effective fundraiser with capital campaigns, building and renovation projects. He is expected to be an expert in budgeting and leading financial teams.
As if those are not enough intimidating demands, he went on to explain how today’s pastor must be able to navigate families through complex family counseling. Something he said didn’t exist 50 years ago like it does in today’s culture.
Marriage counseling, Divorce and Remarriage and pre-marital counseling takes a large portion of pastor’s time. Not to mention there is grief, anger and addiction counseling along with financial, mental health and suicide counseling. Today’s pastor needs to be capable of walking through life’s hurts with the families under his care.
I enjoy it because God gives grace to do it. I think the danger in the complexity of this role is that he can have a false appearance of the pastor having all the answers, where as in reality, we do not. It takes intense prayer and asking the Lord for wisdom to take these journeys with individuals toward recovery in their lives.
Counseling can be emotionally draining, leaving a pastor to feel vulnerable. There is a great deal of Satanic attack when counseling, again setting the pastor up for spiritual warfare and demonic attacks.
The task of Vision-Casting
“If people don’t get on board, it is probably because you have not shown them the boat.” “Any army can take a hill, it takes a general to tell them which hill.” “Take the 30,000 foot view.” “People are like horses, they don’t do well with surprises.”
Those are some of my favorite quotes when it comes to vision and direction. It’s the pastor’s responsibilities to set the direction of the church. Obviously our goal is to reach people, but how will we accomplish this? Where do we put our resources and our priorities?
Vision casting is a great task. It takes an ability to see into the future and know what path is going to get you there. I have found that people are eager to serve. They are eager to invest in something bigger than themselves. Pastors have the great privilege of inviting people to be a part of God’s story of redemption. It’s an invitation to serve, to sacrifice and to allow God to work in you and through you.
On the negative side, the Bible says, “Where there is no vision, people parish” (Proverbs 29:18). It is a pastor’s great task to know the vision God has given to the Church and to keep the church’s attention on accomplishing that vision.
The task of Shepherding
“Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the Church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.” Acts 20:28
In Biblical days, the occupation of Shepherding was lowly and humble. You certainly were not going to gain wealth nor social status as a shepherd. Yet it is exactly the metaphor God uses to describe His pastors. Even more shocking, it is how the Bible describes Christ (John 10:11; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 5:4).
One of the main responsibilities of being a Shepherd is to guard the sheep. Two primary reasons why sheep need guarding…First, sheep have many enemies. Wolves, thieves and other predators would steal as many sheep as possible unless the Shepherd keeps watch over them. Second, because sheep do not have any natural defenses, a sheep cannot survive alone. Sheep do not have fangs, sharp claws or any other ability to fight off an enemy. Sheep can’t survive without a shepherd.
That is why a local church is so important to you and your family. The Bible says we are like sheep. We cannot survive on our own. Our adversary, the Devil, prowls around like “a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
I remember a couple of years ago a reality tv show came out called, “Preachers of LA.” I watched a few episodes in disbelief that men who are called to be Shepherds tried to become celebrities. It was disgraceful to the task of what real shepherds are called to do. The task of Shepherding is serious and weighty. Peter encourages God’s pastor’s to stay faithful, have the right motives and be looking for the return of Christ, whom he calls the “Chief Shepherd.”
“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” 1 Peter 5:1-5
The Task of Equipping
You may reading this and be thinking, “What about Discipleship, Small Groups, Evangelism and other outreaches of the Church. Shouldn’t the pastor be leading in these areas as well?”
Actually you might be surprised that those roles (which are vastly important) are not to be fulfilled by the pastor. Don’t get me wrong, they are important to the pastor, but we are not the one to fulfill them.
Read carefully Ephesians 4:11-12, “And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” Isn’t that interesting? Who is supposed to be doing the work of the ministry? The Church! The Saints! It’s the minister’s job to train and equip people to do the work.It’s not only important for the pastor to recognize what God has called him to do. It is equally important for the pastor to realize what he is not supposed to be doing.
How many pastors are tired and burned out because they are doing all of the work? In reality, God has gifted and equipped the Church (the Body of Christ) to fulfill the work of the ministry. It’s the pastor’s responsibility to set the vision, direction and to equip people to be able to carry out the vision God has given that congregation.
One of my most important tasks as a pastor is to help people see that God can work effectively through them. When that light bulb comes on and they realize that God wants to use them…Satan himself cannot hold them back. They can lead people to Christ. They can pray for one another, they can create community through small groups, they can reach their city for Christ. They can be the light of the world Jesus intends us to be!
By helping people discover their spiritual gifts, motivating them to serve, helping them find their passion and cultivating a realization of the glory of God and the Kingdom of God…people can be used mightily in the work of the ministry. It’s my task…and my privilege to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.
How to Appreciate Your Pastor
The work is endless. Weddings, funerals, hospital visits, sermon preparation, staff meetings, counseling sessions, strategic planning and all the other management it takes. How can you appreciate your pastor for all they do? Two main ways. #1 encourage them. Let them know that you appreciate the struggle they feel for you. That you appreciate someone who is standing in the gap and interceding for your family. #2. Pray for them. That is the most important. Do you want me to tell you a secret?
When I am at my lowest. When I feel drained and overwhelmed. Do you know what I ask the Lord for? I ask God to place me on people’s hearts that they may begin to pray for me? I don’t say anything to anyone…just the Lord.
So why not just pray for myself? Why ask God to place me on other people’s hearts? Because there is something powerful that happens when people pray. It’s what God has ordained. There isn’t anything greater you can do for your pastor than pray for him.
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:13-16)
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