#12

                                                            THE PASTOR

   It is well known that the title of “pastor” refers to a “shepherd” in both Greek and Hebrew.

However, throughout the New Testament we can find Scripture that also refers to the “pastor” as an “elder”, an “overseer”, a “bishop”, and a “minister”. The Epistles of I and II Timothy, and Titus as well, are considered the “pastoral epistles” which is where the bulk of the Scriptural information comes from that identifies the function and responsibilities of the New Testament pastor.

                                            I. PASTORAL QUALIFICATIONS

                                                 (Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:6-9)

* The husband of one wife                                       * Vigilant (alert to detect danger)  

* Sober (not a drinker of alcohol)                            * Good behavior

* Hospitable                                                             * Apt to teach (quick in learning)

* Patient                                                                   * Not covetous (not greedy)

* Control within his family                                      * Not a novice

* A good steward                                                     * Able to exhort (to urge, or admonish)

                                                     II. MINISTERS FOR GOD

                                                       (To care for, to attend)

1. (Colossians 1:23; I Timothy 1:12; II Timothy 1:11) – They are divinely called by God into the ministry.

2. (I Corinthians 3:5; II Corinthians 6:4; I Timothy 6:11) – Attitude of a faithful Minister of God.

3. (I Thessalonians 2:4; I Timothy 3:2, 4:12; Titus 1:7) – Characteristics of true Ministers of God.

4. (Romans 10:15; I Thessalonians 5:12-13; I Timothy 5:17) – The duty of the church toward their Ministers.

5. (I Corinthians 9:13-14; Philippians 4:13-17; Mathew 10:10) – The church responsibility to financially support their Minister.

                                                 III. THE PASTORS WORK

1. (Acts 28:30-31; Mark 16:19-20; II Timothy 4:1-2) – Pastors are to preach the Word.

2. (Acts 8:5; 9:20; I Corinthians 1:23; II Corinthians 4:5) – Pastors are to preach Jesus Christ.

3. (Mathew 28:20; I Timothy 3:2; II Timothy 2:25) – Pastors are to be teachers of the Word.

4. (I Timothy 1:3-7; 4:1-6) – A pastor is to aggressively oppose false doctrine and teachings that may confuse members in the church.

5. (Titus 1:4-5, 10-13) - A pastor must be willing and able to establish ‘order’ within the church.

6. (Titus 2:1-6) A pastor must be able to give sound council to different age groups within the church.

7. (Titus 3:1-2) A pastor gives good instruction to the church pertaining to our duty toward government officials.

                                            IV. WHAT A PASTOR IS NOT

   There are many people who would suggest that a pastor’s duty is exclusively the ministry of doctrinal instruction to the church. This is certainly not borne out within the Scriptures. A pastor’s responsibilities are varied and many, including serving others, teaching, preaching, exemplifying holy living through his daily and weekly functions, loving his people and having a special concern for those that are sickly and weak within his congregation.

   A “common view” of what a pastor is would be to regard him as the “chief worker” in the church. Having him do the bulk of administration, visitation, handling the operational problems of the church facility, and giving personal counseling sessions to all that are having personal and family problems is a “wishful” idea for many members of the church.

   Those who would take this point of view have little understanding that time spent doing these “pastoral duties” such as listed above, drains the pastor of valuable time that should be spent in private prayer and the study of God’s Word which is far more valuable to each member of the church because that is what the Word of God tells us are the most important duties of a pastor.

(Acts 6:1-7) The choosing of the seven – In response to a disgruntled group of church members, a meeting was held regarding the daily administration of church business to take care of the needs of the congregation. Whether these seven Godly men were the forerunners of the church deacons and trustees of today may be disputed by some. However, the leaders of the church movement at that time were indisputably the Apostles, and they gave for a rationale that “it is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables”…”But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word”.

(Acts 6:7) After the decision was made to choose the seven men to help minister to the people’s need, the Scripture clearly indicates that the right decision was made, because the Word of God increased and souls were added to the church.

   If the call on a mans life is to be a pastor of a church, then the people of that church ought to allow the pastor to do the work of God.  It should not be expected that the pastor do the work that the congregation “would like for him to do”, but allow him to minister according to God’s Word.

   There are many jobs to be done in a New Testament church that can be accomplished by Godly members willing and able to do something for God, why not get involved in a ministry and help out the pastor by becoming a volunteer for Christ and be a blessing to our pastor.

God bless