What is the relationship of the pastor to the church?  He is the overseer.

If you were going to figure out the role of the pastor by observing churches today, you would probably come to the wrong conclusion about what the pastor is supposed to do.  Some pastors seem to think that the church is theirs, so they use it primarily to create their own personal wealth.  Some pastors are so buried in committees and boards that they are nothing more than puppets [they work for puppet committees, rather than pulpit committees].  Some pastors are women, which is strictly not in accord with scripture.  Some pastors are nothing more than motivational speakers and politicians.  Some pastors are promoters, dedicating most of their time to providing a high level of weekly entertainment with a show and concert.  Some pastors are corporate executives functioning more as CEO’s and head spokesmen for their churches.   

Scripturally, a pastor is none of these things.  Therefore, to find out what he is, you must look to the Bible for the Lord’s description of a pastor.  You probably won’t find one man who meets this description perfectly, but you will find a good number, albeit not as many as you should find, who pattern their ministries after what God said they should be.

In his capacity as pastor, the man should be a good family man and have a good report both in and out of the church, he should be even-tempered, hospitable, temperate, able to preach and teach, able to lead, and content not covetous.  It is of primary importance that he loves the Lord and that he is able to feed the Lord’s sheep [Jn 21:16].  He may be a great orator, an interesting teacher and a very compassionate fellow, but if he is not able to feed the flock of God with the Bible, the sheep are never going to grow and mature [Acts 20:28 and 1 Pet 5:2].  Their growth will be stagnated.

The pastor is the overseer of the local church [1 Pet 5:2].  Therefore, he has the oversight of the church and should never transfer this authority to a board of elders or deacons.  He is to rule the flock in the fear of God and not in the fear of man [2 Sam 23:3].  Practically speaking, he should have good organizational skills and administrative skills, but they are not the principal consideration.  Good men helping the pastor can mitigate any weakness here.  For instance, he could have a knowledgeable and prudent treasurer to handle the finances.

While the pastor is the overseer he is not a lord over God’s heritage [1 Pet 5:3].  Some pastors forget that the Bible is the authority and that they and their flock are both under that authority.  He is supposed to help you in your walk with God, not obscure your relationship with God through his self-importance.  The pastor is a servant of the Lord and a minister [Matt 20:26-28].  It will help him to remember that he is accountable to God [Heb 13:17].

Deacons are an extension of the pastor’s ministry [Acts 6:1-7] and not the rulers of his ministry.  They are to have nearly the same qualities as the pastor [1 Tim 3:8-13].  They are to help in the ministry so that the pastor can give himself continually to the word of God and prayer [Acts 6:4].  This way the pastor has the wherewithal to be a man of good faith [Heb 13:7] 

The pastor is to be a man [1 Tim 3:1-7].  This is not an opinionated statement just because I happen to be a man.  The scripture says that the pastor is to be the husband of one wife and it is not possible for a woman to be the husband of a wife [1 Tim 3:2].  Furthermore, Paul instructed us to “suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence,” [1 Tim 2:12].  There is no way that a woman can pastor and not violate the scripture. 

Now if you find such a man whose ministry is patterned after these scriptures, you are going to have a good pastor.  If you can’t get comfortable with a man like that, the problem no doubt is with you.  If, on the other hand, you find a man who calls himself a pastor yet his ministry is not patterned after these scriptures, he is going to have trouble and his problems will undoubtedly affect you.  I would prayerfully consider the Lord’s will for you in that case.

Hope this helps,

Pastor Bevans Welder

 

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