"We Don't Need a Pastor"
A
while ago … Myself, a longtime friend several-years-my-elder, and one of the leaders
of a certain church were having dinner. This leader’s church was in transition.
They were in the process of looking for a suitable shepherd, but had not
located one as of yet.
As
the 3 of us conversed, I posed the question: “while you’re in-between
Pastors, who is your shepherd? Do you have a Bishop? Is there an elder preacher
who is holding the pulpit until you find one? Who are the church committees counseling
with in their decisions?”
The
leader’s response disturbed me: “we don’t need a pastor right now.” He
continued, “we’re bringing in visiting ministers. They can speak for The Lord
in this season and give us leadership. We can wait for a while.”
I
was shaken. I’m still uneased by their words. Of course, I understood when they
said we don’t need a pastor right now,
the last two words were unnecessary. I knew the real meaning. This person was
telling me: we (I) don’t need a pastor.
The
Unmentionables
We
talk about them from time-to-time: preachers who have moral failures. They are
our favorite subjects in private at the post-service fellowships of our
conferences and campmeetings. They are the bywords we warn young ministers
about as they learn and grow in their callings – “don’t be like Bro. ________.”
It is useful and important to teach young men how to avoid the pitfalls of
immorality in its various forms, but in so doing let us not ignore a common
theme among fallen men of God. From the local minister to the nationally known speaker, this shortcoming was manifested … They had no Pastor!
Who
could tell them no?
Who
could call & counsel them – and they listened, REALLY listened?
Who
spoke hard truths to them, and their response would be, “The Word of The Lord
is good”?
Who
taught them and planted the word in their hearts?
Who
interceded for them when they were downcast and confused?
Who
could they tell their toughest circumstances, and know that individual cared
and would go out of their way to help?
Who
was their Pastor?
Usually
the answer was no one.
5 Folds
The
Shepherd is an office that is required of us Biblically.
“And he gave
some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors
and teachers;” Ephesians 4:11
We
often view the Pastor through the lens of either their day-to-day
decision-making duties in the local assembly or their weekly impartations of the
Word in sermons God has given them. But let us not remove these men from their
scriptural calling. The Greek word translated as Pastor above is rendered as Shepherd in every other instance in The New Testament. The Pastor is a shepherd of our souls - helping guiding, protecting, directing.
We must not cease reading at Ephesians 4:11 in understanding 5-fold ministry. Go a few more verses down, and you’ll see the purpose of these offices:
We must not cease reading at Ephesians 4:11 in understanding 5-fold ministry. Go a few more verses down, and you’ll see the purpose of these offices:
“12For
the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ: 13Till we all come in the unity of the faith,
and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of
the stature of the fulness of Christ: 14That we henceforth be no
more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to
deceive;” Ephesians 4:12-14
Perfection.
Edification. Unifying in faith. And stability. I like the imagery of verse 14, tossed to and fro. This is the life of a
soul that has no Spiritual authority. The man or woman with no
accountability will be carried about
with every wind of doctrine.
These
5 ministerial offices aren’t just necessary, they are mutually-upholding. They’re
complementary. The Shepherd makes the offices of evangelist, teacher, et cetera POSSIBLE. Without one, the
others go out-of-balance, like a dinner table missing one of its legs. It’s
also similar to a car whose wheels are not properly aligned; a church without a
Shepherd cannot drive a straight path. That car would seem ordinary from a
distance, but just take it on the road: it would not tend to remain in its
proper course.
Jethro &
Balaam
I
can seek The Lord for myself, can’t I? I listen to His voice in my ministry. I
hear from God. … But so did Balaam. Balaam heard the audible voice of God,
but that didn’t stop him from becoming a false prophet. He was used of God in
times of past, but now a hireling for the wayward and unbelieving. That’s not
an example I want to imitate!
The
Kingdom of Midian had a national pastor. His name? Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law (Exo. 18:1). He wasn’t just Moses’s
family, though. He was Moses’s Pastor. Jethro told him “no” (Exo. 18:17).
Jethro gave him counsel (Exo. 18:19-23). Moses listened and obeyed (Exo.18:24).
However,
Midian had a problem: they didn’t listen to their Pastor. They listened
to Balaam (Num. 25:6; Num. 31:8).
Midian came from Abraham (Gen.25:1-2), but a family history of worshiping in truth didn’t immunize them from being led astray. A Balaam’s voice can never take the place of the elder voice God has placed in my life.
I need Jethro.
Midian came from Abraham (Gen.25:1-2), but a family history of worshiping in truth didn’t immunize them from being led astray. A Balaam’s voice can never take the place of the elder voice God has placed in my life.
I need Jethro.
I
need the voice of The Lord through the elders.
I
need the hard truth spoken to me, whether or not that experience is
pleasant.
I
need the preaching of The Apostolic message, even though I am also a preacher.
I
need the Shepherd who will protect me from the pretenders and Balaams surrounding
me.
In
other words, I need a Pastor!
- Dr. Joel Revalee
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