Pastoral Ministry, Part 9: A Pastor’s Accountability

When the pastor is wholly devoted to prayer and the exposition of Scripture, he will be one of the hardest working men in the church. Certainly his level of responsibility is one of the highest. For that reason, laziness is utterly incompatible with pastoral ministry. Although he does not punch a time-clock or file a work log, he is on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. His boss is the Holy Spirit and he is ultimately accountable to God, the author of his eternal performance appraisal. Because the pastor is fallible, he should also make himself accountable to certain Christian brothers of high esteem and good report. Shunning pharisaical legalism, those men should lovingly and graciously hold the pastor accountable to the highest moral and spiritual standards. Depending on local church polity, those brothers might fill the role of elders or associate pastors. They should not be deacons, as that would be an unbiblical role for them and take away from their duty as servants. Neither should they be average church members or a church council, as that would inevitably cause the perception of partiality. If local church polity does not provide accountability in the form of elders or associate pastors, the pastor must seek it himself by forming partnerships among other local pastors of like faith and practice.

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Pastoral Ministry, Part 8: The Primacy of Preaching

Preaching the Scripture to a prayerfully eager and receptive congregation is the most profound act of corporate worship. Because of its objective, propositional nature, the unambiguous central element of any worship service is the expository preaching of Scripture. Church time is far too valuable to miss the opportunity for people to benefit from the opening and explaining of God’s Word every time they meet. Tasteful and reverent music, fellowship, drama, testimony, and other elements should be included in worship where appropriate. When they are included, due to their emotionally charged and highly subjective nature, the pastor must take great care that they accentuate and draw people’s focus to the preaching of the Word rather than merely provide entertainment. Any time these beneficial but extraneous elements begin to cause strife and division in the church, it is time to reevaluate the emphasis being placed on them and return focus to the preaching of the Word.

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Pastoral Ministry, Part 7: A Pastor’s Love for People

The pastor has a love for people that is deep-seated, compassionate, and selfless. It is not a self-conjured love, but is rather a gift of the Holy Spirit. His love is displayed in his desire to see them grow as Jesus did—in wisdom, stature, and in favor with God and man. He shows no partiality or favoritism and his love manifests itself in the desire he has for their personal and spiritual growth. The pastor does not judge the lost, nor look at the past forgiven acts of the believer, but earnestly exhorts and encourages individuals within the church to daily become more like Christ, exercise their spiritual gifts, evangelize those in their circle of influence, and positively impact the culture for Christ.

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Pastoral Ministry, Part 6: Community Involvement

As the physical residence of the Holy Spirit on earth today, the church provides a restraining and transforming influence on culture. The church is neither a monastery nor a center of pop culture; in other words, the church is in the world, not of the world. Community involvement will mainly come as a result of unsanctioned good works performed by individuals within the church. Church facilities and funding may be used to aid in the good works of individuals, but not to the detriment of the church’s primary mission. All community involvement must be done with the understanding that true social reform comes as a result of the saving power of Jesus Christ, not in the perpetuation of social programs. Extreme circumstances such as natural disasters call for uncommon measures and the church should be at the forefront of providing help to the helpless and hope to the hopeless.

While individual church members should prayerfully participate in government and the political process, the pastor should not endorse specific political candidates, parties, or campaigns. By faithfully expounding the Scripture, the pastor equips individuals within the church to make wise biblical decisions in all facets of life, including politics. The church is a place for equipping saints, not for electing statesmen.

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Pastoral Ministry, Part 5: Discipleship Programs

The primary means by which discipleship occurs within the local church is through expository preaching. Additionally, the pastor teaches and fosters an educational environment by which believers of all ages are trained to be disciples of Christ. Sunday school, discipleship training, home Bible studies, Bible drill, mission programs, Bible school, and seminary extension classes are a few examples of discipleship programs. No person should be expected to fill a role in the church without being afforded adequate training. Everyone from door greeters, to Sunday school teachers, deacons, and leaders should be comfortable in knowing what they are doing. The church should be a vivacious training ground, teeming with life and learning for all ages and stations of life. While in some respects, the metaphor of the church being a hospital for the sick stands true, a more accurate picture would be that the church is a medical school for the training of those who will go out and minister to the sick where they are.

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Pastoral Ministry, Part 4: Expository Preaching

The pastor equips his flock by the systematic, consecutive, expository preaching of Scripture. Expository preaching is sometimes misunderstood. It is not dull running commentary of tediously long passages of Scripture. Well done expository preaching should be vivid and engaging because it expounds passages that are living, powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword. Expository preaching unfolds the meaning of a biblical text, providing contemporary application to God’s people directly from His Word without relying on the fallible opinions or whims of the pastor. It teaches people how to read and interpret the Bible for themselves, making them personally familiar and comfortable with it. Expository preaching focuses the church on the primacy of Scripture and precludes the pitfalls of emotionalism, showmanship, stunts, and gimmicks. Finally, it removes the work of edification from the pastor’s hands and places it squarely in the hands of the Holy Spirit, the inspirer and illuminator of Scripture.

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Pastoral Ministry, Part 3: A Pastor’s Secondary Roles

Since the pastor’s primary role is prayer and scriptural exposition, it cannot be evangelism or ministry. Although some individuals are uniquely gifted as evangelists by the Holy Spirit, evangelism is a personal responsibility of each believer including the pastor. Each believer is responsible to be Christ’s witness in his own personal Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and uttermost parts of the earth. When the pastor prayerfully and faithfully expounds Scripture, believers in the church will be equipped to witness effectively to all those within their sphere of influence. Like all individual believers, the pastor is responsible to win those to Christ who are within his sphere of influence. That includes, but is certainly not limited to, those within his congregation who are lost. The congregation is his Jerusalem, the neighborhood his Judea, the town his Samaria, and the uttermost parts of the earth his goal.

While evangelism is each believer’s responsibility, according to Scripture, ministry is the primary responsibility of deacons. When the pastor prayerfully and faithfully expounds Scripture, deacons under his teaching will be equipped to minister effectively to the church. In turn, their effective ministry allows the pastor to devote himself to prayer and the exposition of Scripture, as he should. Because of his loving, personal relationship with the church, the pastor continually ministers also—just not to the neglect of his primary role.

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Pastoral Ministry, Part 2: A Pastor’s Duty and Primary Role

While Jesus Christ as the Good Shepherd is the head of the local church, He has ordained the pastor to be His undershepherd. As undershepherd, the pastor is responsible for the protection and feeding of the flock. This does not mean he spoon feeds them as perpetual babies in the Word, but instead ensures their proper growth and nutrition by equipping them with the tools necessary for maturity. He is to protect itching ears in his flock from turning to myths and worldly philosophies by attentively fulfilling his ministry and teaching sound doctrine.

Because of his duty as undershepherd, the primary role of the pastor is to devote himself to prayer and the exposition of Scripture. He is to be a man of fervent prayer because apart from God’s power and hand of blessing, he can accomplish nothing worthwhile. A man can generate enthusiasm, emotions, and attract a following using slick sales techniques and psychological manipulation, but only God can enable him to do the true work of a pastor. The pastor is to be an expositor of Scripture because apart from a firm biblical foundation, he is merely a motivational speaker, speaking dead words to dying people.

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Pastoral Ministry, Part 1: A Pastor’s Responsibility

The call of God into pastoral ministry is a profound and humbling responsibility. It is profound in the sense that preaching is the means by which God has planned for people to hear and understand His gospel. It is humbling in the sense that, apart from God’s grace and provision, no one is capable of the awesome responsibility inherent in the pastorate. A pastor is, first and foremost, responsible to God and is unswervingly subject to the Holy Spirit’s leadership and guidance. Since the pastor and his wife are one flesh, he is responsible in his role as husband and father second only to his responsibility toward God. Inseparable from his two primary responsibilities and intricately interdependent with them is his responsibility to fulfill his high calling as pastor.

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Pastoral Ministry

Every Monday over the next several weeks, I will be posting my philosophy of pastoral ministry. As the pastor of a local church, I can think of no better way to start!

Stay tuned....

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