Pastoral ministry is hard. Yes, a pastor gets to experience unique joys and blessings like being part of weddings and seeing a dead sinner receive new life in Christ. But pastoral ministry also comes with unique challenges. If you’re not in it for the long haul, it will destroy you.
In light of this, let’s take time to reflect on a pastor’s calling. Ephesians 4:11-16 gives us a few hooks to hang our thoughts on:
- The gift of a pastor
- The role of a pastor
- The goal of a pastor
- The church’s responsibility
The Gift of a Pastor
Pastors (sometimes translated as “shepherds” throughout the New Testament) are from the Lord. To put it another way, pastors are a gift from God. And to put it into an even finer point, your pastor is a gift from God. That’s what Paul says in Ephesians 4:11:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers …
Godly and faithful pastors are not as common as you think. Fewer and fewer people are considering going into pastoral ministry, 38% of pastors are considering leaving ministry, and the average tenure for a pastor in the U.S. is three years. The job can be hard, costly, and painful as God’s intent for shepherds is to, like the Good Shepherd, lay down their lives for the sheep.
So when you have a faithful, committed pastor, be thankful to the Lord. Your pastor is not perfect and will make mistakes. But a godly, committed pastor is still a gift to your church.
The Role of a Pastor
Often, a church’s expectations of the pastor are unreasonable. Pastors are frequently hired to do the work of ministry—to teach, preach, pray, evangelize, counsel, visit the sick, lead everyone, and provide a vision for the church. But Ephesians 4:11-12 gives us a different outlook on a pastor’s job:
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ …
Here, we see two roles of a pastor:
- Equipping the church for ministry. Pastors are not called to do the ministry of the church—they’re called to prepare and equip the church to do ministry. If you expect your pastor to do everything or allow them to do everything, you’re doing a disservice to your church and pastor. And a pastor who tries to do everything isn’t being faithful to their calling.
- Building up the church. Pastors edify the body of Christ primarily through preaching and teaching the Word faithfully. Having a pastor who sticks to the Bible is a gift, and it builds up the church.
The Goal of a Pastor
What is the ultimate goal of a pastor? How do you know if you have a good pastor or a bad pastor? A successful pastor or an unsuccessful pastor?
A pastor’s goal isn’t to build a big church but to raise up mature followers of Christ. The true test of a successful ministry isn’t the church’s size, amount of income, or number of programs. It’s whether or not church members are growing more and more like Jesus.
According to Ephesians 4:11-16, a mature body of believers will have at least three characteristics.
1. Spiritual Discernment
A mature group of Christians will be able to identify truth from error. They will “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” (v. 14). They won’t see something on YouTube and change their whole theology because a pastor is faithfully teaching them God’s Word.
2. Godly Speech
Another mark of mature church members is how they talk. They’ll be “speaking the truth in love” (v. 15). They won’t just be speaking truth instead of falsehoods, but truth governed by love.
Do the conversations that happen in your church build up or tear down? Sometimes people need to hear the cold-hard truth. But when it comes time to correct and rebuke, do you speak truth in the right way, with the right tone, and with the right goals of love for God and others?
3. Christ-likeness
Third, a mature church will look more and more like Jesus. Pastors work to equip and build up the church “until we all attain to … mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (v. 13).
A good pastor will see church members grow more like Christ over time. They’ll reflect His actions, His attitudes, His affections. They’ll filter everything through Jesus and His love, compassion, grace, mercy, goodness, and selflessness.
The Church’s Responsibility
In a biblically healthy church, it’s not that you have an awesome staff that does everything for you. It’s that every individual person helps each other to grow. Like it says in Ephesians 4:16, the body of Christ grows when each part works properly:
… 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.
If you’re a Christian, you’re an essential part of the church. You’ve been equipped with spiritual gifts to use to serve the church and help it grow. Pastors don’t do the work for you—they help you understand how to do the work better together. Your responsibility, therefore, is to use your gifts.
With this in mind, here are some practical ways to support and honor your pastor:
- Pray for your pastor and pastor’s family. A pastor sacrifices a lot for the sake of ministry, and so does their family. So pray for them continually. Pray for their protection, strength, and holiness.
- Care well for your pastor and pastor’s family. Do your best to take care of your pastor and pastor’s family spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Ask them how they’re doing. If you don’t care well for them, they can’t care well for you.
- Encourage your pastor. Encourage your pastor when they succeed, but especially when they fail. The job is tough, and a little encouragement can go a long way.
- Support your pastor as they lead you. Shepherds lead sheep, and sometimes that means leading you through uncomfortable and difficult places to help you get to a better place. So don’t run away, rebel, or bite back. Trust your pastor and support them.
- Engage in the work of ministry. If you’re a Christian, you have a gift. When a pastor helps you figure out what that gift is, use it to be part of the church’s ministry.
- Respect your pastor. Speak to your pastor, not about your pastor. Your pastor will probably make mistakes. And when that happens, respect them enough not to say “I told you so” or start gossiping about them.
Thank God for pastors! They’re a gift from Him to equip the church for ministry and help us grow more like Jesus.
