In The Eye of the Storm
Intro 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Part II
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The
Second
Phase of the Church
Corporate
Relationship Concept
Chapter 7P
God Gives Leadership Gifts
to Equip the Saints
Pastor
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Pastors Ministry |
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I believe we could interchange the terms "pastor, shepherd or father" when referring to the job description of the one anointed as a pastor in the church. A pastor's heart, a father's heart and a shepherd's heart are closely related because all those under their care love them—people, children, and sheep!
Jesus told Simon Peter three times in John 21:15-17 to "feed my sheep." The "sheep" Jesus referred to were God's people. Since they belong to God, the pastor's job is to take care of the people, all the while knowing that Jesus is the chief shepherd and He represents the Heavenly Father. The job description of a pastor is more an attitude than a job. When you see a person with a pastor's anointing on his life, you see a kind person who will reach out and gently bring people together. When he is in a group, he will listen to people's problems, taking time and effort to do so. He loves to make sure people's needs are looked after and their problems are taken care of.
Like a shepherd, he leads them beside the still waters and seeks to give them a sense of security and peace. He wants to see them healed in body, spirit, soul, and mind.
Pastoring in a Cell
An ideal place for a pastor to function is in a home cell group. There he can nurture growth and see from week to week the spiritual condition of his people. If a person is hurting and fails to attend the home group, the pastor goes looking for him to discover what the problem is. More likely than not, that person will return, because he feels intimately cared for.
In fact, sometimes people under the care of a person with a pastor's anointing never want to leave. The results may be a home group that becomes large and cumbersome. Before long the pastor has too many people to look after and finds that he is simply "putting out fires" rather than nurturing true growth in the home setting. Often, the pastor's overseers may need to remind the pastor and his people about the benefits of multiplying the group in order to make new disciples.
Many Are Anointed as Pastors
Personality profile tests consistently show that 69% of the general population are pastorally oriented people. I believe that God in His divine planning, created large numbers of people who qualify as pastors. Even new Christians who are pastorally anointed can reach out and care for others. By serving other people this way, they can get their attention off themselves and onto the purposes of God.
In the corporate church setting, there should also be many pastors released to serve in ministry. These pastors can then be ministering to other pastors within the home groups on a regular basis. Pastors "pastoring" other pastors is a real need in today's church.
All leaders (elders) need the nurturing care of a pastor, and they can receive this when they are a part of a home group ministry. According to the statistic just quoted, well over half of the people sitting in the church pews today are pastorally inclined. When we take into account the fact that we are a royal priesthood and each person has priestly duties of a pastor, many, many people can be in the ministry of caring for others, bringing people together and creating a place of rest for God's people.
Pastors are compassionate, emotional people. That's why it is important for a pastor to bring their emotions under the control of the Holy Spirit so that they do not become overly involved with people's problems. A pastor must learn to take the problems to the Lord and allow Him to deliver and heal a person he is counseling.
One of the temptations of a pastor is to personally take on the problems of the people and find himself at a burnout stage. Because a pastor is so understanding and kind, people may tend to look to the pastor and begin to depend on him rather than God.
We should also mention that a pastor needs to be cautioned about getting so involved with the problems of someone of the opposite sex that they become emotionally involved with that person. Many pastors have fallen in this trap, leading to personal catastrophe.
Since pastors function best while caring for a small group of people, I believe God intended for there to be many pastors functioning in the Body of Christ. We need many of them! When pastors are nurturing the people, developing close relationships with them and flowing together, church remains "people oriented."
There are thousands of potential pastors out there who are not functioning as pastors because they don't know what God wants them to do. Once the Body of Christ starts teaching about the real work of pastoring, there will be thousands of new pastors released to lead small groups and find new freedom and love as they work together to see the church grow.
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