The Pastor's Job

In the books I'm reading about spiritual abuse, so many pastors are afraid of what will happen if the DON'T abuse their people. They are afraid the people will run wild, stop tithing and start sinning if they don't beat their sheep with the Bible and at least some form of Shepherding or Holiness teaching.

The problem with that, is these pastors see their job as being composed of the following:
-- getting people to obey
-- controlling people's behavior.
-- getting people to give
-- getting people to come to church

Funny thing is, those are not the pastor's responsibilities. They are the responsibilities of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who convicts people of sin. It is not the pastor's job to condemn people of sin, and condemnation is what happens when people try to do it. Besides, who is any man to try to control the behavior of another, especially another adult? It is the Goodness of God that leads to repentence, not the preaching of the pastor. And why is the pastor looking to the people to be his provider of funds? Shouldn't he look to God to provide for him and the church as a corporate entity, just like he teaches the people to look to God? Finally, the Holy Spirit will tell people to go to church, especially to a church that teaches what He wants taught.

So, what is the pastor's job?

Acts 20:28 says ... "And now beware! Be sure that you feed and shepherd God's flock — his church, purchased with his blood — over whom the Holy Spirit has appointed you as elders." It is the pastor's job to feed God's flock, and that can mean spiritually (with the Bible), soulish (with counselling) or physical (with actual food).

Ezekiel 34:2-5 says what shepherds shouldn't do ... "Shouldn't shepherds feed their sheep? You drink the milk, wear the wool, and butcher the best animals, but you let your flocks starve.You have not taken care of the weak. You have not tended the sick or bound up the broken bones. You have not gone looking for those who have wandered away and are lost. Instead, you have ruled them with force and cruelty. So my sheep have been scattered." So, a good shepherd -- a pastor -- will feed the sheep, take care of the weak (we could say defend the defenseless), tend the sick (go to the hospital, you bum, don't just send your associate), heal injuries (spiritual as well as physical), go looking for those who have wandered away (and that is not limited to just hunting down and condemning those who decide to go on a ten day bender, either). A shepherd will treat his people with kindness and gentleness, not force and cruelty (so much for Shepherding or Covering).


Epheisans 4:11-13 says this ..."He is the one who gave these gifts to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ." A good pastor is like the tool crib manager ... he hands out hammers, screwdrivers, drills, whatever ... to equip the people to do their job. That is also more than mere words on Sunday morning. The best way to equip someone to do a job is to show them how to use their tools, not just give them the tools and tell them what to do.

And to do all these things, the shepherd -- the pastor -- must get out and be with, among and like the sheep -- the people. Just like a good rancher cannot take care of his cattle unless he gets out of the truck and walks among them and checks their hooves, mouths, horns, checks the feed and quality of the hay, knocks a few over, plays with a few calves ... a pastor cannot really know his people or take care of them if he doesn't get out among them.

Ultimately, a pastor is a short order cook and a medic, not a CEO or a drill instructor.