Pastor… A job ? A gift? ….
Sometimes both? Sometimes not?
The word pastor was not in the vocabulary of my particular religious heritage. We had ‘preachers’. Sometimes the preacher was also an ‘elder’. The elders made the decisions for the congregation at that place. Other religious groups allow each person who has their name written on the document of the church roll to have a ‘vote’. Everybody has an official say-so.
I was surprised this morning to find that word only used nine times in the KJV. Eight of those times is in the book of Jeremiah. One time, it is used in Ephesians 4:11 “ And he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets: and some, evangelists: and some, pastors and teachers.”
“He gave…” Sounds like a gift to me. And surely there must be a difference in a pastor, a teacher, and an evangelist…else they wouldn’t all be listed. ??
The following verse states a purpose.. “ for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ.” (Eph. 4:12)
I looked into the word ‘shepherd’… (Read this with a little humor please….) “The hired hand is not the shepherd….” John 10:12
I’ve been pastored, I’ve been taught, and I’ve been preached to. In my opinion, there is a huge difference. Sometimes it was by the hired hand…often not.
I realize I have some radical views sometimes…especially when it comes to organized religion. I heard it said once that it was possible to organize the organism right out of the church.
The Body of Christ is alive. But it is often not well. I fear we have ‘paid’ someone to do so many things for so long that we’ve organized a monster that is often hard to feed.
Because of my religious past, I rely very little on preachers or pastors. They are just as absolutely human as I am, perhaps more educated or more experienced, but they have no more access to God than I do. Jesus intercedes for them just like He does for me.
When they are exercising a God-given gift appropriately, I have been blessed, nurtured, admonished, and encouraged. When they were exercising the description of the job, I’ve been hurt, shamed, angered, and humiliated.
That’s my baggage. I am sure you have your own…and we probably both need to unpack it, take it all out, look it over good, and ask the Lord to give it a good scrubbing.
“Whiter than snow…” (Ps. 51:7)
