So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

-1 Peter 5:1-4, ESV

Recently, we have addressed the subject of church conflict.  First, we saw that stirring up division in the church demonstrates a lack of love for the church and therefore a lack of love for Jesus Christ.  Then, we looked at ways to approach conflict in the church, including circumstances in which church leaders are either straying from sound doctrine or committing sins that make them no longer qualified biblically to hold their office.  Therein, I repeatedly referred to our obligation to honor our pastors, even when we must rebuke them for serious sins or doctrinal errors.  I believe a major reason that we struggle with this is that we do not understand what the job of a pastor actually entails.  If we truly understood this, we would have no trouble honoring our pastors as Scripture commands. A better understanding of their calling would also help us to discern when they are straying from that calling to the point where rebuke becomes necessary. My aim here is to help us all understand both the duty and high calling of the pastoral ministry so that we know how to strengthen and encourage them in this work as well as how to spot significant deviations from it. 

The Job of the Pastor

What is the job of the pastor?  Many people see the pastor’s role as little more than preaching on Sunday morning.  This is very important, but it is only one small part of the pastor’s job.  In simplest terms, the pastor’s job is to lead and care for the church.  As I noted in my leadership paper, Scripture often uses the metaphor of the shepherd to describe what leadership should look like.  Jesus then uses this metaphor by calling Himself the Good Shepherd in John 10 and then charging Peter to feed His sheep in John 21.  Peter then extends this charge to all pastors: “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Peter 5:2a).  He goes on to describe the manner in which pastors must do this.  They must be willing and eager to serve in this capacity rather than being compelled to it.  They must not do it out of greed for personal gain or in a domineering way, setting an example for everyone around them.  We will discuss these more later, but it is important to note that all of this is prefaced by “exercising oversight”.  In other words, the pastor must exercise oversight in the church.  That oversight must be willing, eager, and neither greedy nor domineering, but it must be present. 

What does it mean for pastors to be shepherds exercising oversight?  In rebuking the Jewish leaders for their failure in this area, God lays out what a good shepherd looks like in Ezekiel 34.  Based on this passage, second-generation reformer Martin Bucer divided the responsibilities of the pastor into five categories: lead lost souls to Christ, restore those who are straying, assist saints who are in sin, strengthen the spiritually weak, and protect all saints from sin and error—all of which generally fall into the category of soul care.[1]  In other words, to properly shepherd the flock is to care for each individual soul in the church in a way that ministers to each person in his or her particular context.  This means that in addition to preaching and public evangelism, the responsibilities of the pastor include counseling and private evangelism, meeting with people in their homes, visiting the sick, and church discipline.  This requires really knowing people and meeting them where they are in their lives, which cannot happen without pastors descending from the pulpit and entering into the messy lives of those in the congregation…all of them.  Puritan Richard Baxter says this:

“To this end it is necessary, that we should know every person that belongeth to our charge; for how can we take heed of them, if we do not know them?  We must labour to be acquainted, not only with the persons, but with the state of all our people, with their inclinations and conversations; what are the sins of which they are most in danger, and what duties they are most apt to neglect, and what temptations they are most liable to; for if we know not their temperament or disease, we are not likely to prove successful physicians.”

-Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth Trust: 2020 (orig. 1656): 65.

Is Baxter really saying that pastors need to know every person in the church?  Yes.  In our day, this may seem impossible, but perhaps that is because our view of the pastorate has deviated substantially from Scripture.  We often think of a church having as single lead pastor, but if that pastor should know everyone in the congregation, that will severely limit the size of the church.  Certainly it is impossible for megachurch pastors to know every person in the church, but it is just as difficult for a pastor to do this in medium sized churches.  This drives home the point that with the exception of very small churches, a single pastor cannot adequately shepherd the flock God has entrusted to him.  The biblical model instead calls for a plurality of pastors who can share this load between them.  Whether this takes the form of a lead pastor with associate pastors or a combination of full-time and bi-vocational elders, it is absolutely essential.  Just as Moses was unable to lead the nation of Israel alone (Exodus 18), so pastors should not expect (nor be expected) to lead their churches alone.  When discussing tithing, I suggested that an adequately tithing church should be able to support a full-time staff member for every fifteen households or so.  Coincidentally—or rather providentially—this is similar to most conventional secular wisdom on the appropriate scope of oversight that any one leader is capable of.  Such a high pastor-to-household ratio may seem like a pipe dream, but the closer we get to it, the healthier our churches will be.

Even in churches that understand this, there can be a split between preaching and other responsibilities such that there is one main pastor who preaches while all of the other pastors or elders are charged with everything else.  This is not the biblical model.  It is true that Peter, Paul, and the other apostles focused on preaching the Gospel, but they also visited the sick and ministered to families in their homes.  Furthermore, the personal references in of Paul’s letters indicates that he had a close relationship with various people in those churches.  So while some pastors may focus on preaching while others focus on the other aspects of ministry, all pastors are charged to labor in all aspects of ministry.  But contrary to this model, many large churches today have a preaching pastor focused on nothing else.  This is nothing new, as Baxter noted it in his day:

“It hath grieved my heart to observe some eminent able preachers, how little they do for saving of souls, save only in the pulpit; and to how little purpose much of their labour is, by this neglect.  They have hundreds of people that they never spoke a word to personally for their salvation; and if we may judge by their practice, they consider it not as their duty”.

-Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth Trust: 2020 (orig. 1656): 176.

In our day as in his, it has been stylish for the most famous and talented preachers to pour all of their efforts into preaching, writing, seminars, and other public work to the almost-complete neglect of private ministry.  On a grand scale, this is seen in evangelistic rallies, with the emphasis on people making salvation decisions only, outside of the context of a local church.  This is not to say that God cannot use such events to bring people to Christ, but myriads of people who came forward and made decisions or prayed prayers during those events did not then get involved in a local church, so alone and unsupported they eventually walked away from Christ.  This is the exact opposite of what the most famous evangelist in recent history sought to do.  One of Billy Graham’s rules was to emphasize and partner with local churches. 

Additionally, while the public ministry of preaching is vital, most salvation and spiritual growth happens in the context of private ministry.  Baxter noted that it is this private ministry that lends credence and trustworthiness to preaching.[2]  This private ministry is so important that Baxter spends more than a third of the book discussing it.  It is no less important today.  In numerous parables, Jesus described the Kingdom of Heaven as starting small then growing slowly and gradually.  If that is the way Christ will built His Church, then that is what all Christians—especially pastors—must focus on.  This is multi-generational work, so the greatest dividends will come from investment in it, but the growth of the Kingdom is stunted by the neglect of the private ministries of the pastorate.

A Note on Preaching

This is not to devalue preaching at all, but to keep it in its proper context amongst often-neglected pastoral responsibilities.  Much could be written on the pastor’s responsibilities regarding preaching, so I cannot adequately cover the topic here, but there are a few points that must be mentioned.  The responsibility of the pastor is to bring the lost and straying sheep into the fold, strengthen the weak sheep, and help the strong sheep to mature.  Preaching should reflect those responsibilities. 

This certainly begins with preaching that is from Scripture.  A sermon is not a speech based on human ideas or abilities.  It must not be filled with clever rhetoric, entertaining theatrics, personal anecdotes, or an over-abundance of jokes.  As Baxter put it: “You cannot break men’s hearts by jesting with them, or telling them a gaudy tale, or pronouncing a smooth oration”.[3]  This does not exclude smooth delivery, useful anecdotes, and the occasional joke.  But all of these must be made subservient to a greater purpose: explaining the truths of God from the Word of God to the people of God as plainly and simply as possible.[4]  Preaching must also focus on the clear and foundational truths of Scripture.  Occasionally, secondary doctrines and other issues that are not as clear in Scripture will need to be addressed, but the vast majority of sermon content needs to focus on “the greatest, most certain, and most necessary truths, and be more seldom and sparing upon the rest.  If we can but teach Christ to our people, we shall teach them all”.[5] 

This means that a pastor will often repeat the same foundational truths in their preaching.  The challenge of the preacher is to do this in a way that does not seem to be repetitive even while they must be repeated.[6]  Scripture often repeats such truths, so preachers should as well.  The main point here is that preaching must focus on the core truths of Scripture delivered in a manner consistent with Scripture for the edification of the church.  Every aspect of the sermon must serve that end.  Smooth delivery must be for the purpose of helping people focus on the words spoken rather than the speaker.  Anecdotes and humor must help make the meaning and application of the text clear, not detract from it.  References to human writings must be kept to a minimum and must be subservient to Scripture.[7]  Only then can pastors truly obey God’s command through Paul to preach the Word (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

Setting the Example

Pastors are also called to uphold a high standard of character and thereby set an example for the flock.  This is so important that Baxter spent his first two chapters addressing it.  With the exception of “able to teach”, all of the elder qualifications in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 are related to character rather than ability.  Therefore, in order to exercise oversight over the flock a pastor must exercise it diligently over himself.  This beings with ensuring that he believes and has been transformed the very Gospel he is preaching.  Then, he must be living in obedience to the Scriptures in the same way he is calling his hearers to obey them.  If a pastor lives in contradiction to his preaching, it undermines his entire ministry and causes many to doubt the Gospel itself.  This is especially important since pastors are not only sinful like everyone else but face greater temptations to sin and greater consequences of that sin.  Baxter noted that the nature of the pastoral office exposes pastors to greater spiritual attack, makes their sins more public, and puts them at greater risk of hypocrisy.[8]  And as I stated last time with leadership in general, the visibility of the pastoral office gives the pastor greater influence by his example, both good and bad.  This alone should be enough to make every pastor approach the role with a solemn sobriety:

“It is a palpable error of some ministers, who make such a disproportion between their preaching and their living; who study hard to preach exactly, and study little or not at all to live exactly…They are loath to misplace a word in their sermons…(and I blame them not, for the matter is holy and weighty,) but they make nothing of misplacing affections, words, and actions, in the course of their lives…Certainly, brethren, we have very great cause to take heed what we do, as well as what we say”.

-Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth Trust: 2020 (orig. 1656): 30-31.

This means one of the most important aspects of the pastor’s example is humility.  Thomas Watson observed that a humble man values others more highly than himself because he sees and studies his own sinfulness and failures while praising the excellencies of others.[9]  The opposite of this would be pride and self-centeredness, seen in pastors conducting their ministry ultimately for their own gain and exhibiting envy of the talents of others as if it was not the Holy Spirit that gives those talents in the first place.  They can also become so convinced of their own perspective that they resist reproof.[10]  Instead, pastors like all Christians must be humble, since humility is so central to Christianity that to be a Christian is to be humble.  In addition to humility, the pastor’s life must exhibit zeal for his work due to its eternal consequences, tender love for the flock that proves the pastor cares more for their good than his own, patience to bear with them even when they hurt him as he is helping them, the proper reverence that the weighty things of God deserve, and a clear understanding of his own inadequacy and therefore dependence on Christ and the Holy Spirit as well as unity with other pastors.[11] 

Conclusion: Honor and Pray for Your Pastor

If all of this sounds daunting, that is because it is!  The pastoral office is a very high calling that takes every bit of character, skill, diligence, and sacrifice that God grants to those He calls to it—and much more.  None are truly adequate for the pastorate, but God has called them to this office and is the one who qualifies them for it.  This is why the rest of us are commanded to regard our pastors with double honor (1 Timothy 5:17).  The more we understand about the weight of their calling, the more supportive of them we should be.  We should be constantly praying for them, asking God to grant them the strength and wisdom required for the task, asking for Him to protect them and their families from demonic attack, and praying for blessings on them, their families, and their ministries.  We must also be very slow to criticize them, seeking to be trusted confidants for them to share their struggles, not armchair Christians adding to their burden.  This understanding of the pastoral office should also help us to discern when pastors are deviating from this calling.   In this, we must not be overly critical since it is impossible for any pastor to live up to this standard all the time.  We must extend much grace to our pastors as they honestly stive for this standard, but there does come a point at which a pastor’s failings go beyond honest mistakes to sins that can disqualify him from the office.  This has the potential of doing great damage to the church, so it must be addressed.  That will be our topic for next time, so I will end with hope and a charge. First, the hope from Peter to all the pastors who are striving to exercise oversight humbly and diligently over the flock God has given them: “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Peter 5:4). Now, the charge from Baxter to his fellow pastors:

“And now, brethren, what have we do do for the time to come, but to deny our lazy flesh, and rouse up ourselves to the work before us. The harvest is great, the labourers are few; the loiterers and hinderers are many, the souls of men are precious, the misery of sinners is great, and the everlasting misery to which they are near is greater, the joys of heaven are inconceivable, the comfort of a faithful minister is not small, the joy of extensive success will be a full reword.”

-Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth Trust: 2020 (orig. 1656): 205.

NOTES:

[1] Martin Bucer trans. by Peter Beale, Concerning the True Care of Souls, Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth Trust: 2019: 70.

[2] Richard Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth Trust: 2020 (orig. 1656): 176, 198.

[3] Ibid, 139.

[4] Ibid, 96.

[5] Ibid, 93.

[6] Ibid, 95.

[7] Ibid, 102-103.

[8] Ibid, 43-47.

[9] Thomas Watson, The Godly Man’s Picture Drawn with a Scripture Pencil, Edinburgh, UK: Banner of Truth Trust: 2021 (orig: 1666): 81-82.

[10] Baxter, The Reformed Pastor, 124-130.

[11] Ibid, 98-106.