October is Pastor Appreciation month. It’s a good time to remember this person, his work, the weight of his responsibility, and your responsibility to him.
The term “pastor” is based on the shepherd concept, a leader who protects his flock. Another term in the New Testament for this position is translated “bishop” in some translations and “overseer” in others, carrying the idea of oversight or management. In the New Testament, churches sometimes met in homes. In these instances, each home had, in a sense, its own pastor, sometimes referred to as the “elder.” All these terms help define the position and responsibilities of your pastor.
Ephesians 4:11-14 presents the purpose for pastors: “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may 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.” Your pastor is called by God to help you grow spiritually. Teaching you the Word of God so that you are prepared to stand and live in truth is his primary job.
Earlier, in Acts 20:28-31, Paul pleads with pastors, to, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock. . . . I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears.”
Warning people is not an easy task. Consider a young mother who tries to impress upon her child the seriousness of staying off the street. One child insisted that being run over wasn’t a big problem because she would simply, “Pop back up, like on TV.” The next day her mother took the child to the street in front of their house and showed her a dead squirrel which had been run over several times and was as flat as a pancake–obviously no popping-up in that squirrel’s future. Tears came to the child’s eyes, and perhaps the neighbors wondered at the harshness of a mother showing her child a dead squirrel; but the child now understood the truth of what would happen if she were struck by a car.
The pastor who faithfully teaches God’s Word, sometimes “with tears,” who does his best to protect his flock from wolves, is a pastor who serves God and his people.
–first in a series of three