There's more to pastoring than preaching!

[Joseph Gill]

Besides preaching, what are the pastoral gifts,
anyway?

The ubiquitous Ephesian 4:11,12, which is always
trotted out to describe the five-fold ministry of
the church, in which we find the pastor's office
listed, doesn't help much in defining the duties
that attend the office. To quote (I'll use the NIV):

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be
prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be
pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for
works of service, so that the body of Christ may be
built up until we all reach unity in the faith and
in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of
Christ."

The implication of the passage seems to be that each
of the five offices has been given to the church for
purpose of preparing God's people for works of
service. But what distinguishes one office from
another? How, if at all, are the responsibilities of
an evangelist different from those of a pastor,
for example?

At the risk of causing folks eyes to glaze over,
perhaps it helps to look at the original language of
this New Testament passage for more understanding.
The Greek word translated "pastor" in this passage
means "herdsman" or "shepherd." This implies how
Paul thought this office should perform: as a
shepherd of a "flock" of believers. Using this model,
we can envision the pastor's responsibilities as
feeding, nurturing, leading, and protecting.

The metaphorical description of believers as sheep
is the core of that excellent and popular book 'A
Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23': I thought the author
did a masterful job with his juxtaposition of the
flock of God and the flock of sheep. Short-sighted,
stubborn, easily frightened, often helpless... we
bleat complaints, we wander away, we pick up
parasitic "infestations," we attract predators...
there are so many unflattering comparisons that can
be made between laymen and these dumb animals.

Now, the keeper of natural sheep is a servant to
his flock... he finds them grazing land and water,
he delouses their coats and ministers to their
injuries, he fights off their predators. But the
shepherd also has a staff to guide the sheep back
into line... and a rod with a hook to pull an
errant sheep out of the mire. He's a caregiver and
a disciplinarian, if you will. In that a shepherd
is a biblical model of church leadership, I think
it fair for a "pastor" to reflect all of the
attributes of a sheep herder: "feeding"
the flock the Word of God; nurturing the flock by
laboring to see Christ formed in us; leading the
flock both by example (through holy living, through
demonstrated faith) and by pointing the congregation
to specific missions that God has given vision of;
protecting the flock by teaching the congregants
how to discern truth from falsehood, and also by
rebuking error.

Knowledgeable and anointed preaching is only one
aspect of the pastor's gifting. There also have to
be organizational and motivational talents,
spiritual foresight, the capacity for self-
sacrifice, and fortitude to execute discipline.
There's much more to pastoring than preaching,
isn't there?

[Joseph Gill]

Which would you find easier to abide with: A pastor that was
an evocative and inspiring preacher--but otherwise had poor
organizational and interpersonal skills, or a pastor that was
a gifted administrator, a visionary leader, and a wise
counselor, but who couldn't preach a lick?