What every Church can expect from their Pastor

Introduction

This evening we will be doing something a little unusual, at least in my experience as a preacher. We will be examining what the Bible has to say about what the church body can expect from their pastor. Essentially, what you all can expect of me. This is a little unusual for a church to talk about, especially on a Sunday evening service, however there are many churches and pastors who are confused as to what the job of the pastor is and his responsibilities from the scripture. Because of this, I believe that this is the perfect occasion to talk about this subject and to shine a light into the Bible and see what this relationship looks like.

Before we do this, though, I would like to offer up an illustration that hopefully explains why this subject is so crucial.

“If the pastor is young, they say he lacks experience. If his hair is gray, he’s too old for the young people. If he has five or six children, he has too many. If he has no children, he’s setting a bad example. If he preaches from notes, he has canned sermons and is dry. If his messages are extemporaneous, he’s not deep enough. If he’s attentive to the poor people in the church, they claim he’s playing to the grandstand. If he pays attention to the wealthy, he’s trying to be an aristocrat. If he uses too many illustrations, he neglects the Bible. If he doesn’t use enough stories, he isn’t clear. If he condemns wrong, he’s cranky. If he doesn’t preach against sin, then he compromises. If he preaches the truth, he’s offensive. If he doesn’t preach the truth, he’s a hypocrite. If he fails to please everybody, he’s hurting the church. If he does please everybody, he has no convictions”

If we turn in our copy of God’s word to 1 Corinthians, we see a completely different story though! As you turn, we see how Paul is instructing the Corinthians that God is the one who sets up the expectations of the Pastor.

1 Corinthians 4:1–4 NASB95

1 Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy. 3 But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human court; in fact, I do not even examine myself. 4 For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.

1 Corinthians 4:

A Pastor is to be a Servant and Steward

In these opening 2 verses we see the apostle Paul states that first and foremost, we are to be a servant of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. A servant is someone who does what they are told. Obviously this meant something different in Paul’s time than today because servants and slaves were much more common in his day than today thanks to the Roman Empire, however we still have the basic concept of what a servant is supposed to do. They obey whatever their boss or master tells them to do and they live under this authority for their entire servanthood. What better way to describe the duties of a pastor to his church today? As a pastor, the number one responsibility is to be a servant of Jesus Christ and to obey His Word. In the context of pastoring a church, that means living out the truth of the gospel on a daily basis whether it be from the pulpit on a Sunday morning or evening, visiting a church member in the hospital or helping out with Vacation Bible School. First and foremost the Pastor is to be a servant of Jesus Christ.

How often do we hear about a pastor “burning out”?

There are all sorts of reasons as to why this happens, however just as a slave was under his master’s authority for the duration of their service, so is a pastor to be a servant of Jesus Christ. It is a lifelong call! What does this mean you can expect from the pastor, then? 3 things:

Faithfulness to pray for the church and dive into the Word of God daily

Biblical truth to be proclaimed from the pulpit

Ensure that the church is healthy and thriving

In being a servant of Christ, there is enormous responsibility that Paul places on himself as well as Apollos, Peter and the leaders of the Corinthian church, however that responsibility is crucial because the duty is to proclaim God’s plan of salvation in word and in deed.

Paul states in this opening passage that the pastor is to be a steward of the mysteries of God. This is an interesting thought to us in our western culture because we are very logical in our thought process and we expect most things to simply have a purpose or reason behind them. This is not always the case when it comes to the things of God, though. Whenever we look at the gospel accounts, we see Jesus doing things that are simply beyond our human minds’ comprehension! We see the same in the book of when Isaiah stands before the throne room as a man of “unclean lips” and of a people with “unclean lips” yet he saw the King of Glory. There are some things that we cannot understand that we throw into the “mystery of God” category. Yet we know that in Jesus Christ, God manifested Himself in human flesh and came to the Earth, lived a perfect life, died the death that you and I deserved and rose from the grave, defeating death and is seated in heaven currently and is interceding on our behalf before the Father like we talked about this morning! That is good news and it is called the “gospel”. As a servant of Christ, it is the job of the pastor to make known the gospel of Jesus Christ and reveal the “mysteries” of God. Does that mean your pastor knows everything? Certainly, no!!! However, it does mean that through prayer, studying and more prayer, the pastor tries to reveal these things to the congregation with the help of the Holy Spirit. As a church you can expect 2 things based on this passage from your pastor, that he is a servant and a steward.

In our next passage of scripture, we see our next two points:

A Pastor is to suffer and set an example

Whenever the world thinks of the traditional Christian they often imagine a person whose life is perfect and without opposition. They typically think that the pastor of the local church is the exact same and that he experiences no suffering and that God makes their life go smoothly at all times because, after all, the God of the Bible is a “good God”, right?

There are many Christian teachers and televangelists who would like to sell you the same bag of treats. If you just buy my latest book then you will “Live your best life now!” or if you send me some money, you will be blessed tenfold!

Folks, whenever we dive into scripture, do we see God’s people living lives of great prosperity without opposition? Sometimes, but often no. Do we see God’s people in positions of strength without any enemy? Sometimes, but often no. Do we see, in history, Christians as people in power or those who are persecuted? In Bible times and in the centuries following Jesus’ ministry there was widespread persecution for believing in Christ! Only in recent years has there been a nation that has allowed freedom of religion