A Pastor’s Heart
Of all the fivefold ministry gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4:11-16, I find that it is the pastor who is most in the trenches with the local expression of the body of Christ.
Pastors spend their lives with a local expression of the body of Christ, loving and getting to know the individuals who make up the fellowship of the saints as they walk with them through various life situations. They are more personally vested in the individuals who make up the body.
Pastors not only experience the various realities of life here on earth like everyone else, but they also share in the burdens of others, having received a call from Jesus to tend and care for them.
While an apostle might have concern for many churches in a more general sense, the pastor will be concerned for the church they have been commissioned to serve. Their focused attention to the local church they serve is vital to the health and well-being of that fellowship of believers. I think of the pastoral ministry as being in the trenches of everyday life with the saints.
Pastors are the ones with a commitment to aid the local expression of the body of Christ with walking in what is theirs according to His grace and life at work in them. They should be just as committed to getting the gospel right as the apostle, prophet, evangelist, or teacher should be. They do this while nurturing the saints with care on a level that differs from the other fivefold gifts.
Pastors are not priests; they do not act as mediators between the saints and God. They are not a go-between of sorts; they are called to come alongside and encourage and instruct believers in the truth of the gospel, equipping them to stand on their own in faith towards Jesus.
Pastors are the ones who walk with believers through the trials of life at the very raw and real levels in which they occur. They are those who are very closely vested in the lives of the ones they are called to serve. They feel, along with the saints, the successes, gains, losses, and failures that occur in daily life, all while having the same types of experiences themselves.
While pastors can be gentle in nature, they are also like sheepdogs protecting the flock from predators who would bring harm to the body. They will not sacrifice the whole for a single person out to harm themselves and others. They know how to be firm and draw a line that cannot be crossed for the safety of the fellowship of the saints. They embody the counsel given by the Holy Spirit through Paul when he spoke to the elders of Ephesus on the island of Miletus.
Acts 20:27 For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears. 32 “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
Just as a father can be gentle towards his children and yet terrifying to an enemy out to hurt them, so are genuinely called pastors whose ministry is to nurture, care for, and protect the saints. If you have the benefit of being cared for by a true New Covenant-based pastor or pastors, give thanks to Jesus.
