And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-13
Pastors have a multifaceted calling. We are called upon to perform many tasks during the course of a week. Today, I would like to concentrate on one aspect of the pastoral task from Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church.
Mind you, what we will discuss in this article is not the only requirement of the pastorate. Many other duties are performed by those who lead in the church. But, what we will peruse in this post is the most central task of the pastor. What is that activity? The task of which we will speak is preparing the membership to minister to one another.
Paul speaks of this responsibility as a primary aspect of the pastoral calling. The “equipping of the saints”, as communicated in verse twelve, is central to work week of the minister. Pastors should teach and preach to prepare the Christian for ministry and to serve the body of Christ.
While the pastor should be involved in ministry and service to the membership, he should not be expected to do all of the ministry within the church. He is to raise up others and equip them through preaching, teaching, personal example, and training to do the work of the ministry as well.
Too often the pastor is expected to “do it all” as the church’s hired hand. This should not be! Ministers should train the membership and then release them to serve one another. The result of this service is spiritual growth, an increased knowledge of God, and Christian maturity.
As a believer, you have a calling to serve in the Church, the Body of Christ. Do not neglect that calling. Attend church, learn, and be equipped and encouraged to serve within the membership. From myself and pastors everywhere, let me make this closing statement. “We need you and we can’t do it without you. Help us!”
Tony French
mrtonyfrench 