WHAT IS A PASTOR?
When the man on the street hears the word pastor, what images are conjured up in his mind? Two images most certainly top the list. A pastor, they think, is a smiley cleric wearing a sporty suit coat with blue pants and a polished pair of loafers. He is a nice guy that loves people, says hi to others in the coffee shop, preaches to his congregation and loves to play golf on Saturdays. He’s an all-around nice guy. He’s no threat to anyone, maintains a nice living and keeps his church in a relatively prosperous state. Others hear the word “pastor” and think of a bigoted conservative who is narrowminded and unapproachable. He bleeds conservatism, is argumentative and if you hold to anything progressive he will sneer at you with the utmost disdain. When he preaches he does so loudly and inflexibly. He expects his people to conform to a narrowly defined set of standards. He is altogether too holy for the man on the street.
Neither caricature comports with the Bible’s description of a pastor. Paul was the pastor par excellence. He is the model (though not a perfect one) of what a pastor ought to be. So we ask, “What is a pastor?” Is he to be an administrator? That certainly is part of it? What about a teacher? Yes, of course. What about a counselor, a friend, an exhorter? Yes, yes to all of that. But when we really want to find out what a pastor should be we must discover what the word itself means. A pastor is another word for shepherd. In case you were wondering, the word pastor is not an interpretation by English translators. No, the word in the Greek language (poimèn; gk: ποιμήν ) means exactly that. A pastor is a shepherd. If we discover exactly what a shepherd does, we have hit the bullseye of what a pastor ought to be.
Anyone who knows anything about what a shepherd does need not use too much imagination to determine what a pastor does. The answer is rather simple; “The shepherd does everything for the wellbeing of his flock.” We get many hints in the Bible what that means. The shepherd above all things, cares about all his sheep but especially for those who are hurting. Jesus said the shepherd will willingly leave the ninety and nine in order to find that one little lamb in the thickets (Mt 18:12). It would be easy for the shepherd to rationalize that it is more important to stay with the main body of the flock instead of looking for one straying lamb. But this is not how a good shepherd thinks. He cares about all the sheep, especially those who stray away or are in distress. Shepherds purposely parole the outskirts of the flock looking for the weak and lowly who might be easy targets for predators. And when he finds one caught in the thickets of life, he throws it on his shoulders and carries it home.
When Peter tells the elders of the churches to “shepherd the flock of God which is among you” (1 Pet 5:2), he is thinking of a shepherd up in those distant hills who is carefully watching those little, defenseless lambs under his charge. Just as with vocational shepherds, spiritual shepherds are to labor for their flock willingly and freely with great joy. They are not to act like paid hirelings (5:2b). Neither are they to act like imperious bosses who expect the flock to serve their every needs. Rather the shepherd serves his flock selflessly, living in a manner that would be good for the sheep to emulate (5:3). This model completely annihilates the modern idea that church leaders are to be be good administrators who know manipulate people and to form them into a well oiled machine. The office of shepherd is above all things relational not managerial. The pastor is to willingly descend to the level of those sheep who are experiencing the pains and discouragements and confusions of life. He is to embrace the sheep with personal compassion, counsel and care. And since no two sheep are the same, the pastor must tailor his interaction with each sheep according to their particular problems and personality. A “one size fits all” approach does not comport with the complexities of pastoral ministry.
In no other place in Holy Scripture is the role of the shepherd seen more clearly than in Paul’s personal description of his ministry to the Thessalonians. The second chapter of this epistle supplies us with a beautiful image of what pastoral ministry should look like.
First, Paul spoke truth to the fledgling Thessalonian church even in the midst of suffering. He says, “We were bold in our God to speak to you the gospel of God in much conflict” (vs. 2). The shepherd must always speak the truth to his flock even when it costs him his reputation, his support and even his life. Shepherds are messengers from the mighty King and are to communicate the King’s message precisely no matter what the cost. Communicating truth in the midst of opposition requires a manly boldness. A good shepherd will fight the lion and the bear. He must be courageous.
Second, the pastor shepherds his flock without having any hidden agendas motivated by selfish concerns. Paul says, “Our exhortations did not come from error or uncleanness nor was it in deceit” (vs 3). Pastors never execute their calling thinking, “What’s in this for me?” Nor do they have a long range plan of using the office to gratify a lust for power, money or sex. They minister for two reasons only, to please God alone and to serve the sheep.
Third, the pastor serves the sheep knowing that he is being watched by the Chief Shepherd of the sheep, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says, “We have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who tests our hearts”(vs. 4). Paul seems to be a bit redundant from what he said before, but he is pounding on this theme for emphasis. Shepherds do not serve with an eye toward the approval of men but they serve in order to please God and God alone. A shepherd need only please his king and a New Testament pastor need only please the King of kings, the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything else is secondary.
Fourth, Paul was tender to the sheep, understanding fully and commiserating with the foibles of his people. To be a shepherd a man needs to have the patience of Job. Paul says, “We were gentle among you, just as a nursing mother cherishes her own children” (vs. 7). The analogy here is moving. He likens his intimacy with the Thessalonian saints to a woman who is breast feeding her child. Can a more tender scene than that be imagined? Here is the helpless baby looking to his mother for life itself. And the mother brings that helpless one to her own body and feeds it, willingly, lovingly and sacrificially. This total giving of himself to the young saints at Thessalonica is further explained in verse 8 where Paul says he not only gave the sheep spiritual food (the gospel) but he gave them himself. The pastoral ministry is a complete giving of the shepherd for the good of his flock. Nothing is withheld that might do the flock good, even if that thing costs him dearly. The total man is to be totally given to the total good of the flock. This requires the full consecration of the shepherd to his calling both in season and out of season.
Fifth, Paul the shepherd never withheld correction and reproof to the sheep when it was needed. He says, “You know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father does his own children” (vs 11). We saw how the pastor is to be a mother to his flock; now we see how he is also to be a father to the flock as well. At times the pastor comforts the little lamb by bringing it to his bosom. At other times he must correct the straying lamb by giving it a gentle stroke of the rod. Correction in love is one of the most difficult yet important aspects of the pastor’s calling. Without loving discipline the sheep will take advantage of the good will of a shepherd and fall into patterns of self-will. Firm and consistent correction is the most efficient means in keeping the flock within legitimate behavioral boundaries. The shepherd is a gracious man but he uses law as one of the extensions of his grace.
This section of 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 gives us the most descriptive resume of the pastoral calling in the Bible. It is a calling that demands everything of a man but gives back with interest. A man who truly exercises the role of shepherd is not the perfect man. He may not be the greatest preacher or the greatest administrator or the most gifted mover of people. But this one thing he must be, a man who loves God’s sheep and is willing to lay down his life for them, just like the Great Shepherd did so many years ago.