The Pastoral Scapegoat
This is a guest post by Mike McArthur. I asked Mike to share his experience after reading some of his posts, particularly this one. Check it out!
“We are too small to be able to afford to pay a pastor, the church will have to close.”
Bad call!
Employing a pastor is not a necessary requirement of a healthy church. In many cases it is really a convenient way to make life easier for the elders and church members.
Many small churches are struggling to balance budgets, yet the last expense to be cut is usually the pastor’s salary. As an elder myself I would never want to make a pastor redundant, but after our part-time pastor resigned a year and a half ago we did not employ anyone to replace him. Despite some doubters, our congregation is still thriving, we have an excellent Sunday school program, great sermons and heartfelt worship singing each week.
I would like for us to employ a pastor, but my reasons are purely selfish – it would make life easier for me. It would probably also tempt me to disobey God. My responsibility as an elder is to “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you;” (1 Peter 5:2 ESV). I cannot push that responsibility onto someone else by casting my vote to pay them a salary from the church budget. The commission to shepherd (pastor) God’s people was given to me when I accepted the office of elder.
Likewise, no Christian can delegate their obligation to love one another onto a pastor by virtue of contributing to his salary. Responsibility for serving God’s people lies with all believers according to the grace God has given (1 Peter 4:10).
At its best, a group of believers would act in accordance with the exhortations of Romans chapter 12. Those with particular abilities use them for building up the whole group. God promises to give what we need to serve Him, so we can assume that He will place within each group the skills, or ability to acquire the skills, required to fulfill the purpose He has for that group. The leaders in such a group of believers would be:
- Experienced
- Stable and above reproach
- Humble
- Willing servants
- Committed to the wellbeing of those in the group (see 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and 1 Peter 5:1-5).
What is missing from this picture? Plenty, if you are using contemporary churches as the measuring standard. A couple of obvious things are buildings and a pastor. But if we use the New Testament as our standard, buildings are barely mentioned and neither are pastors.
We do see elders as a required church office in the Bible, and that those who labor for the gospel and in preaching are worthy of wages for their work. It is OK to pay those who labor in ministry, but nowhere are we told that a church must employ a pastor. The responsibility for shepherding (pastoring) lies with the elders. If we can trust God to give all we need for life and godliness, and if we believe that spiritual gifts are given for the common good of the church, then it is reasonable to assume that within each congregation of His people God provides grace to corporately fulfill His mission without dumping most of the work onto one man.
In order to follow such an ideal of church leadership we have to adjust our expectations. By accepting that God gives the grace to achieve His call on each fellowship, we also have to accept His standards and priorities for His work. We know God doesn’t judge outward appearances and that He is happy to accept people who are shunned by everyone else. So elders, brace yourselves for a shakedown of any appearance-based expectations and to be called-out on substandard shepherding.
I would argue that the problem doesn't lie in the necessity (or lack thereof) of a pastor in a congregation, but the expectations that you've mentioned. Pastors are often expected to be the sole advice-giver, comforter, encourager, organizer, etc. etc. in a congregation, and that just isn't the case. However, just because one person can't hope to do all of this doesn't mean that the intended role isn't vital.
The pastor's role as teacher is primary (and mentioned in the above texts that you referenced). We have our pastors trained to be better pastoral care providers so that they may be more adept at consoling those of us who are hurting. We train them to be good speakers so they keep us awake on Sunday morning. But of the utmost importance (aside from the Church's (capital “C”) responsibility to be accountable for her leadership) is the fulfillment of the role of a community’s need for a theologian.
The Gospel must be translated for a specific time, and a specific place, and a specific people. Our church leaders need to know how to understand who is in that particular community and how to communicate the Gospel to them. Our leaders need understandings of the Church’s past, so that we may know where we’ve been in order to lead where we’re going and to avoid mistakes we’ve made before. Trained pastors connect us to the 2,000 years of Church historyâ€â€they’re one link that keeps us all part of the one body of Christ.
No, the pastor shouldn’t be the one telling Mildred what color Jell-o to bring to the potluck, and a great many others should be visiting Jack while he’s in the hospital. We’re all called to love and serve one another. But just because we’ve pushed all that on the pastor’s plate doesn’t make the pastor the scapegoat role. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Hi Chase,
I agree about not throwing the pastor's role out just because it may have become a catch-all, Jack-of-all-trades job in some situations. Even while writing my post I was thinking of the many well-trained pastors who, by virtue of being in paid ministry, are able to devote their time, talents and training to advancing God's Kingdom in ways that others cannot. This is what it seems to me that such people should be doing, this is why we 'give to the work of the Kingdom'. My main point is simply to draw attention to the trap of using the pastor to do much of the work that we are called to do as congregation members and particularly as elders – a pastor should not have to shoulder the responsibility for a church alone, we are all servants of Christ and God gives gifts to all for serving the Church.
I very much agree with you. I just wanted to lift up the office of pastor as an essential role, but yes, we do tend to cop out of serving others and expecting our pastors to do it all.
I very much agree with you. I just wanted to lift up the office of pastor as an essential role, but yes, we do tend to cop out of serving others and expecting our pastors to do it all.