Here is the text:
3:1 The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.
Shepherds take care of, tend to, nurture, protect, guard, provide and guide sheep. That is why they are called shepherds. I will be candid here. Much of what goes over as pastoring isn’t what the bible defines as pastoring. First lets make one thing clear. Pastoring is a “gift of the Holy Spirit”. It isn’t something you learn in school, it isn’t something you read in a book, it isn’t something you are “promoted” to by others. As Paul says in Ephesians “When He ascended He led a host of captives free AND gave gifts unto men”. If you drop down a few more verses in Ephesians 4 you will see some of those gifts highlighted one being “pastor” (among many) which is given by the Spirit.
With that said, what I see today isn’t pastoring. If it is then pulpits, conferences, pews and buildings are sheep. Since the bible never calls them sheep then what goes over today as pastoring really ain’t pastoring. Don’t believe see if you can find what is perpetuated as pastoring today in the scriptures. Many pastors spend more time with their bibles than they do sheep. As Alan says ”when the bible talks about teaching it means much more than articulating doctrinal truth”. Here is a quote:
So, first, sharing these stories is a method of teaching – a method that is sorely lacking in many churches today. We have replaced this holistic method of teaching and discipleship with a method that relies almost solely on words. In fact, many future leaders are taught not to get too close to the people they teach, making it impossible for them to teach with their conduct.
It is funny that man who can articulate truth better than others get a pass on pastoring and the real pastoring is passed on to other man. False dichotomies are erected to defend such a position such as: Teaching Pastor, Singles Pastor, Discipleship Pastor……. . We more Reformed folks love to point our doctrinal error but for some glaring reason we ignore these erroneous dichotomies in the name of receiving good “biblical preaching”.
So on to the title. What will follow will be brief but I think important for us to consider. Lets start off by Paul’s charge to Timothy. Paul says “ anyone who desires”. So the first qualification is a desire. I won’t get into much there. Then Paul goes into some qualifications for those who desire. Whats funny is the only way for someone to be meet those qualifications is if they are ALREADY walking in them. So the guy must BE a good teacher, a good husband, a good father…. hospitable.
These aren’t things that they should do once they become and Elder but things they should be doing for being considered an elder. Let me rewind a bit. What made David a good leader for Israel is that He was already faithful at tending to sheep! He was found faithful at shepherding so it was just the overflow of this which made him a great king for Israel. I think one of the problems is that most pastors are transplanted from school (they have good theory). The other problem is the false dichotomy of elders/pastors. These functions in the local body go hand in hand but I will stop there with that argument.
So why hospitable? Great question. One of the primary functions of an elder is to provide oversight, guidance and direction by teaching. The problem is today teaching is synonymous with discipleship clasess and preaching, instead of examples by living! You see a once a week discipleship class for a 1.5 hours or a man’s book club or a 1 hour sermon suffices for what the bible calls teaching. The problem is the bible never says that, our pragmatic practices force us to interpret “teaching” that way.
You see being hospitable could be defined simply as “open lives and open homes”. You see teaching me to be a good husband by giving me “Shepherding a Child’s Heart” or teaching me how to be a good husband by giving me “An Exemplary Husband” or teaching me how to be a good teenager by giving me “Do Hard Things” or taking a woman through a “Titus 2″ class has provided a smokescreen that allows other to sneak out of their responsibility. When Paul says “Older women teach younger women”. This isn’t a weekly class but a daily peek into my life by being hospitable. “Older men teach younger men” isn’t a weekly/bi-weekly discipleship class. It is an open life and an open home in where I SEE YOU live these things out. Thus teaching in both WORD and DEED are inseparable in the scriptures!
Allowing people to text message you, send you an email, or allowing people a one hour a month “appointment” is insufficient my friends! As a faithful church goer and tithe payer (it is funny how jokers can tell you how to be a faithful servant but aren’t faithful to their call) you should demand more! Discipleship is always life on life! As Lecrae says “after the music stops what’s next”. I ask “after the preaching and church stuff stops what’s next”.
If you feel God has call you to pastor, then start pastoring! Not by lording over and building nice expository sermons, but by being hospitable, so I can see you live it out. So I can see how you handle conflict as a mature believer, so I can see you managing your household well, so I can see how your neighbors speak highly of how you serve them, so I can see your reputation with outsiders, so I can see your example!
If you are too busy writing books (or trying to get your book published) then stop pastoring. If you are too busy going to and speaking at different conferences then stop pastoring, if you are too busy to take care of sheep, please, pretty please, stop calling yourself a pastor! Why? Because there a bunch of minnie me’s in seminary following your lead and they too will only perpetuate what they see, because you are all over Itunes, all over the book store and all over the blogsphere. We need shepherdly pastors, ones who by being hospitable are an example to the flock (that is what Peter says right?). We don’t need more professionalized men, who spend their time isolated from the ones they are called to provide oversight to!
Dude, I totally agree. As I grow in Christ, I am beginning to be more and more turned off by what I see in American Church. But shed some light on this for me…
I don’t know quite where I am as far as mega churches are concerned (That’s a whole ‘notha discussion). I haven’t found any biblical proof against them. But how do you suggest they handle the thousands that bust their doors down every week? How are they supposed to shepherd? How are they to be hospitable?
Now, I am in no way trying to compromise the Word’s job description for pastors…and maybe this text will clear my position on such churches…
Anyone?
Hey Javetta,
Let me ask you. Given what we read in the New Testament, what purpose does “mega-churches” provide. I think many times we ask the question from the wrong point in history. So instead of looking at the bible and attempting to have structures that premit us and allows us to minister the way Jesus and His apostles command us.
So if the function that pastors are commanded to do is pastor then the parameters of the strucute have to allow such a function. If the structure begins to intrude upon or interrupt, or disrupt what is commanded in scripture (and pulpit ministry is not scriptural) then we must change the structure, not manipulate the scriptures to sustain the structure.
We have become quite the pragmatics in that we like what we have so we force the bible to fit into the grid we are already expereincing and since we see some fruit (though not the fruit displayed in the New Testament) we say “God must be in this”. However, God may be working in spite of not because of.
So what I am trying to say is this. The final authority is the bible, if what we are practicing (mega-churches, multi-campuses, satelite churches) prevents us from functioning (or in more direct terms if you can’t shepherd because you are involved in the structures above) the way we ought to we either need to say we aren’t really pastoring or we need to tear down the structure and erect one that allows us to do what we are called to do.
So what I hear you saying clearly is two things:
1.) Pastoring today is just another instance of the church trying to make the bible bend to the church instead of the church straightening itself up to the bible.
2.) And just because the bible doesn’t explicitly say “Thou shalt not…” doesn’t mean that it’s okay to do. We must, as believers, go deeper than a “to do” list, stop trying to cut corners for our own personal gain or consciousness and really see the heart of God (His desire for our obedience so that we can ultimately find satisfaction in Him) instead of always looking for the hand of God (in this instance I mean some kind of law).
Is that correct? If so, I have just clarified my position on megachurches
Has anyone ever challenged a megachurch pastor (if you could get close enough to him…lol) or someone from their staff about this? If so, I am very interested to know what was said…please post.
I think you conveyed what I am saying acurately.
Let me ask. If you came to church and they had grape soda and cheesburgers for the Lord’s Supper what would you do? Does the bible say anything against it? (Viola asked a question along these lines).
Or how about being baptized in a mud bath to serve the purpose of both getting prettier skin and submerged to represent the Lord’s death and Ressurection?
Or how about this one. What if we met every 3 months as a body of believers? Does the bible say we MUST meet every week or every other week?
Finally what if I just used my Ipod instead of going to church. We all just meet at my house with some old Spurgeon or MLJ sermons and then discuss them and we have someone be our “campus” pastor?
There is nothing in the bible that either says yeah or nay about what I provided.
If they had cheeseburgers and grape soda for communion, I’m joining like a mug…on the spot! LOL
Now here’s my real reply…
The bible DOES give us a clear example of bread and wine in regards to communion.
The bible DOES tell us to baptize with water.
The bible DOES admonish us to get together often and assemble as believers (I don’t think every months would fit that admonishment).
Happy New Year.
Do you have an earlier post explaining how pulpit ministry is unscriptural? If so, may I have the link?
I hear much of what you’re saying Lionel, but something tells me that in your zeal to be biblically accurate,teach, as well as do the right thing-you may be going a little too far in your overall condemnations on certain (not all) contemporary/traditional church structures, or practices.
Now mind you, I, right now, can’t pinpoint exactly where I’m feeling this unease, I just know that it is there, and in due time it may be flushed out properly to where I can articulate exactly my concern. (At times it usually takes me a spell to digest an argument, or a position, before I flush it out, or spew it out-if you know what I mean.)
But I hear what you’re saying, and you do provoke much needed thought on this matter.
Hey they Brother Kevin,
I don’t think it is “unscriptual”. If by the word unscriptural you mean a verse in the bible that proves otherwise. However, I can’t find a “pulpit” let along a “pulpit ministry” in the bible. If we are speaking of expository preaching I think that at times it is necessary to teach something in which one man will dominate to get a point across. For instance we see many times through Acts where someone would have talked a great deal, though it would probably have been interactive (not after, but during).
However, if unscriptural you mean that it can not be defended without us reading into Timothy from this point in time in history (or in other words we superimpose what we do today and then find scriptures to validate, most of those coming from Timothy/Titus and calling those letters “pastoral”) thus defending what we have.
For example we see the word preaching and we read into it “expository sermons” we see the word teaching and we call it “preaching”. Though the words are not the same and preaching is not equivalent to “expository sermons”. But man who have the gift of oratation and whose position in the local church and in seminary depend on that interpretation/redefinition spend a great deal of time defending and protecting the “pulpit ministry” perspective. Also teaching could mean a myrid of things and we see a great deal of time this teaching was by example in life not articulating some theological truth.
So just like using chesseburgers and grape Fanta Soda for communion isn’t “unscriptural” neither is “pulpit ministry” the problem is if we are going to build our ecclesiology from scripture as best as we know how then we must start from the scriptures, not Reformation History and then read back into the text what we want to validate what we do.
I do have one post called “Why I am not convinced of expository preaching arguement” but you and I have dialouged about it. I also had another called “The Greatest Show on Earth”. The links are below
http://blackandreformedministries.com/2008/12/09/3-reasons-why-i-am-not-convinced-by-the-expository-preaching-arguement/
http://blackandreformedministries.com/2008/08/15/the-greatest-show-on-earth-showtimes-every-sunday-morning-and-sometimes-saturday-evenings/
Javetta,
I am convinced that the bible gives us A CLEAR EXAMPLE on how to meet also and the function of Pastors. But many disagree with me here.
I think with this topic, it’s not people disagreeing with you so much as it is them disagreeing with organic scripture. For so long, the Body has been indoctrinated with tradition (which is really no doctrine at all). I find it strange that it’s comfortable for us to put God in a box, yet if we exercise that kind of control over Him, he ceases to be God and we may as well worship ourselves…ouch…I’ve gotta go repent now :/
“If it is then pulpits, conferences, pews and buildings are sheep.”
Sad but seems to be so much like the truth, men of the cloth are so caught up in the legacy that they might leave, when it’s very apparent that the love doesn’t prevail like it ought, more concerned with the anniversaries and honor that means will be putting to and upon them.
Sometimes it sickens me to see folks talk about the church structures, in places like Europe, without the knowledge of the history of how people were manipulated/conned by the leaders of their local places of worship, so sad is it seems that many are caught up in that grandeur of the honor to come with that, while dismissing the pain and struggles of the peoples backs on whom they were built.
The unapproachableness of those that are famous & would be famous is also a turn off to me, that is why I’m not a fan of the mega-church, often these men are guided by their projects that they’re presently doing, while the hurting folks that need to be approached oftentimes go back home to their homes neglected as they were when they first left the house, no real change as to how they are feeling.
Along with this feeling that I’m having when you speak of the presbyter is, when Paul referred to Peter, he (Paul) referred to him as Peter, and vice versa. Men of this day are caught up too greatly in the titles that they now have.
Still reading the article, and I must say that it has provoked quite a few thoughts thus far!
Posted with all humility..
I like this post. I have been offered “jobs” in ministry or Churches for lack of a better word. But i say nope. Just not me.
I am often humbled by the flock of folks I tend too. I always introduce myself as Frankie or Brother Frankie.
I once questioned these good people why they insist on calling me Pastor, Preacher, The Shepard and so forth…. i find it distracting and sometimes fills me with pride..
The answer came from a patch holder “outlaw type motorcycle guy” …
He said with a shrug.. cause yer leading them dude, yer always around and they consider you their father figure since some of them have never had one.. They consider you a friend because you ask nothing from them but do for them anyway..
yeah, hospitality is always being at home (mine or theirs)
some times it sucks… being there when im dont feel like it.
I would on many days much rather preach a simple 45 minute sermon and teach a mens group..
but it is a gift, im good at it. the rewards are well worth it. not many pastors see lives transformed from death to life weekly…
Praise Him
Bro Frankie