So, what is
it, exactly, that a pastor does? Sometimes, considering questions like this can
be very illuminating. Here are some popular answers.
Pastors
help people to
get to know God
teach the Bible
comfort folk
provide
guidance as people face problems
manage the
church
Now, all of
those are pretty good (except for the last one). But I’d like to offer a
different perspective that I think enlightens them all. A pastor is someone who
interprets reality for the sake of his congregation.
One reason
for the problems that we face is that we do not understand very well how life
works. Sin has affected us in mind and heart and will. We do not have a good
grasp on reality as God has constructed it. So, Jesus has given pastors to His
Church. They are to interpret reality for the benefit of their congregations.
This
explains, for example, what a sermon is. It’s the pastor explaining some aspect
of reality as revealed in a particular bit of Scripture. I’ve been going
through the first chapters of Genesis on Sunday mornings. One of things that I’ve
said more than once is, ‘This is how God runs His creation’. I’ve said that in
talking about what God has to say about things like rest, work and the sacred. I’m
explaining reality.
Why I need to
do this should be obvious. The people of my congregation need to live according
to what is real, according to reality. The world is filled with lies about all
sorts of things, and there are so many around us who work at living according
to those lies. They are not working with God as He runs His creation but
against Him. They are not living according to reality. And that’s why their
lives are not working as well as they might. My goal is to help my congregation
see the lies and reject them so that as they live according to what is real
they will be able to live well.
To do this
there are some things that pastors need to do. They need to understand reality.
And that’s pretty obvious. You can’t explain what you don’t know yourself. If a
pastor is going to be able to do this he will need to meditate on God’s
revelation about the nature of reality. This is more than knowing lots of Bible
verses. It’s about knowing what lots of Bible verses have to say about reality.
It’s as you put all those different verses together that you are able to get a
sense of what reality is about. Working on this is something that a pastor is
continually doing through lots of different means.
Pastors also
need to understand their people. What are the issues that they are facing? Once
that is clear a pastor can explain what is real when it comes to those areas,
what is reality as God defines it. But he is won’t able to do that unless he is
with his people, listening to what’s going on in their lives, what they are wrestling
with. That’s when he knows what part of reality needs to be explained. And that
will guide him when it’s time for him to
help people to
get to know God
teach the Bible
comfort folk
provide
guidance as people face problems
manage the
church
No comments:
Post a Comment