What Is a Pastor?

He gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. —Ephesians 4:11

It was early on in my ministry and the congregation I was serving was having a big potluck dinner after worship. This was a big deal in the life of this particular congregation. I had given the benediction and began talking with members as I made my way to the fellowship hall for the meal. I made it only halfway before a distraught member came to me in tears to explain a crisis in her life. She and I stepped into my study to talk about the matter further. Meanwhile, all of the members were in the fellowship hall waiting for the pastor to give the blessing so they could eat. Someone even knocked on my door to inform me that everyone was waiting. I told him to have someone else bless the food because it would be a while before I could join the rest of the congregation. I finished consoling the distraught parishioner, and we had a word of prayer. I took off my robe and went downstairs, ready to eat. I expected to find everyone laughing, eating, and having a good time. Instead, to my utter surprise, I found everyone sitting there in silence, not eating because they were waiting for the pastor to say the prayer. I quickly gave the prayer and encouraged everyone to go ahead and eat. As the members were rushing to get their food, I asked an elderly gentleman who passed by why no one else prayed. He replied that they just didn't feel right giving the prayer for the potluck because that was reserved for the pastor.

Those parishioners knew what a pastor was supposed to do. For them it was crystal clear, and they acted upon their understanding each week. The problem was that their perception was a little different from mine. In any other organization this would have been a huge crisis. Imagine a Fortune 500 company where the CEO has one understanding of what his or her job is, the board of directors has another, and the employees have their own concept. It is highly unlikely that the company could effectively achieve its goals. In fact, there wouldn't be any clear goals because everyone would be operating on a different understanding of the role of the leader. People would be functioning on assumptions and expectations that didn't really exist. If there truly were a company like that, the CEO would quickly be fired. The company would surely lose money, and it would be hard to retain employees because of a lack of clarity.

Some might argue that local churches operate like that fictitious Fortune 500 company. Denominational leaders or the church board members believe a pastor ought to operate one way, the pastor has his or her own understanding of the role, and the congregation has a completely different set of expectations. Because no one is on the same page, the church suffers. It may not lose money, but it will lose members, influence, focus, purpose, and relevancy. An organization without a clear understanding of itself and the role of its leader is off track.

Let's look at the local church using the metaphor of a train. The track is what God has called us to do and be as a church. Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the pastor serves as the conductor, ensuring that the church stays on track and is moving forward purposefully and effectively. But very often the conductor (pastor) becomes distracted or confused and begins to take on tasks and roles that really belong to others. For instance, sometimes the conductor/pastor gets caught up in managing the daily administration of the train, and steps in to collect, count, and register the tickets. In other cases, the pastor steps in to handle the maintenance and repair of the train, diverting attention to the mechanical, technical, and physical functions of the train itself. Sometimes the pastor erroneously serves as the engineer instead of the conductor. This is when the pastor spends most of his or her time managing the systems and policies of the church. Then there is the baggage-handler pastor, who is trying to do the majority of the ministry in the church instead of identifying and equipping others to serve in ministry. The metaphor breaks down eventually, as all metaphors do, but it is helpful to see all the ways that pastors can get off track. And when we do, it is very easy for congregations to become derailed.

We might refer to the pastor/conductor who has gotten off track as having a crisis of identity. An identity crisis is when a person or perhaps an organization is unclear about what its purpose is and where it is going. The confusion over identity may be a result of wanting to do or be something different, perhaps out of necessity or even misinformation. Regardless of how the crisis came into being, it's important to note that neither a person nor an organization can be what it is created to be until it understands and embraces its true nature. A squirrel can't live as a squirrel if it believes that it is supposed to function like a cat. In the same manner, pastors cannot function as pastors if they believe they are supposed to function as managers. It has been my experience that, by and large, the church is in crisis because of the lack of understanding surrounding the identity of the office of pastor.

Defining the Role of Pastor: Five Essential Functions

Every church and pastor needs to consider—or reconsider—the role of pastor, focusing on the pastor's essential functions. If the pastor is to care for Jesus's sheep, then there are five functions that are, in my view, essential. The pastor must (1) cast a vision, (2) develop staff and leaders around the vision, (3) lead the people, (4) teach and preach, and (5) discern God's will. We will explore these functions further in the following pages, but for now let's briefly unpack each one.

Cast a Vision

For a congregation to effectively make disciples for Jesus Christ, it must know where it is going. They must ask themselves the following questions: Who are the people that we will reach? What must we do in order to reach them? What difference will we make for them, for one another, and for the world on behalf of Christ? How has God uniquely gifted and called us to these specific tasks? These and other questions like them are critical, for they help a congregation discern God's vision for them. The pastor must understand that vision. He must be clear as to what the congregation needs to do in order to effectively practice the Christian ministry. And he or she must communicate that vision, constantly weaving it into the conversation and general mentality of the church. When the pastor consistently communicates a vision of what God is trying to accomplish through a congregation, and how the people will get there, members are given a reason to move forward, to work together, and to move in the same direction toward the same goal. If there is no clear vision, the church never knows if it is on track or not.

Develop Staff and Leaders around the Vision

Casting a vision, then, is critical. But what good is vision if no one is able to move toward it? The pastor must equip staff and/or leaders to effectively carry out the vision. It is imperative that the pastor provide tools and resources to help his or her team accurately carry out ministry assignments. That means establishing goals, teaching leadership principles, and building strong and effective teams. Perhaps the most important aspect of developing staff and leaders is for the pastor to help them understand a particular set of leadership values and ethos. When staff and leaders are leading, not only do they represent the church, but also they represent the characteristics and attitudes of the pastor. Without a proper understanding of who the pastor is and what the pastor represents, the leadership team could lead in a way that is contrary to the pastor's principles.

Lead the People

It is important to note that the gift of leadership must be present in order for a person to truly serve as pastor. The pastor must (and must might not be a strong enough word) possess the ability to persuade people to follow where he or she leads. Leadership requires that people believe you know where you are going. How can anyone follow you if you are still trying to find your way? There are also other important traits that are critical for pastoral leadership, including integrity, transparency, and compassion. These things are important because people typically don't follow someone they don't trust or someone they don't believe cares about them. If you are to be a leader, you must be willing to care for people.

Teach and Preach

For the pastor, preaching and teaching are the primary tools used to feed God's sheep, explain the vision, and lead the people. Preaching is the pastor's opportunity to share God's vision for the congregation; it is also the time to provide pastoral care, and to nourish the people with the word of God. The Bible is clear that it is the preaching and teaching ministry that will draw people to Jesus, help them to grow in faith, and move them to action. Teaching and preaching provide the pastor occasions to make and strengthen disciples for Jesus Christ.

Discern God's Will

The last essential of pastoral life is perhaps the greatest because without it, none of the others would be possible. God speaks to us in different ways, and it is of the utmost importance that pastors develop a regular practice of listening to and discerning God's will for the congregation. Without discernment, congregations simply do what they like or what they have always done. That's not who we as people of God are to be. That is true for us as individuals, and it is especially true for us as the church. Knowing how to listen to God and being able to identify God's voice and instructions as they relate to the church is the only way a church can truly be the body of Christ. Whether it is quiet time, searching scripture, fasting, prayer, or journaling, it is vital that pastors be willing and able to listen to and clearly hear the direction God has for the congregation.

When you look at the state of the church in America, especially mainline denominations, it's clear that something is wrong. Church membership and worship attendance have been on the decline for decades. If nothing is done, the church as we know it will cease to exist. Some would even say that soon we will be replaced by rocks that will praise and serve God in a more efficient and effective manner (Luke 19:40). The problem is not the church itself. After all, Jesus established the church and declared that the gates of hell would not overcome it (Matthew 16:18). The issue at hand is that the church has lost its way to a certain degree. Sure, we still strive to make disciples for Jesus Christ, reach out to those in need, and worship God from week to week. However, the structure for accomplishing this is not as effective as it could be, and one critically weak portion of the structure is the identity of the pastor. We have to reclaim our true role of casting vision, developing leaders, teaching and preaching, leadership, and discerning God's will. We have lost sight of these essentials in the role of pastor; we have allowed our focus to wander, slipping off track.

If the pastor's role is unclear or if the pastor is on the wrong track, then the entire congregation will be on the wrong track. God established the office of pastor so that local congregations would have proper guidance. Without it congregations can become completely derailed.

Ways We Slip Off Track

In my nearly twenty years of ministry, many good Christians have shared with me their expectations of a pastor. Their expectations are, in many cases, based on denominational traditions, congregational needs, American culture, and laity assumptions. It seems that pastors can get off track because they are unprepared, have misguided expectations, take on too many responsibilities, or believe the work of ministry is all theirs to do.

1. New pastors do not fully understand the role, don't know what to expect, or are unprepared.

2. Pastors in new or first-time appointments take the path of least resistance, stepping into the former pastors' shoes and attempting to fulfill the expectations of the congregations, which are based on the former pastors' performances.

3. Pastors buy into a "snowballed" job description, a collection of roles and functions that have been added to by different groups of people, in different settings, over many years. This has resulted in a muddied hodgepodge of roles and expectations, and an impossible and ineffective understanding of the role of pastor.

4. Pastors believe that they alone are truly responsible for the work of ministry. They forget that life in Christ is rooted in community, and that ministry is the work of the people, clergy, leaders, and laity, all together.

A large number of pastors enter the pastorate with some of those same misplaced expectations guiding their ministries. In numerous instances new pastors enter the ministry not knowing what to expect; thus their roles are defined by the parishioners they serve. They are not truly prepared to handle the constant demands of ministry. Pastors are not ready simply because no one has ever told them exactly what a pastor is supposed to do. They simply jump in and begin doing what they see needs to be done rather than what should be done.

In many cases a congregation's understanding of what a pastor should do is based on what the previous pastor did or did not do. This puts the current pastor in a quandary. He or she could set a new course, which could cause dissention, or continue doing what all the former pastors did, which makes everyone happy but goes against what the pastor believes ought to be done. Consider that there are essentials when it comes to pastoring; however, every pastor has different gifts and styles. So when a congregation looks to its new pastor to do what the former pastor did, it may be asking him or her to perform in an area in which he or she is not gifted in. When that happens the present pastor doesn't thrive, and the congregation misses out on the true gifts he or she possesses.

For many, the understanding of ministry is based on historical images. Those images have been built upon by each generation. The problem is that it becomes like a lot of worship celebrations I've experienced. In an effort to stay relevant and reach new generations, congregations will sometimes add contemporary components to worship while holding on to what they are already doing. What you end up with is a longer worship celebration that combines the traditional with the contemporary. Furthermore, the worship experience fails to be relevant to anyone because in many instances people don't want a combination; they want more of what they like. Likewise, the Christian church has taken historical images of pastoral ministry and combined them with modern and cultural expectations. All this does is create a job description that is long and unrealistic. The United Methodist theologian Donald Messer puts it this way: "In recent decades more secular models have accented creative dimensions of ministry—counselor, administrator, pastoral director, professional, midwife, player coach, and enabler to name but a few." In essence the pastor has become the church's hired hand to fix all problems and handle all the business of the church.

When you have a bunch of different responsibilities, inevitably some might not get done at all. Because the job duties of the pastor have been added to over the years based on what previous pastors did, the job becomes too much. It's like juggling. Everyone has a limit of how many balls they can juggle. When you pass that limit you begin to drop balls. When you have a too-lengthy pastoral job description, some things don't get done well or at all.