ONE MINISTRY OR MANY

One of the real problems that is created when a church appoints a “paid pastor” is that it usually stops other ministries from emerging.

In most cases, the guy that is called to be “the pastor” is called to do “the ministry”. That means others in the congregation that are anointed for ministry do not get a look in because they haven’t been called to be “the pastor” as though there is something superior or otherwise gifted about this ministry.

In Ephesians 4, which is the only passage in scripture that uses the term “pastor” we read that its role is to prepare God’s people for works of service (the word diakonos) but not as in “deacon”, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

Nowhere does it say that the pastor’s role is to lead the church. That is the role of unpaid local Elders.

Anyone with a pastoral ministry should, along with the apostle, prophet, evangelist and teacher, be involved in preparing or training others to serve the body of Christ so that the body is built up.

Everyone with a ministry of this nature should be training others, but how often does that happen. In most cases the preaching/teaching ministry is the exclusive right of “the pastor”. Rarely do we see others who are not appointed as “the pastor” doing any preaching or teaching. I read of one church in the USA where “the pastor” had not let anyone into his pulpit for 33 years. Even when on holiday he came back on the weekend to preach. Apparently he thought it unsafe to trust his flock to someone else. That doesn’t say much for his leadership or preaching if he thinks they are going to somehow fall away from the faith the moment his back is turned.

This is wrong. How can you build up the body of Christ as it says should happen in Ephesians, if all the ministries are not working? Where does it say that one man is to do all the preaching/teaching?

If you have one of these ministries in the body of Christ, unless you are reproducing yourself in others you are not fulfilling what you are called to do. All you are doing is using the body of Christ as a platform for your ministry, which again has no basis in scripture..

It is noticeable that Paul with an apostolic anointing took others along with him so that they could be exposed to the apostolic ministry. At various times he sent them out on their own with others to do what he was doing.

Like the body analogy of the church, a body cannot function unless every part is working. It is known as the priesthood of all believers. If your church is not functioning that way then it is a sick body that cannot function to its full potential. If one man has to do “the ministry” it is like a natural body where the heart is taking all the pressure and at sometime it will have what is known as a spiritual heart attack.

This is very evident by the fact that there are 10,000 ex ministers in Australia who have left the ministry because of mainly work overload. We ignore the obvious at our peril.