LET THE CHURCH BE THE CHURCH PART II: THE PASTOR
EPHESIANS 4: 1—16
MAY 4, 2003
INTRODUCTION: WHAT GOD CAN’T DO
A Sunday School teacher was questioning her pupils after a lesson on God’s omnipotence. "Now children," she asked, "is there anything God can’t do?"
The Pastors son thrust his hand into the air. The teacher, feeling certain that he had missed the point of the lesson, asked half-heartedly, "Well, just what IS it that God can’t do?"
Replied the boy: "I heard dad say yesterday that even God can’t make EVERYBODY, at this church happy!"
In a survey: The public’s image of the clergy has hit an all-time low, with just a bare majority now rating them "very high" (15 percent) or "high" (39 percent) in honesty and ethical standards. One person in three (33 percent) considers clergy ethics to be just average, while 7 percent say they are "low," and 2 percent consider them "very low."
In spite of this, members of the clergy are charted second only to pharmacists for honesty and ethics. Physicians, college teachers, dentists, and engineers are next in rank, while journalists, bankers, lawyers, members of Congress, and car salesmen are rated near the bottom.
Emerging Trends, Signs of the Times, August, 1993, p. 6.
FROM AN ANNONYMOUS SOURCE: The pastor teaches, though he must solicit his own classes. He heals, though without pills or knife. He is sometimes a lawyer, often a social worker, something of an editor, a bit of a philosopher and entertainer, a salesman, a decorative piece for public functions, and he is supposed to be a scholar. He visits the sick, marries people, buries the dead, labors to console those who sorrow and to admonish those who sin, and tries to stay sweet when chided for not doing his duty. He plans programs, appoints committees when he can get them, spends considerable time in keeping people out of each other’s hair. Between times he prepares a sermon and preaches it on Sunday to those who don’t happen to have any other engagement. Then on Monday he smiles when some jovial chap roars, "What a job--one day a week!"
TRANSITION THOUGHT: Our text for today speaks of the true power of the church. The church has a high calling and it is so great that it is humanly impossible, but with the Grace given by Christ Himself, we can be the Church HE has called us to be, a church that the very Gates of Hades shall not over come and a church that goes making disciples baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe everything that HE has command. Let the church be the church, Let the people rejoice, For we’ve settled the question, We’ve made our choice, Let the anthems ring out, Songs of victory swell, For the church triumphant, Is alive and well!
BUT, how does our text say we accomplish this? This week we want to focus in on the function of the Pastor within the church, which this text clearly addresses.
THESIS SENTENCE: FOR THE CHURCH TO BE THE CHURCH, THE PASTOR MUST BE THE PASTOR
SO JUST WHO IS THE PASTOR SUPOSSED TO BE?
I. THE PASTOR IS ONE OF THE BODY
A. UNITY IS THE CALL
1. Our text begins with a powerful discussion on Unity in the body of Christ. The Apostle Paul continues to be our teacher in the faith as he shares what a real church looks and acts like.
2. If you had to pick one word out of this text that was central to its understanding, it would have to be Unity.
3. Guess what?? Unity includes the pastor. He or she is to be included as a part of the body and must be a part of the unity that makes up the body of Christ. 4. Therefore the discussion can never be an US, THEM or a WE, THEY argument.
5. Verses 1-6 make all of this very clear as to what the body of Christ must look like and the body of Christ includes Pastors.
ILLUSTRATION: (DON’T USE ALL) Consider what pastors think about work, home, and lifestyles as reported in a recent survey conducted by Leadership magazine:
- 94 percent feel pressured to have an ideal family;
- The top four problems in clergy marriages are: 81 percent, insufficient time; 71 percent, use of money; 70 percent, income level; 64 percent, communication difficulties, 63 percent, congregational expectations; and 57 percent, differences over leisure;
- 24 percent have received or are receiving marital counseling;
[- 33 percent of pastors are dissatisfied with the level of sexual intimacy in their marriages; and pastors report 16 percent of their spouses are dissatisfied, which 69 percent blame on their busy schedule, 54 percent on their spouse’s schedule, and 35 percent on frequent night church meetings.]
- 22 percent seek supplemental income to make ends meet;
- 28 percent feel current compensation is inadequate;
- 69 percent of the spouses work outside the home to make ends meet;
- 67 percent of the pastors feel positive about their spouses working outside their home;
- 9 percent of clergy have had extramarital affairs;
[- 19 percent have had inappropriate sexual contact with another person other than their spouse;]
[- 55 percent of clergy have no one with whom they can discuss their sexual temptation.]
H.B. London, Jr. and Neil B. Wiseman, Pastors at Risk, Victor Books, 1993, pp. 34-35.
B. GRACE IS THE KEY
1. Verse 7 is also a great clarifier here! Hear it again: “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.”
2. Did you hear that? The Apostle Paul counts himself in with all of us and all of us include everybody who claims the name of Jesus.
3. How many is all anyway??
4. The real point here is that Grace is given to all and it begins with us! 5. There is a threefold process here: 1 to all, 2 grace has been given, 3 as Christ apportioned it.
6. The key again here is that of Grace and Jesus is in charge of giving it to us all, including the pastor.
7. Therefore, unity and grace go hand in hand.
SO, THE PASTOR IS ONE OF THE BODY OF CHRIST
II. THE PASTOR IS ONE OF THE CALLED
A. WE ARE ALL CALLED
1. What is so interesting about this text is the use of the term “called.”
2. Who is called?? Everyone that has called upon the name of Jesus to be Forgiver and Guide is now “called” to a life commensorate of the one who has called us. 3. Maybe we don’t like to think of ourselves as a group being called because it might lessen that of a minister/Pastor, or maybe it might be that we don’t want to feel responsible to truly be the church we are called to be, but we all are called and if to nothing else, “to one body, and one Spirit—just as you were called – to one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (vv. 4-6)!”
B. PASTORS ARE CALLED
1. In verse 7, we are reminded again that Grace is given to all as Christ apportioned it. So what does this mean??
2. In verse 11 the Apostle Paul clarifies what this apportioning includes. 3. “He gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.”
4. Again, this is the language of the called. HE, JESUS CHRIST, has called some for specific works and this includes Pastors/ Teachers.
5. Hear how the Apostle clarifies this in Romans 10: 14-15: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”
6. God gives grace to all and a part of the giving of grace and apportioning it is that He gives some to be pastors, HE CALLS THEM TO BE SUCH!
ILLUSTRATION: ?????H.B. London speaks of the soul –weariness of pastoring. This soul-weariness shines through a few lines of sarcasm one minister wrote in his journal: "If I wanted to drive a manager up the wall, I would make him responsible for the success of an organization and give him no authority. I would provide him with unclear goals, not commonly agreed upon by the organization. I would ask him to provide a service of an ill-defined nature, apply a body of knowledge having few absolutes, and staff his organization with only volunteers. I would expect him to work ten to twelve hours per day and have his work evaluated by a committee of 300 to 500 amateurs. I would call him a minister and make him accountable to God."
H.B. London, Jr. and Neil B. Wiseman, Pastors at Risk, Victor Books, 1993, pp. 54.
SO THE PASTOR IS ONE OF THE CALLED, ACCOUNTABLE TO GOD!!
FINALLY, WHAT DOES IT LOOK LIKE TO BE A PASTOR?
III. THE PASTOR IS ONE OF THE EQUIPERS
A. EQUIPERS PREPARE GOD’S PEOPLE FOR WORKS OF SERVICE
1. Equippers prepare God’s people.
2. But what does it mean to prepare?
3. Acts 20: 28 helps define the role of the POIMENAS -- Pastor/Shepherd: “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.”
4. I Peter 5: 1-4 also helps, “To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers-- not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”
5. One last admonition that may address the issue of preparing is that found in John 21: 16. Here Jesus is in the process of restoring Peter. “Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you truly love me?’ He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’”
6. In the same context Jesus said, “Feed my Sheep/Lambs.”
7. ANOTHER EXAMPLE IS FOUND IN ACTS CHAPTER 6:1-7, without the use of the term POIMENAS, Hear this text. The focal point here is that “Pastors” should study the word and pray.
8. One who prepares is one who “Oversees, serves, exemplifies, feeds God’s flock, study the word, and pray.”
9. This is the biblical model but this is not the complete picture of which classes could be taught and months could be spent.
ILLUSTRATION: I go out to preach with two propositions in mind. First, every person ought to give his life to Christ. Second, whether or not anyone else gives him his life I will give him mine.
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758).
B. EQUIPERS ARE THE BODY BUILDERS
1. The bottom line is Equippers prepare the body to do the work that the body needs to do to build up the body.
2. The Pastor is a part of the body that works with the body so that the body can work in the way that God desires the body to work.
3. Therefore the Pastor and the body work together to build up the body. 4. The goal is that the body will reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
5. The Goal is that we become all Christ has intended us to be as the Church!! Mature and like HIM!! We are to be like JESUS!!
ILLUSTRATION: ??????If you knew you could not fail, what would you attempt to do for the glory of God and the growth of his kingdom?
Why should the congregation follow me?
1. Congregational endorsement (they asked me to lead).
2. Biblical--placed by God in a position of leadership (Heb 13, Acts 20:28)
3. Force of example on others--I follow Christ, you follow me. Dependent on closeness of relationship.
4. Expertise--knowledge and training.
Source Unknown.
SO THE PASTOR IS ONE OF THE EQUIPERS OF THE CHURCH
CONCLUSION: Not long ago a well-meaning group of laymen came from a neighboring church to see a pastor. They wanted him to advise them on some convenient and painless method of getting rid of their pastor. He said, “I’m afraid, however, that I wasn’t much help to them. At the time I had not had the occasion to give the matter serious thought. But since then I have pondered the matter a great deal, and the next time anyone comes for advice on how to get rid of a pastor, here’s what I’ll tell him:
1. Look the pastor straight in the eye while he’s preaching and say "Amen" once in a while and he’ll preach himself to death.
2. Pat him on the back and brag on his good points and he’ll probably work himself to death.
3. Rededicate your life to Christ and ask the preacher for some job to do, preferably some lost person you could win to Christ, and he’ll die of heart failure.
4. Get the church to unite in prayer for the preacher and he’ll soon become so effective that some larger church will take him off your hands.
Quoted in You and Your Pastor, Radio Bible Class, J. Reed, The Pastor as a Theologian, in Walvoord: A Tribute, Donald Campbell, ed., Moody, 1982, p. 273.
Is the church ready to be the church? REMEMBER the song that I mentioned we once sang at Mt. Moriah that speaks to this issue. It is called the Church Triumphant and was written by Bill Gather. It goes like this: Let the church be the church, Let the people rejoice, For we’ve settled the question, We’ve made our choice, Let the anthems ring out, Songs of victory swell, For the church triumphant, Is alive and well!
IF THE CHURCH IS TO BE THE CHURCH, THEN THE CHURCH MUST ALLOW THE PASTOR TO BE THE PASTOR AND THE CHURCH MUST BE THE CHURCH! AMEN!
