Are Pastors Good for Nothing?

Okay, so this is bugging me. I'll admit it. I attended my Staff Pastor-Parish Committee (sort of like a Board of Deacons in other churches) meeting tonight. We were talking about the pastor (in good ways, of course) and I was helping lead the discussion. I have some very intelligent minds to work with on this committee and boy am I glad I do. Otherwise, it would be a disaster waiting to happen or one that had already happened. So, we were talking about things like his priorities, his ministry, his leadership, and we did throw in a reminder about his vacation, too. Well, I happen to be the pastor sitting in the meeting, so I was just sitting there thinking, what are pastors good for? Are they good for nothing?

A guy by the name of Aussie John helped me out on this. He described a pastor as: "A sheep among sheep gifted to compliment the other sheep and their giftedness", and he described pastoring as "to minister as a brother in ministry, instead of as the Head Honcho! ...to minister and be ministered to as brethren in the same family!" Not too bad, Aussie John. I like that.

Now, here's where my brain really kicked in. If a pastor is simply one sheep among other sheep, one who is gifted as others are gifted, one who teaches while others also teach, then, what is a pastor good for? Why do we need pastors? Are pastors good for nothing?

Well, since I'm a pastor I hold to the view that pastors must be good for something. But just because pastors are needed and important does not mean that we automatically must accept that pastors should be the organizing, planning, head-honcho types with which we're sometimes presented.

I think that I think that pastors should mostly be examples to other believers. They should be examples in their living, their caring, their teaching, their leading, ad infinitum.

Nobody is perfect - not even pastors - but all of us tend to look more highly on ourselves, our opinions, our gifts, our talents, our ideas, our plans, and everything else, than we should. If we get two options - one ours and one coming from another person - we go ahead and choose our own idea. When presented with two ways of dealing with a problem, we go ahead and choose the way that seems right to us. When contemplating how to help someone in need, we go ahead and want to help in the way that looks best to us. So, in the end, we go ahead and choose our own way.

I'm going to say it, not because I'm a pastor, but because I know it's true. If pastors are truly worth anything, they will be the first to yield to the interests of others. The pastors who complain because they are not getting their way are probably not the people that we should follow. And those who demand that we follow them because of their position are also demonstrating that they are not the ones who should be followed.

Instead, the pastor who consistently lives a life loving God and loving others and maturing in Christ Jesus are the ones that should be followed.

That makes a pastor good for something rather than just good for nothing. I choose the good for something side.