The Pastor's Job

THE PASTOR’S JOB

(Jeremiah 3:15)

He was 17 when he gave his life to Christ.

He attended an outreach at Grace Sanctuary on a Friday night, and he got Born Again at the program.

He just finished Secondary School and was waiting for admission into a University.

Pastor Andrew took a special interest in him. He gave him his phone number. “You can call me anytime, Victor”, he told him.

“I’m looking to gain admission, Pastor. I hope I can get this year…”

Pastor prayed for him. He gained admission that year as he hoped.

He graduated after 4 years. “I hope to serve in Abuja, Pastor!”

Pastor prayed for him. He was posted to Abuja to serve.

He wanted to go for a Master’s Degree.

Pastor prayed for him. He gained admission for his Master’s Degree.

Then he bought a car. He took it to Pastor to dedicate to God.

Then Pastor prayed for him concerning his marriage.

He got married and had a baby. He took the baby to Pastor to dedicate to God.

Then the second baby.

Then the third…

At 47, Victor built his house and of course, called Pastor to dedicate it to God.

So, for 30 years, Victor had always consulted Pastor Andrew for prayers. The question now is, IS VICTOR GROWING? Absolutely not! He has not been taught how to take charge of his own affairs. He is taught to be dependent on Pastor Andrew!

After 30 years of being a Christian, he still needed Pastor Andrew to help dedicate his house- he couldn’t do it himself. Pastor does everything!

This scenario plays out in a lot of Churches. Pastors run a template that stunts the growth of their members. And that is contrary to the teachings of Scripture.

There is only one job the Pastor has. “And I will give you Pastors according to my heart, which shall feed you with KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING” Jeremiah 3:15.

That is the job of the Pastor; feeding the flock with knowledge and understanding!

We have too many Christians who have been Born Again for decades but are still babes. The irony is, it seems our Pastors want them to remain as babes!

A Pastor once asked me why I had never come to him for prayers after attending his church for 6 months. I simply told him I know how to pray for myself, I don’t outsource it!

When my daughter were born, I dedicated her to God myself. My Pastor didn’t like that! He insisted I should still bring them to Church for “Pastoral Dedication”, I told him it was unnecessary. The girl has been dedicated by her father; that is good enough!

The sad part was, a lot of the Church members told me, “You don’t want to take your daughter to Church for dedication? When something happens to her, you have yourself to blame!” A Christian is taking responsibility for his family, operating with KNOWLEDGE and Understanding but some people are upset about it! They are apparently NOT growing, just like Victor.

When you feed people with KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING, they will be less dependent on you. But it seems Pastors are uncomfortable with their members who grow, who have KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING. They are less susceptible to manipulation and control.

Victor did not grow much in 30 years. If he did, he would have become less dependent on Pastor Edward.

Imagine this scenario: A 5 year old boy says, “Daddy, I want ice cream!” His dad buys him a cone. 5 years later, same boy says, “Daddy, I want ice cream!” His dad would probably buy him another cone. But imagine the boy saying “Daddy, I want ice cream!” 10 years later when he’s 20! His dad would know he is NOT growing. We have a lot of such 20, 30, 40 year olds in our Churches, asking Daddy (Pastor) for ice cream on a daily; and Pastor obliges them.

Scripture tells us, “He (Jesus) is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone FULLY MATURE in Christ” (Colossians 1:28).

The job of the Pastor is to make people MATURE!

Scripture also tells us, “You have had ENOUGH TIME that by now you should be teachers. But you need someone to teach you again the first lessons of God’s teaching” (Hebrews 5:12). God actually has a time frame for spiritual growth! There comes a time when He expects you to grow from drinking milk to eating meat. Pastors need to do more in feeding the flock with KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING.

A friend once asked me, “Harry, be careful where you go cut your hair!” I asked why.

“My Pastor told us in Church last Sunday how occultic people go to pack people’s hair at barbers’ shops and use for rituals!”

His Pastor was definitely feeding them with FEAR, not KNOWEDGE and UNDERSTANDING as Scripture says to. When you have Scriptural KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING, you will not succumb to any teaching about fear. You KNOW you live by FAITH, you KNOW you have absolutely nothing to do with FEAR.

When Pastor’s don’t feed the flock with KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING, they will feed them with something else. There can’t be a vacuum.

As you prepare your message to preach to your congregation, ask yourself: will this message give the flock more KNOWLEDGE and a better UNDERSTANDING of the ways of God?

Will this message grow their FAITH in God or increase their FEAR of the devil?

Your answers to these will tell you if you are feeding your flock with KNOWLEDGE and UNDERSTANDING or with something else, if you are doing your job as a Pastor effectively.

Shalom,

Haruna Daniels