This is the first article in a series based on the book, Detours: 10 Roadblocks to the Great Commission, by Paul Seger. Real pastors were asked, “Why would a church NOT want to send missionaries from their congregation?” “Detours” explores the roadblocks these pastors have experienced and seeks to provide solutions for the church to fulfil this vital role in the Great Commission. Join us on social media in December for a chance to WIN your own copy of “Detours.”
Serving as a pastor is an incredibly challenging task. Everyone in the church has a different idea about what the pastor should be doing and what his job description should look like. Church members may vote with their feet if the pastor is not meeting their expectations. Some typical congregational expectations of the pastor are to preach good sermons, visit those in the hospital, counsel, and perform weddings and funerals. These expectations leave little time for pastors to focus on training future leaders. Thus, the first reason churches and pastors are not identifying, training and sending out tomorrow’s missionaries is that congregants may have expectations that don’t allow pastors to focus their time on equipping leaders.
In view of this, it is critical for a pastor to be clear about his role – making scripture his guide – and be chiefly concerned about pleasing Jesus, the head of the church.
A BIBLICAL JOB DESCRIPTION
According to Scripture, here is the job description of a pastor:
- TRAIN: And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-12.) And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2.)
- CARE: Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight (1 Peter 5:2-3.) For they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account (Hebrews 13:17.)
- MODEL: Therefore an overseer must be above reproach (1 Timothy 3:2.) Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock (1 Peter 5:3.)
- PRAY: Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord (James 5:14.) But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word (Acts 6:4.)
- TEACH: Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress (1 Timothy 4:15.) Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honour, especially those who labour in preaching and teaching (1 Timothy 5:17.)
- GUARD: Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears (Acts 20:26-31).
While individual churches may wish to add more to a pastor’s job description, this is what the head of the church (Jesus) says about the topic. Pastors have good reason to be secure and satisfied with the job description that God has defined according to His good purposes, and to lead the church in it.
LEADERS TRAIN LEADERS
The first item in this job description is the role of training others to do ministry, and this is where our focus will be for this article. We have traditionally outsourced this to colleges and seminaries, expecting that institutions will handle training for us. We see them as specialists and an incredible resource to the church. While the pastor can delegate some training, he cannot pass off the responsibility of developing leaders. Embracing this idea would radically change the expectations of both the pastor and the congregation. Leaders not only benefit the church to which they belong, they also become the missionaries we send out.
LEADERS BECOME MISSIONARIES
There has been a shift in age demographics in missions. In the past, missionaries have graduated from Bible college and joined the mission agency the same month. Now the average age of people joining our organization is the mid-30s. This shift is a great opportunity to harmonize with the biblical model used for the first missionary journey. In Acts 13 where the church at Antioch launched missionaries, the recruiting pool was the leadership of the church and resulted in Paul and Barnabas being sent out.
Churches are full of people who could become missionaries. Perhaps we have failed to provide both the vision and the pathway from the pew to the mission field. It is part of the pastor’s role to identify and challenge potential missionaries.
It is also fascinating to see that the Holy Spirit didn’t communicate with the potential missionaries. Rather, He seemed to impress upon the other leaders and perhaps the congregation that Paul and Barnabas should be missionaries. What would happen if the church became sensitive to what God is doing in the lives of others and helped them determine God’s direction for their lives? I’ve often said that mission agencies want to get out of the recruiting business. That is the role of the church. Plus, we have progressed to a time and technology where it’s never been easier to bring Bible college into the local church. Through online access, these institutions have made academic teaching readily available so that pastors can focus on spiritual development and ministry skills.
MENTORS CHOOSE PROTÉGÉS
One of the challenges of this model of pastoring is that the pastor can be accused of having favourites if he focuses on just a few church members. The expectation is that the pastor is there for everyone, and each member deserves equal attention. While it’s true that he and the church leadership team are there to “equip the saints for ministry,” it doesn’t mean that all the saints will be suited for the same type of ministry, nor that all the saints will require (or even desire) equal time spent. This principle is true of many of the mentoring relationships we read about in the Bible, but we’ll use Jesus as our primary example. After a night of prayer, He chose the 12 disciples and did not give equal time to everyone.
On the surface, this may sound harsh when there are others who want to learn, but it would have been impossible to focus on a great number of people effectively. The same is true of a pastor. However, as he and the church leadership team faithfully equip the saints, more leaders and teachers will be produced who are then able to choose more protégés and continue the process. This is how leaders reproduce themselves and it is critical to Kingdom work.
THE THRESHOLD OF FAITHFULNESS
This leads us to the question of how protégés should be chosen. The biblical model for this is faithfulness. It is the key indicator of those who can be entrusted with the responsibilities of serving, teaching and ministering to others. The pastor has a stewardship to invest in faithful men: “and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).
Faithfulness has been a primary character trait of many people of God: Moses (Hebrews 3:5,) Abraham (Galatians 3:9,) Paul (1 Timothy 1:12,) Silvanus (1 Peter 5:12,) Tychicus (Ephesians 6:21,) Epaphras (Colossians 1:7,) and others. Logically, you don’t want to train unfaithful people for ministry. It would be better to train one who is faithful than 100 who are unfaithful. Since faithfulness is so important, how do you know whether a person is faithful? Fortunately, Jesus gave us a test for that.
One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? (Luke 16:10-12.)
THREE WAYS TO IDENTIFY FAITHFULNESS
According to this passage, there are three ways you can identify faithful people:
- Are they faithful in little things? No one becomes the CEO of a Fortune 500 company right out of college. The corporate ladder is designed to eliminate those who are not faithful. In Matthew 25:23 Jesus was talking about people entrusted with talents. The basic principle is: Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Faithfulness is an objective, observable characteristic of an individual who consistently fulfils the small assignments.
- Are they faithful in handling finances? This, too, is objective and easy to measure. How do they handle debt? Do they give to the church? Are they generous? Do they waste money? Are they in financial bondage? Do they pay their bills on time? Do they pay their taxes?
- Are they faithful with other people’s property? One of the big challenges employers have is finding people who will treat the company’s property like their own. I remember hearing of the owner of a McDonald’s restaurant who would set up a test for those he was going to hire. Minutes before the applicant arrived for the interview, the owner would scatter trash in the parking lot. He would then watch to see if he or she would pick up the papers. He hired those who did.
If an individual does not demonstrate faithfulness in these three areas, they aren’t ready to be trained for leadership. I can speak from personal experience that it doesn’t work. I regret violating this principle and then watching men and ministries shipwreck. If a person is not faithful, he or she is still back at the basic discipleship stage of his spiritual growth.
AVOID THE DETOUR OF CONGREGATIONAL EXPECTATIONS
Pastors have an incredibly difficult task with multiple demands on their time, so adding leadership training to their job can seem overwhelming. Yet this is necessary so the church can launch the next generation of international workers. Leaders train leaders, and this is the most direct and effective path to raising up missionaries within your church.
As a missions agency, we’re dedicated to supporting the local church as they train leaders that will reproduce more believers, disciple, train and plant churches all over the world. It would be our joy to come alongside you and your church leadership as you build this ministry.
Contact us to learn more or book our free workshop, “Mentoring for Ministry.” This workshop is designed for church leaders or leaders-in-training, and teaches advanced discipleship methods for the local church. We also explore the biblical basis for leadership and discuss leadership styles and how to use them effectively.
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