The Philosophy of Pastoral Work - Scholarship Essay Example

Table of Content Contents Table of Content 1 Introduction 1 Living in the Yoke: The Pastor’s Personal Relationship with Jesus 2 Focusing on the Family: Second Only to God 4 Fishing for Men: Pastoral Evangelism 6 Preaching the Word: Pastoral Preaching 8 Organizing the Organization: Church Structure and Administration 9 Conclusion 11 Bibliography 11 Introduction My conviction is that pastoral ministry is the overseeing and guarding of souls as the scripture outlines. Thus, the imagery is in the word ‘pastor’ or ‘overseer’ and it defines the entire perspective of the work of pastors. God calls the overseer to watch over the souls of the congregation and lead them as they make a pilgrimage to God. The role of pastors includes leading the congregation, preaching, winning souls for God and evangelism1. Additionally, the anchor of the pastoral ministry is in the great commandment of ’Love’. The role of pastor originates in having a relationship with Christ and taking the yoke as Christ did. Therefore, this basis directs the thesis that the church as an organization evolution today is deviating from the core purpose and failing as the expectation of Christ would be2. The organization structures, the leadership and pastors’ role in the church, in addition to the family involvements, and challenges in the ministry are causes to the deviation evident today. Living in the Yoke: The Pastor’s Personal Relationship with Jesus The ultimate calling of the pastor originates from their intimacy with Jesus Christ, the spirit and the Father. To the pastor, their source of joy, faithfulness and fruitfulness draws from their obedience in Lord Jesus Christ. The exemplary leadership of Jesus to the church remains he mentor to the establishments of pastors’ foundations. Christ in his leadership example, teachings and living, he commanded respect from his foundation of taking the yoke and doing the will of the father3. Therefore, this realistic example of leadership is what defines the expectation of the role of pastor in leading the congregation. The ministry philosophy edges from the commandment of love, in which Christ showed his example by taking the yoke of the sinners because he loved them. When the pastor accepts the responsibility to the call, to lead people, they acknowledge the expectation to take the yoke of the people, and live in ramification of the love Christ4. Therefore, a pastor’s life is more that what we see on every Sunday morning at the cathedral gatherings. For a pastor, the ability to see beyond the personal needs and expectations of oneself and into the heart of others develops a Christ-like image within the pastor. Therefore, to achieve a successful relationship with Christ, and live an exemplary life imitating the imagery of Christ, love must abide within the heart of a pastor. It is a choice that pastors must make, to love and help others as they lead them. When a person accepts the calling to pastor, he gives the Lord permission to reign in him, to control all aspects of his life, to commit to Christ and allow God to renovate his verve into the reflection of Christ. Therefore, unless the pastor achieves this position, where Christ is the ultimate controller of all aspects of his life, then the mission they lead is useless. The pastor ought to let go, and then allow God transform his life into a life that the word speaks from just through actions. Thus, becoming a pastor, is taking the yoke of Christ, and getting into a love and intimate relationship with God. However, being a shepherd of the flock as ordained by God, the intimate relationship of some pastors deviates from the truth and expectation of Christ to lead in his image. The pastors fall into the trap of some unhealthy competitions, in which they start comparing, copying and condemning others, among themselves and some in the congregation. Christ showed that his yoke was easy; however, the pastors yoke themselves with things that Jesus never placed on them5. The call of Christ is for the pastor to lead in the walk with the Lord, and not at the instinct of their thoughts and personal interests. Therefore, when a pastor takes on the ministry with the interest of competition, wishing to grow the crowd and gain from the church, this detaches them from the intimacy they have with Christ. They fail in taking the yoke of Christ as they burden themselves with yokes that lead them to pitfalls. Therefore, as the foundation of the ministry of Christ is love, then pastors must cultivate love6. With love, they will establish the intimacy in correlation with Christ, and have the capacity to take the yoke as Christ expects of his vessels. Focusing on the Family: Second Only to God Today, the tension, confusion and frustration that befall the life of pastors often lead to spiritual defeat. These results from the finding that most people called in the ministry fail to balance their ministry life with the family responsibilities. The intent of God in establishing the family was clear that it was his factory for continuing his work of creation and progression. Furthermore, in the New Testament, he defines the roles of each member in the family that the father is the pastor; the mother is the assistant, and children the congregants. Therefore, in the definition of the family unit as God has it, he identifies that the family is his institution and aims for it to foster his work of salvation and to create a relationship with the people7. However, when it concerns the life of pastors, the responsibilities of the individual to the earthly family and his relationship with God become another matter of contention. The home ministry is an ordainment of God and He expects the spouses to love each other as God does love them. The Bible does outline its expectation for the spouse to invest in each other and their children spiritually, relationally and intellectually. The contention factor in balancing the ministries of God and that of the family is time. Most pastors and servants of God have poor time management skills, a factor that often affects their relations with either God or family, depending on which relationship they chose to place second. God tells us in Ephesians, in the New Testament that, we must work towards redeeming time. However, it is surprising that most servants of God use this as an excuse in their approach of balancing the relations between their work and family. They fail to concentrate to the requirements of the family and their responsibilities to the family, focusing all their energy on the ministry of God8. Conversely, others put their family interest as first before those of the work of God. This conflict of interest affects many pastors in establishing and keeping healthy relations with their family. However, it is after understanding the intention of God for their lives that pastors can manage the ministry work accordingly. God tells us to place him first before everything. To seek his kingdom and that all other things will follow. Therefore, this settles the competition as God comes first, family second. Additionally, God expects us to execute and meet the responsibilities within the family accordingly. Thus, the pastors ought to establish a balance between their family life and the pastoral ministry. Fishing for Men: Pastoral Evangelism The first people that Jesus called into his ministry were fishermen, and he promised to show them and make them into fishers of men. These fishermen used nets, a technique that is labor intensive, little rewarding at times and requires patience and hard work. The value of every nee catch is infinite. Thus, Christ used this as a metaphor to describe the work of evangelism. The value associated with the eschatological activity of ‘snatching’ people from judgment9. Similarly, Paul in his preaching missions, his purpose was to win souls into the kingdom of God. His work was entirely evangelistic, a factor that is not identifiable in most pastors of today. As an apostolic authority, he set out to do the work of evangelism. Therefore, he set an example of the role of a pastor as a leading figure of the church in the evangelism work. To begin with, the pastor must preach to himself then go out to call others into repentance. As Paul said to timothy that he ought to give awareness to himself and his instruction, through which he then would manage to bring salvation for himself and those who listen to him. Therefore, from this illustration, the first role of the pastor in evangelism is to himself. the pastor must live evangelistically. The success of evangelism depends on the right standing of the evangelist in grace10. Therefore, when pastors as leading figures in the ministry of Christ, lead exemplary lives, it will be easy to evangelize to others through their speaking and actions. Secondly, the role of pastor as an evangelist is foremost to his children then to his flock. The pastor must implore his children, flock into responding to the gospel, and get their salvation. Then, the pastor has a duty to his community as he releases his evangelism team, he should be the leading figure to that team. Although every person has an obligation to evangelize, the pastor as a father figure in the ministry ought to lead the mission and evangelism of the ministry. Most importantly, the pastor must define a circle of influence and pray earnestly for himself and the souls of others to accept salvation. The example set by Christ in his evangelism work includes his example in praying for his followers, as well as, those in sin. He prayed for his disciples in the mission to spread the gospel. Additionally, he prayed for the sinners, for their forgiveness and salvation of their souls. He taught the word to all people, calling them into salvation11. Similarly, Paul followed the example as he prayed for the lost souls to get salvation through Christ. His prayer in Romans shows his commitment in the evangelism work. Additionally, they both kept a circle of influence as Jesus walked with the disciples Paul walked with people such as Timothy among others. Therefore, the pastor has a role in evangelism to pray for the lost souls and walk with other pastors in the work of ministry12. Preaching the Word: Pastoral Preaching The establishment of Bible schools brought with it a notion that preaching is a course undertaken to gain skills as any other profession people take in colleges. However, pastoral and preaching ministry is a calling. The essence of taking such a course should be to help the person in integrating their knowledge on theology and equip them with practical preaching and pastoral care practices. Preaching is the foundation of church growth since the time of Jesus13. Jesus took the time to present sermons as recorded in the bible to the people, teaching and rebuking them and calling them to repentance. Similarly, the followers of Christ such as Paul who played a momentous responsibility in the spreading and establishment of churches knew the effect of pastoral preaching in the building of the church. Thus, preaching the Word is the basis of the establishment and growth of the ministry. However, the preaching of the Word today fails to meet the expectations of the work of ministry. Today, instead of pastor preaching, they chose to entertain the people and share the word instead of proclaiming the message. It is through preaching that we experience the power and glory of God. Therefore, when the pastors are sharing, entertaining, wooing and intellectualizing the Word of God, they fail in the expected role of preaching the Word of God14. The preaching ministry ought to speak to the people the message of God. It is by listening to the Word that the congregation knows the instruction of God upon their life15. Therefore, pastoral preaching ought to facilitate the communication of God to his people. The message received through preaching is what gives people faith to receive all the blessings of God. Therefore, preaching can accomplish the mission intended when it emphasizes on what God expects of the preaching. Therefore, preaching is of foremost concern for any preacher who is serious with the ministry work. God calls the preacher to shepherd the flock, providing an oversight role to the people16. Therefore, as the role of shepherded is to feed and oversee the wellbeing of the flock, the pastor, through preaching should equip, feed and oversee his congregation to have a successful pastoral ministry. Organizing the Organization: Church Structure and Administration The establishment of churches began long before Christ at a time they named them temples. The management of the place of worship at the time was under the leadership of a chief priest, along with other priests and elders. This is clear as seen when Jesus remained in the church, in Jerusalem. His parents came looking for him only to find him with the church elders and teachers of the Word, discussing the Scriptures. Thus, the organization of church originates from the initial establishments of the temples17. However, with technological and civic advancements, the organization and leadership structures continue changing with time. The churches adopt various administration structures to conduct their activities and attend to their objectives. There are churches that stand as individually owned organizations and others are under a group of council leaders constituting a ministry with many branches18. The churches continue to seek a balance of administration powers, struggling with issues that they should not be present in a church organization. I believe that a healthy organization and administration of a church is not the office posts in the church structure rather it is the right process in place. It is the organization in conducting the processes of congregation activities, pastoral activities and responsibilities19. When the church can achieve its congregational objectives effectively, then the organization is structure is healthy. The foundation structure of administration laid in the Bible is that church leadership council to have elders and a pastor. It is the elders’ role to streamline the working of the pastor, to pray with him, support him, and manage the projects of the church. Therefore, the church administration is not responsibility of the pastor alone, but he should work in conjunction to a supporting body of appointed people with spiritual maturity and leadership capabilities20. This establishes a healthy church administration structure. Conclusion The role of a pastor in the evangelism processes of the church is crucial. The pastor has the leading responsibility of fanning the evangelism team to keep them working. Additionally, the pastoral work of preaching is central in pastoral responsibilities. Therefore, in the wake of any challenges in life, the pastor should not forget the core responsibility of the calling. God wants harvesters who will plant, cultivate, prune and heal in reaping souls for his kingdom. Thus, the pastors’ responsibility begins with their commitment to their personal relationship with Jesus. The pastor ought to establish organizational and administrative structures of the church to support him in the ministry work. Bibliography Barton, David. The Lesser Yoke Lessons in Walking With Jesus. Tate Pub & Enterprises Llc, 2011. Chan, Francis, and Craig Brian Larson. Prophetic Preaching. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson, 2012. Engel, S. Morris, Angelika Soldan, and Kevin K. J. Durand. The Study of Philosophy. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2008. Heward-Mills, Dag. Evangelism and Missions. [Fairfax, VA]: Xulon Press, 2011. MacArthur, John. Evangelism: How to Share the Gospel Faithfully. Nashville, Tenn: Thomas Nelson, 2011. Welch, Robert H. Church Administration: Creating Efficiency for Effective Ministry. Nashville, Tenn: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2005. Read More