The Pastor/Teacher (as he is called in Ephesians 4:11) is called to be a preacher/teacher of the Word of God. Yes, there is more to it than that. But if he fails at this task, he fails at everything. This is the sink-or-swim aspect of a pastor's calling. Why?
First, it is what God said to do.
Second, of all the other things a Pastor can and should do (caring for the sick, seeking the ones who have strayed, leading the church, etc), others can do that if he can't. But the one who is called to be a pastor/preacher is called to dedicate his life to preaching/teaching the Word of God.
The very purpose of deacons in Acts 6 was to relieve the apostles of the daily distribution of food so the apostles could "give themselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word." (Acts 6:4)
Third is a more practical reason. Say, a pastor preaches a 30-minute message to 150 on Sunday morning and he is not prepared to preach the Word and a message directly from God for that group of people, then he has just wasted 75 hours. If he preaches on Sunday night to 75 unprepared, he has wasted 37.5 hours. Then on Wednesday night, he preaches to 50 unprepared, and he has wasted 25 hours. That is a total of 137.5 hours. That is the equivalent of almost six full days. In other words, that pastor could be so lazy as not to even get out of bed for most of the week and he would not have wasted as many hours as going to the pulpit unprepared to preach the Word of God.
Titus 1: 3 Paul assures the church "God has manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God,..." This speaks to my blog last Wednesday about the sense of calling a pastor/elder has.
But then in Titus 1:5, Paul says the pastor is to "set in order the things that are lacking." The Greek word is epidiorthoo. It means to correct, straighten further, set in order, put into order. It is a medical term to set a bone that has been broken. An orthodontist sets teeth back in order. An orthopedic doctor sets bone in place.
A pastor is to take the Word of God and "set things in order" in the church. Since the church is made up of humans; like our teeth and bones, the church is constantly needing to be set back in order.
Where does the Pastor get that authority? From God and the Word of God. The authority of the Pastor is anchored when he preaches the Word of God. "Thus says the Lord" whether it is from Jeremiah or John.
Now that brings me to a pet peeve. All of the Bible is the Word of God. Don't ever give the impression to your pastor/preacher that you are more excited to hear a message from John than Numbers. We are to preach "the whole counsel of God." (Acts 20:27) "And all Scripture is profitable..." (II Timothy 3:16)
Preaching is hard work.
Blessings;
David
Amen
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