Ephesians 4: 11 – 16: And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
Every Christian needs a local church that they can attend and support with their tithes and offerings, a place where they can fellowship with other believers and “rub shoulders” together, and a place where they can grow spiritually and be cared for under the ministry of a God-ordained pastor. Unfortunately, pastors are largely spoken of in a negative light throughout the Bible, however this does not detract from the fact that God has ordained for each local assembly to have one man with the official oversight of looking after the flock.
The New Testament does of course speak about the elders of the church and how each church was looked after by its elders, but it must also be remembered that anything with more than one head is a monster. A local church that is correctly set up will have a pastor who carries the anointing of the ox, a burden-bearer and a man who has the best interests of his flock in mind. The pastor will also have the support of the assistant ministers in the church and of the elders who are mature in the faith. With such a setup, the church will move forward and mature because each office is working together under the oversight of the Holy Spirit, and has the best interests of the assembly in mind. A God-called pastor is a man who is filled with the Holy Ghost and is sensitive to the leadership of the Spirit, and who will always point the people to Christ whilst addressing the various needs that arise in the local body. A man called to this position is not a dictator who lords his will over the people and abuses his position to exploit the people and their financial contributions, nor is he a man who pushes his personal views and ideas and gathers the people to himself where he is then looked up to as superior and better than everybody else.
There are of course many men that hold the position of pastor who are not called to that position and make a giant mess of things. These are self-appointed men and not God-appointed men. It is because of the many wrong examples of pastorship that people develop a bad taste of what a pastor really is. They become disgruntled and resistant to attending and supporting a local assembly that has a God-called man recognized with the official oversight of the church and who can help prepare them for the great catching away of the Bride. It is a wonderful thing when a person can find a church that they can call their spiritual home, accompanied with a revelation that the shepherd of the local flock is the pastor God has prepared for them in their present stage of life’s journey.
