Appointed to Shepherd

“And He gave some as…pastors and teachers” (Eph. 4:11). There’s no doubt that professional clergy teaching the Word of God are a vital part of God’s plan for the church. People can become overly dependent on a particular teacher for all their spiritual feeding, and some pastors can be in it for the wrong reasons.

Growing up in the church, I felt sorry for pastors. I did. I didn’t see what they did as having any glamour or real prestige to it. In my immature mind, they were sort of forced into it, mostly against their will, by God. In the denomination of my youth, it appeared that they weren’t even allowed to dress cool; long robes on Sunday and black suits with a distinctly uncool collar on the other days. Nope, that wasn’t for me. Professional basketball, now that was cool.

I guess I didn’t see pastors as real people of influence. As I saw it, people feeling obligated to sit in a hard pew and endure a boring speech showed up and pretended to listen but didn’t appear to enjoy it. It seemed more like going to the dentist; you don’t do it for any other reason than you have to. But, at least dentists make good money and indulge in fun stuff once-in-a-while. Pastors, dressed the way they were, must have boring lives, and no one could take them seriously.

I especially pitied a particular pastor who said he had a shot at professional baseball. I assumed his life must have been nothing but regret that he didn’t follow that dream and instead answered what he referred to as a “call” into the ministry, boring life—boring outfit. I honestly saw him as touched in the head to pass up an opportunity to be a pro athlete.

Then, after coming to know Christ in a personal way, my attitude began to change. For one thing, I learned that all pastors didn’t dress that way! I also started to respect the influence a pastor could have in people’s lives. I saw the value of that unique call, but still not for me.

 Even after attending and graduating from Bible College on a basketball scholarship, with a major in religion and biblical studies, the thought of being a pastor didn’t attract me in the least. I still pictured myself with a Bible (just for research) in one hand and a basketball in the other. Playing basketball in a packed arena was one thing, but opening my mouth in front of a crowd of any size, no way.

God had His plans, and eventually, He let me in on them. As I grew in my unlikely role as a pastor, much I never dreamed could be associated with the clergy was revealed. For example, some guys had always aspired to be in the pulpit and desired nothing more than to preside over crowds of adoring followers. They not only didn’t see being a pastor as uncool, but they also viewed it as their ticket to fame and fortune! Some raked in more bucks than dentists or guys in the NBA! It was a shock to my lifelong assumptions about pastors. Nonetheless, the sheep flocked and didn’t’ seem to mind getting fleeced. Strange! It was an early and valuable warning about the difference between the under-shepherd and the hireling. (John 10:11-13).

It made me realize that pastor-teachers have a tremendous responsibility related to the authority God has given us. We must point people to God through His Word, not to use the Bible as bait to attract them to ourselves. Don’t fall for those kinds of teachers. The role we play as pastors is powerful. Despite my youthful assumptions, we can be very influential. That’s not permission for prideful self-promotion. We should be able to say with a straight face and a clear conscience, as Paul did, “I exhort you, be imitators of me” (1 Cor. 4:16).

Taken together, all of this helps explain the practice of ordination. There’s confusion about ordination, even amongst some who have led churches as pastors. Some will declare, “I don’t need man to ordain me!” That’s right. I held off pursuing ordination until I had been in ministry for 16 years, believing it was unnecessary—a mere human construct. But the truth is that man doesn’t ordain. Ordination for the clergy is simply a recognition of what God has done in the life of one entering into a future committed to pastoral ministry. Man does not ordain but recognizes the ordination, or “appointment,” by God of the ordained.

Ordination is biblical. Much of the current formality is of human origin, but it doesn’t make it wrong. Essential elements and ceremonial aspects, like prayer and laying on of hands, are directly from scripture. Paul, Barnabas, Timothy, and elders (pastors) of the early church all experienced this. All of it points to the importance of the responsibility of being appointed to shepherd. Ultimately, all of it, especially the life and ministry of the pastor, should point people to the Chief Shepherd.     

 “Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. ─Acts 20:28