“. . . Do you love Me… “– John 21:15
We need more pastors. We need pastors who are an answer to Jesus’ prayer to the Father, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (John 17:17). We need pastors full of God’s truth! Oh LORD give us more pastors like that!
If the Church of God is to be the pillar and ground of truth, then we need pastors who encourage the church to be just that (1 Timothy 3:15). We need more churches led by pastors who are reaching out to the lost and comforting hurting souls. We need pastors who will stand up fearlessly to those who infringe on our God-given freedoms and blessings. We need courageous pastors who will stand up and resist the influx of Islam, the tempting allurements of lust, and the proliferation of false teaching and false teachers. Yes, we need more pastors, but we need the right kind of pastors.
A “pastor” is a shepherd. Jesus said He was the Good Shepherd. Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). That’s the kind of pastor-shepherds we need. Jesus contrasted himself with hireling shepherds. Hireling pastors are those who “serve” only for profit and not with any sincere investment and care for the sheep (John 10). Yes, we need more pastors, but we need the right kind of pastors. We need God ordained, Holy Spirit empowered, scripturally defined pastors. Such pastors are at a premium in our day. If your church has a pastor-shepherd as defined by Jesus, love them, cherish them, pray for them, encourage them, protect them, support them.
Pastors In Our Nation’s History
In his book Chaplains of the Revolutionary War: Black Robed American Warriors author Jack Darrell Crowder states:
When the pastors became army chaplains it was their duty to nurse the physical and spiritual needs of the men. The troops looked to the chaplain to calm and encourage them before a battle. The Rev. William Emerson, with musket in hand, as the British advanced on Concord, turned to the frightened lad next to him and said, ‘Stand your ground Harry! Your cause is just and God will bless you.”
Now I’m not endorsing Christian Nationalism or a militancy of ministry that would endorse picking up arms. (I pray such a time never comes again.) But I do think we need pastors who preach messages from their pulpits that are uncompromising in their scripture truth. We need pastors who proclaim and inspire the flock of God to take a stand against the “unfruitful works of darkness” and evil wherever it is found (Ephesians 5:11).
The dearth of scripturally sound pastors has led to the spiritual bankruptcy of churches and our nation and world today. The troubles our nation is encountering today such as the wrong notions of what true “Christianity” is, the wildly unscriptural worldviews, and the present-day redefinitions of evil as good and good as evil, are all traceable to the contemporary spiritually and scripturally weak pastoral lack-of-leadership in churches (Isaiah 5:20).
According to Jack Darrell Crowder, in our nation’s revolutionary times, a pastor named John Adams of Durham, New Hampshire, “stored gunpowder under his pulpit” and Pastor David Ely “carried his Bible in one hand and a loaded musket in the other.” We are in times where more and more pastors are seeking Concealed Carry permits not just for their own personal protection, but for protecting their family and the flock of God they are called to shepherd. But more important than that, we need pastors who prioritize the powerful ammunition of the Holy Spirit’s spiritual giftings. We need pastors who seek out, experience, and point others to the anointing that compels us by the love of Jesus and empowers us to be “more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (2 Corinthians 5:14-16; Romans 8:37).
A Crushing Calling
J. C. Ryle (1816-1910) a well-known pastor in Church history once said, “There is a common, worldly kind of Christianity in this day, which many have, and think they have enough – a cheap Christianity which offends nobody, and requires no sacrifice – which costs nothing, and is worth nothing.” Someone has rightly said, “The Prophets and Apostles were not hated and killed for preaching love, but for preaching truth.” The lukewarm or societally compliant woke churches of our day are a symptom in large part of “pastors” who are pastors because they see it as just one more vocational option or who are simply seeking the praise of people. Such “pastors” often fleece rather than feed the flock of God.
John Wesley used to say, “Give me 100 preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God; such alone will shake the gates of hell.” That’s the kind of pastors we need today. Pastor Chuck Smith of the Calvary Chapel movement once commented, “The men whom God uses are men who are in contact with God, men who pray. You cannot do any true, effective work for God apart from prayer.” We need pastors who pray:
With fear and awe, I search for truth that I may live free, indeed.
Not for my heart, my eyes, alone, but so others may also see.
Someday, some minute, some second in time, Jesus will call me home.
I pray that all will come with me, all those to whom His light has Shown. [1]
The work of God is accomplished, “’Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). Such God ordained Holy Spirit anointed power is illustrated in scripture by way of olive oil. The oil of the olive is only obtained by crushing. It’s been said, “Many want God’s ANOINTING. . . but few want the CRUSHING that produces the oil.” Some look at preachers in the pulpit on a Sunday and dream of being in such a position. They look and lust after the position like someone with their first crush. But any genuine pastor truly called by God will tell you that, having carnal pride and delusions of grandeur crushed out of you is a prerequisite of pastoring.
An Undeniable Selfless Calling
Before you click online to the easiest pastoral certification mill available, or sell all you own and enroll in Bible College, you need to consider a few things. Being a pastor is not something we choose for ourselves but something God calls us to. Being a “Pastor” is a calling from God, (or at least it should be.) There is an ordination involved in pastoring. “Ordination” is the recognition by the Church that a person has been called and anointed BY GOD, to serve as a pastor. The power is not in the paper certificate. The power is from God and part of HIS ANOINTING. When God anoints or ordains someone, IT IS EVIDENT TO ALL AND UNDENIABLE.
Being a pastor is not something a person should enter into lightly or casually. Unfortunately being a pastor involves being in the spotlight. The pastor is frequently the center of attention and that tends to attract narcissists, those overcome with carnality, and the proud which are disqualifications for the pastorate. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (1 Peter 5:5-6).
In his classic book On Being a Leader for God, Warren Wiersbe writes:
God is looking for transparent servants and not playacting celebrities. He desires servants who will glorify Him and not promote themselves. If God wants to make a leader famous, as He did with Joshua (Joshua3:7), David (1 Samuel 18:6-8), and Paul (Acts 19:15), that is His decision, because true promotion can come only from God (1 Samuel 2:7-8; Psalm 75:6-7). If we care for our character, the Lord will protect our reputation, and, after all, He is the final Judge.
In the words of John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). The heart stance of the one called by God is “Jesus MUST increase, but I MUST decrease.” This is a good and important cautionary word. How should a person proceed in regard to becoming a pastor?
Are You Called to Be a Pastor
How does a person know if they are called to be a pastor? How does a person know what God is calling them to do? Below are some questions to consider for those who may be in the feeling stage of considering their call. Why is it important to consider carefully and prayerfully one’s call, especially a call to be a pastor? Because, after nearly half a century of ministerial experience, I am convinced that to enter pastoral ministry without God’s call is one of the greatest deceptions of the devil. This is so because the one who is deceived and drawn into pastoral ministry apart from God’s call, will suffer great personal loss if not shipwreck their lives and the lives of their loved ones. But worse, the one who ventures into ministry for the wrong reasons will be powerless to prevent the desecration of God’s holy name. The non-called pastor, the non-called person in any position, is one of Satan’s most effective weapons. (See 1 Timothy 4; 2 Timothy 3-4; 2 Peter 2; Jude; and Revelation 2-3).
Furthermore, there is another enemy in discerning the call to be a pastor, it is called self. There is something attractive to people about standing in front of a group and speaking. This is often at the root of a person’s interest in pastoral ministry. But the ministry of the Holy Spirit is just the opposite of glorifying self. The Holy Spirit shines the spotlight on JESUS, not people (John 15:26; 16:14). The anointing of the Holy Spirit and presence of the Holy Spirit in ministry is in proportion to the attention and focus on Jesus.
Because of the competing motivations of focusing on self or focusing on Jesus, the one considering whether they are called to be a pastor needs to really reflect and prayerfully consider their motives. Is pride involved? Is this “calling” self-serving or self-crucifying? Really pray about your motives. Is this “call” from inside you or heavenly in origin? Satan will seek to sneak into a person’s life through their self and oftentimes snares them on the hooks of pride. He should know, he’s hooked himself and pride and his destiny is hell (Isaiah 14:12-17; Ezekiel 28:11-19). You may not go to hell because of some presumption about being a pastor, but you can surely skirt the edges of darkness and be a stumbling block to others. Beware,
Therefore, how does one cut through the fog of impression and feeling to discern in the Spirit whether they are called by God into pastoral ministry? Below are a few areas that are particularly important for discerning the one called to pastoral ministry. While I’m sure these questions are not exhaustive or all-inclusive of every individual situation, they are the product of prayer, Bible study, and experience and should be considered seriously and prayerfully. (This tool is focused on discerning the pastoral call, but many of the questions can be applied to various other aspects of ministry to which someone might feel God is calling them to.)
1. Discerning God’s Will –
What evidence is there that you are called to be a pastor? Do you have a plan to discern God’s will? Do you have a history of feeling called to do something only to leave the work unfinished? If so, what makes this “feeling” or sense of a call different? Have you truly put yourself on God’s altar and opened yourself to His will no matter what that might mean in regard to your own personal desires? (See Romans 12:1-2 as well as Joshua 1:8; Psalm 37:5; 119:168; 143:8; Proverbs 3:6; Hebrews 4:16).
2.Evidence of Pastoral Call –
- Origin of Call – How was this “call” initiated, by you or someone else? Genuine calls are usually brought to light by others who see it in you before you “feel” it in you. If you had not felt the call and initiated it, would anyone else have seen it in you or brought it to your or someone else’s attention? If someone other than yourself has initiated recognition of your call, what is the basis of their observation? Are they simply confirming something that you subtly or not so subtly have communicated to them about your desires? Are they merely trying to affirm you and please you more than they are observing a work of God in you and through you? Jesus initiated the call in the lives of the disciples; they did not come to Him to initiate it. The call by Jesus is more of a follow Me than it is a let me follow You. (Matthew 4:18-22; 10:1-4)
- Small Groups – Do you take an active role in small group activity? (e.g., Sunday School class; Home Bible Study) It is here where the fruit of a pastoral call is usually seen first. What fruit or evidence of a pastoral call is present in small groups ministry? Do small group Bible studies “take off” or grow and bear lasting fruit as a result of God working through you? Or do you find teaching in and leading a small group difficult, uncomfortable, and unfruitful?
- Interpersonal Evidence – What evidence is there of being able to relate to people in a pastoral way? Do you tend to be frustrated with people or patient with people? Are you able to communicate with people by both listening and speaking to them? Is communication one way, your way? Are you gracious with people? Do you love people? (Galatians 6:1-5; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; 1 Peter 5:1-4).
- Teaching – Has the Lord opened a door of opportunity for you to teach? If not, why not? Lack of opportunity may indicate this spiritual gift is not present. If the opportunity has presented itself, what fruit of a spiritual gift of teaching was apparent? Pastors need to be able to teach (Ephesians 4:11-12; 1 and 2 Timothy). Does your “teaching” consist merely of parroting what others have said, or do you receive scriptural insight in your own personal Bible study with the Lord? What evidence is there in your life of an ability to teach? Is there evidence that you can effectively communicate God’s word in an edifying manner? If a person cannot excel in Biblical studies, if God’s anointing is not present in this area, are they called to pastoral ministry?
It is important to note here that, every person called by God to pastor necessarily has a spiritual gift of teaching, but NOT EVERY TEACHER IS CALLED TO BE A PASTOR. Teaching a group Bible Study or at a Bible College or sharing scripture with your spouse or children or family or friends, neighbors, or co-workers, does not necessarily mean you are called to be a pastor. A pastor is a shepherd who has a loving concern for those being served. A shepherd comforts, guides, and protects those in the flock. A shepherd lays down their life for the sheep. A shepherd is willing to serve the sheep at great personal sacrifice. A shepherd has supernatural patience to deal with the needs of their sheep even if they are repetitive. Look at what jesus says about being the Good Shepherd (John 10). Read and study the pastoral epistles to see what it means to be a pastor (1 and 2 Timothy and Titus).
- Godly Counsel – What do others (Christians and Christian leaders) think about you being called to pastoral ministry? Do they see it in your life? Can they clearly see evidence of such a call? If so, why? If not, why not? Are you open to their godly opinion or is your mind made up? The counsel of others is important to decision making (Proverbs 11:14; 15:22; 20:18; 24:6)
- Service – Do you have a servant’s heart? Are you willing to serve in obscurity? Have you ever done so? Are you willing to do whatever God wants whenever He wants it done? Even if that means you are not called to pastoral ministry? (Mark 10:45; Luke 9:23-26; John 13; Philippians 2:5-11).
- Anointing – Last and most importantly, is there evidence of God’s anointing on you as a pastor? Is it clear or questionable? Can you go through the questions in this study and confidently answer “yes” to these questions? If not, why not? What is the Lord saying to you? Are you rationalizing your responses to bend them in the way you would have them to go? Be honest.
3.Existing Ministry –
What area of ministry has God gifted you in? Would God have a person begin ministries only to leave them prematurely? Would God open doors to ministry and not have a person walk through them? If God has given you a gift to do a certain ministry, then that is probably where He is calling you to minister. As an unprofitable servant it would be inappropriate to rebel against and wiggle out of the way God wants to use you (Luke 17:10).
It would be best to test the waters in ministry locally to see where God’s gifting is in your life, rather than embark in life altering plans based on insufficient evidence or feeling. If God blesses and his call is sure, then proceed in that call, but if He does not bless, you will save yourself a lot of heartache and frustration by moving on and discovering where God really does want to use you. (See 1 Corinthians 7:17,24)
4.Gifting –
Some have mistakenly used Paul’s inspired words in 1 Corinthians 1-2 and 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 as justifying the use of anybody, regardless of God’s gifting, to enter ministry. The foolish things God uses are foolish from the world’s perspective, not God’s perspective. The ones God chooses to minister are gifted by the Spirit to do the work He calls them to do (1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Ephesians 4:11-12). Therefore, if God is calling a person to be a pastor-teacher, they will show evidence of spiritual gifting for such a calling.
If God is calling a person to be a pastor then His power working in and through that called person will be evident in such an area. The gifting evidence accompanies the call. A “call” without evidence is suspect. Would God give a person gifts (e.g., Pastor-teaching, evangelism, musically for worship, etc.) that are blessed and spiritually powerful in ministry and then not call that person to that ministry? The calling usually is accompanied by gifts related to the ministry the Lord is calling a person to fulfill. Why would God gift and bless in an area of ministry, seemingly lead a person into an area of ministry, only to have the person “sense” a calling to another area of ministry? Does God give contrary evidence? If you look at the beginnings of the Calvary Chapel movement and the pastors God raised up, (E.g. Greg Laurie, Raul Ries, Mike McIntosh, Jon Courson, et.al) they were not initially learned or schooled in seminaries or Bible schools, but they had been discipled under the teaching of Pastor Chuck Smith and when they took over situations such as small group Bible Studies, the fruit that followed made it very clear of the calling of God in their lives.
5. Pastoral Perspective –
Do you have a realistic view of pastoral ministry? Ministry is not only teaching, or being in view of a group of people, it is above all serving. It is administrating, shepherding, and discipling. It is running to the hospital to be at the bedside of the sick and doing so at any time of night or day. It is uncomfortable situations galore when you are called upon by God to rebuke, exhort, correct, and encourage. It’s disciplining those who do not see that ministry is service and not a bully pulpit for their own agenda. It is taking a stand against carnal folly and superficiality when those who indulge in such things often rally the unwitting crowd against you. It is speaking the truth in love, no matter what.
Pastoral ministry is serving the Lord and sacrificing time with your family. Your wife and children will miss you every time you step out to “minister,” and you will constantly be reminded of the cost of such a venture. You will be convicted and torn, but you will continue on because God’s call is on your life and you trust the Lord and His grace to compensate for your failings.
Pastoral ministry is always subordinating your will to the will of God. It is never self-serving and always self-crucifying. It is a life of continual sacrifice. It is living in a fishbowl and being the brunt of accusations, insinuations and outright falsehoods made by people who are uninformed of the entire truth of the pastoral situations. It’s receiving comments and criticisms offered in a good-natured way about your ministry and wondering if there is something more substantially meant beneath the surface. Pastoral ministry will drive you to paranoia if you are not called by God. Pastoral ministry is depending upon God to defend you rather than defending yourself (1 Peter 5:6). It is having people pick at your family, judge you, assess not only your “pluses” and “minuses,” but all your families’ as well. It’s not reacting to such “attacks” fueled by the enemy who seeks to get to the pastor through those closest to him.
Pastoral ministry is constantly relying on God and patiently working with people who are often transient, or sitting back, uncommitted, or simply infants in Christ. It is waiting on God in service. If you are called as a pastor to plant a church, the beginning often involves working a full time job, heading up a family, and being used by God to serve in a work of His that may require you to remain in such a situation for years, with no guarantee that it will ever end, (a pastor may be bi-vocational for their entire ministry). The pastoral ministry is not a means of “great gain” (1 Timothy 6:3-10).
Pastoral ministry is serving in obscurity. It is living in a part of the world that often only the pastor and God can fully comprehend, no one else, not a wife, not a friend, not even another pastor at times. It is often a humanly lonely calling solely between the pastor and God.
Even so, pastoral ministry is a joy to the called. It is the only option for the called pastor. If you can find happiness and satisfaction in anything else, you are not called to be a pastor. Pastoral ministry is not an alternative and last resort for someone who has failed in every other area of their life and figures, “Hmm, everything else has failed, why not give pastoring a try?” Beware; pastoral ministry is a frustrating hurricane that will blow down the presumptuous who are not called. Those who enter in with presumptuous perceptions of grandeur, of being golden-tongued orators in front of thousands, will soon learn that the weight of ministry will squash those who enter in by their own strength rather than the grace that comes with the call of God. Pastoral ministry is serving God with no other reward but to know that by relying totally on God, He will one day say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
We often casually read the description by Paul of his ministry, but as the pastor matures in their ministry they learn and see the truth of this description more and more. Read what Paul said about his ministry and what it means to have a pastor’s heart – 2 Corinthians 3:5-6; 4:2,8-11; 5:14-15; 11:16-23; 12:11-21. Truly a pastor’s call is expressed by the words, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering,” (2 Timothy 4:6a).
If you are called to be a pastor, nothing else will satisfy or do for you, and though the road may be hard, God’s call and grace will sustain you. If you are not called, and you venture out haphazardly in your own strength, you are doomed to a life of frustration and folly and will have missed the work God would have blessed.
Conclusion
The words shared above are not to discourage the one who is called by God. In fact, the one called by God will find assurance of their call if they prayerfully apply these questions to their lives. The purpose of such a study is to spare people the frustration and failure that might come by entering into a holy calling presumptively apart from God’s actual call. It is also meant to spare the church any more scorn and poor witness that has come via those who are self-servingly involved in pastoral ministry.
When Peter had denied the Lord, Jesus didn’t throw him on the scrap heap, He restored him. But Jesus restored Peter in a way that confirmed his calling and assured him of God’s will in his life. Jesus did this by asking him a few questions:
John 21:15-17 – “So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.”
Now I do not quote this passage to get a rise of emotion out of the reader. I quote this passage to hopefully strike to the heart of the situation. Peter was asked repeatedly by Jesus, “Do you love me?” Love of Jesus is the center of our relationship with Him. All decisions should be based on that motivation, our love for Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). My concluding point is not that those who are actually called by God to be a pastor are more loving of Jesus; not at all. The point here is do you love Jesus enough to do whatever He wants you to do? Even if that means you are not to serve him as a pastor? That’s the point. If you love Jesus, you can serve Him joyfully from the heart whether He calls you to do so as a pastor or not. The answer to that question gets to the heart of the truth and the truth at heart, about your “call” to be a pastor. If you truly love Jesus, then you will answer His call to be anything He wants you to be.
Father in Heaven, we come to You in Jesus’ name. We need more pastors. But we need only pastors who are genuinely called and elected to be pastors, by YOU. Please make Your calling and election sure to us. Please, make us what we need to be, to do what You call us to do, for Your glory, until Jesus returns. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
May God guide you and call you according to His will.
[1] Author Unknown