What are the Essential Aspects of Pastoral Ministry?
Whole books have been written on pastoral ministry; so, even an attempt at summarizing it in a
short blog post will fall short of the mark. But I would suggest that several principles rise to a
high levelof importance when considering the subject of pastoral ministry. Much of what passes
for pastoral ministry today is nothing other than the philosophies and methods of corporate
America pressed down upon the church. Too many pastors think of themselves as “doing their
jobs,” and they don’t think of themselves as God’s men who are called to a whole-life pastoral
ministry among God’sbeloved people. Consider the following five aspects of biblical pastoral
ministry.
1. A Pastor Watches Himself
True pastoring always begins with personal holiness. In 1 Timothy 4:16, Paul tells Timothy
“Keep a close watch on yourself.” The word “watch” means “to be vigilant” or “to pay close
attention.” A pastor needs to givecareful attention to his own soul because he is called to be a
holy man. He’s a student of the streams of sin as they run inside of his own heart. And he
learnsto apply the gospel of grace for the mortification of his sin. He must be a man who knows
the great love of Christ for him, whose heart isconquered bya crucified and risen Savior, and
whosehope iseverlasting life inHim. Because of Christ’s love, a pastor is faithfully committed
to prayerful personal communion with Him, and he praysfor his family, the church, his
community, and the world. He learns to repent quickly of sin, and he’s deeply devoted to
studyingScripture and to keeping God’s good commandments as an expression of his love for
Christ.
A pastor also watches himself by being a faithful husband to his wife and father to his children,
loving them and serving them just as Christ has served him. He loves and teaches his wife and
children the Word of God. And he’s involved in his family life, sharing life with his wife,
enjoying his children and taking sincereinterest in them. Faithful pastors watch themselves.
Only when a pastor faithfully watches himself is he able to watch others faithfully.
2. A Pastor Watches His Teaching
In 1 Timothy 4:16, Paul tells Timothy, “keep a close watch … on the teaching.” There is a
heresy made for every one of us. Heresy is a form of false teaching that underminesthe gospel.
Sadly, thereis a heresy made for every pastor. Heresies tell us that we can have our idols, and we
can have Jesus too. Someheresies puff us up in self-righteous religious pride, while other
heresies promote sensual worldliness. Pastors can be tempted toadopt forms of false teaching
that serve themselves rather than Christ and His people.Even when a pastor begins with good
doctrine, he can drift into error over time, if he is not very careful to watch his teaching.
A pastor must be very careful to teach what the Bible says is true, not what he wants the Bible to
say is true. He is responsible to repeat what God says in His Word. A pastorsimply delivers what
he has received, adding nothing, subtracting nothing. That means a pastor studiesthe Bible
carefully and holdsfast the word of life for his own soul and for the souls of others by faith.
God’s beloved people are only fed when pastors proclaimsound doctrine clearly and
consistently, even though it will cost them their idols, and it may cost them their very lives.
3. A Pastor Preaches Jesus Christ
In 1 Corinthians 2:2. Paul says, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and
him crucified.” Like Paul, pastors must never tire of preaching Jesus. Pastorsdo not preach the
words of men. They do not preach themselves. They do not preach their own wisdom or man-
made techniques. They preach Christ and Him crucified. Jesus Himself is the very heartof our
message. All the promises of God are yes and amen in Jesus. Christ is all.
Some teachers insist that it’s impossible to preach Christ from every passage of the Scriptures.
They say, “Not every passage is about Jesus. We should only preach Christ when He is explicitly
mentioned in the text, or when there is somehow a clear connection to Christ from a particular
passage.” But I want to respond briefly to that error in three ways.
First, Jesus preached Himself in all the Scriptures. Luke 24:27 says, “And beginning with Moses
and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.”
If Christ preached Himself fromall the Scriptures, then so should we.
Second, the Bible’s covenant theology is centered on Jesus. Scripture teaches that thereis only
one covenant, or promise of grace, running through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation (Heb
9:15-16). Therefore, the only way to faithfully interpret any particular passage of the Bible is in
light of the overarching promise of redemption for sinners in Jesus Christ.
Third, the goalof preaching is worship. If a pastor merelyexplains a text and doesn’t hold forth
Christ, then the church cannot worship, or if it does worship, it does so in spite of the sermon.
It’simpossible for the church to worship, unless itis set upon Jesus, who is the chief revelation
of God to men. We need to see God in the face of Jesus by the Spirit speaking in His Word if we
are to worship. Unless the preacher shows how Christ is at the center of every text, then he will
fail to lead the congregation to worship.
Whathappens when Christ is faithfully preached week in and week out? Jesus Himself
encourages the fainthearted, admonishes the obstinate, and gives strength of faith and obedience
to all who belong to Him. Jesus begins to form His people after His image, more and more, and
they begin to bear the fruit of the Spirit and keep the Ten Commandments as the very definition
of what it means to love God and love men. And when Christ is preached every week, Jesus
prepares His people for sufferings and trials in their lives. The whole church’s eyes are set upon
the things above, where Christ is, and they don’t love this world too much. And more and more,
the church is able to say with Paul, “To live is Christ, but to die is gain.”
4. A Pastor Does Personal Work
Pastors are to love God’s people personally. Personal work includes conversations with people at
church, pastoral counseling, visiting hospitals, performing funerals, officiating weddings, living
among people in the community, and being generally available.
Some popular preachers and teachers today say that pastors shouldn’t waste their time doing
personal work. They say a pastor’s job is to pray, study, preach the Word, and nothing else. A
pastor’s work is public, not private, they say. But thisis a very serious error.
Consider the many places inScripture that showexamples of personal work in pastoral ministry.
Jesus ministered personally. He ministered personally to Nicodemus, to the woman at the well,
to Zaccheus, to the Roman Centurion, to Mary and Martha, and to many others. He ministered at
funerals, weddings, visited the sick, and He counseled people individually. Jesus also ate with
His disciples, fished with them, slept with them, and lived life with them. Acts 20:27 tells us that
Paul ministered the Word publicly but also house to house at Ephesus. Paul wrote a very
personal letter to Philemonon behalf of Onesimus. Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:3 to
“instruct certain men.” Personal pastoral work is found all throughout the New Testament.
Personal work is important because much of a pastor’s power in public teaching and preaching
depends on the good will and the relationships he has with the people. People are willing to listen
to a man when they know he cares for their souls. His preaching will become more and more
useful to the people the more he learns who they are so that he can apply the Word to them
wisely. Some parts of pastoral ministry absolutely require personal work. When people lose
loved ones, or are going though severe trial, they need a pastor to help them think clearly and to
set their minds on the Lord Jesus. When people are struggling with personal sin or temptation, or
marriage difficulties, they need pastoralcounsel about how to handle their sin wisely. When
people have specific questions about the Bible or doctrine, or personal decisions that they are
making in their lives, they need to feel free to approach their pastor to ask him personally.
Much of the power of true pastoral ministry depends greatly on a pastor’s faithfulness to do
personal work.
5. A Pastor Ministers to the Community
A faithful pastor is not merely concerned with his own church. He thinks of the lost people in the
community as in Adam, under the condemnation of the covenant of works. They need the mercy
of Christ in the covenant of grace. He’s not cold to unbelievers in the community, but thinks of
them as souls in need of a Savior. He also thinks of the other believers in the community as part
of the one covenant of grace, and he sees himself and his church as joined together with them in
Christ in the kingdom of God. Consider that Jesus ministered to the community throughout His
life. The book of Acts shows how the Apostles and the church ministered to the community. And
in 1 Timothy 3:7, Paul says that one qualification of a pastor is that he is to have a “good
reputation with outsiders.” How can he have a good reputation with outsiders, if no outsiders
know him?
Practically, what does ministry to the community look like? It looks like participating in
community events. It means being available for funerals and counseling for people in the
community when asked. Getting to know people through regular business dealings with them.
And getting to know other pastors and working with other churches where ever that is possible.
Pastoral ministry is both public and private. It’s based on sound doctrine, rootedin personal
holiness, and centered on the Lord Jesus Christ. Pastoral work is both formal and informal,
involving awhole man who seeks to minister to whole men. Pastors who are faithful and called
of God have the most joyful and sanctifying calling in this world. May God give the church more
faithful pastors for His great glory.
Encouragement for Gospel Ministers
And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting
me into the ministry. Who was before a blasphemer… but I obtained mercy. 1 Timothy 1:12-13
What a privilege it is to be a believer! They are comparatively few, and we by nature were no
nearer than others: it was grace, free grace, that made the difference. What an honor to be a
minister of the everlasting gospel! These upon comparison are perhaps fewer still. How
wonderful that one of these few should be sought for among the wilds of Africa, reclaimed from
the lowest state of impiety and misery, and brought to assure other sinners, from his own
experience, that ‘there is, there is forgiveness with him, that he may be feared.’
We are called to an honorable service, but it is arduous. What wisdom does it require to keep the
middle path in doctrines, avoiding the equally dangerous errors on the right hand and the left!
What steadiness, to speak the truth boldly and faithfully in the midst of a gainsaying world!
What humility, to stand against the tide of popularity! What meekness, to endure all things for
the elect’s sake, that they may be saved! ‘Who is sufficient for these things?’ We are not in
ourselves, but there is an all-sufficiency in Jesus. Our enemy watches us close; He challenges
and desires to have us, that he may sift us as wheat; he knows he can easily shake us if we are
left to ourselves; But we have a Shepherd, a Keeper, who never slumbers nor sleeps… When we
are prone to wander, he calls us back; When we say, my feet slip, his mercy holds us up; When
we are wounded, he heals; when we are ready to faint, he revives. The people of God are sure to
meet with enemies, but especially the ministers: Satan bears them a double grudge: the world
watches for their halting, and the Lord will suffer them to be afflicted, that they may be kept
humble, that they may acquire a sympathy with the suffering of others, that they may be
experimentally qualified to advise and help them, and to comfort them with the comforts with
which they themselves have been comforted of God.
