Being a Pastor

[Classik]

Can anyone choose to be a pastor? Is there really a need for a call?

How about being an evangelist or a missionary

 

[Runner]

Call me skeptical - no, don't bother, I'll call myself skeptical - but I have noticed that "the call" is inevitably to a bigger church that pays more money. Odd how that works. My late wife's tiny Southern Baptist church actually gave up even trying to find a pastor after a succession of pastors who had felt "the Lord's call" to the church and then, 2-3 months later, felt "the Lord's call" to a bigger church that paid more money. Go for it! I am the longtime pastor of The Church of What Runner Believes, and no one called me.

 

[Kenny_ms]

I'm with Runner.

Wonder if the majority were even called from the get go?

Is it even biblical that one must be called? Seems to me, if the need is there and someone feels they can do as good or better job as anyone and they fill that need, they do a good thing.

 

[Classik]

I believe there must be a call. But how do we know there is a call truly from God? When a church is blossoming?

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

Pastors are a job that people take to make money.
Evangelists are those that know how to raise money.
Missionaries are those that need financial support.
Missionaries that support themselves are rare indeed.

 

[Kenny_ms]

I believe there must be a call. But how do we know there is a call truly from God? When a church is blossoming?

We decide that's what we want to be and tell ourselves, that action of deciding was God calling us.

Of course I'm being a smart *** but, bet that happens more often than not in one form or another.

 

[Runner]

Pastors are a job that people take to make money.
Evangelists are those that know how to raise money.
Missionaries are those that need financial support.
Missionaries that support themselves are rare indeed.

Bingo! To a very large extent, supposed "Christian service" is "just another business." If I ever hear an evangelist say "I have written no books, I have no CDs, DVDs or t-shirts to send you, and frankly I don't even want to hear from you because I'm trusting God to support this ministry in whatever mysterious way He chooses," I'll send a check for $5,000. I'm not criticizing all pastors, evangelists and missionaries by any means, but I do believe these professions are deserving of a much higher level of skepticism than they receive. As I always remind my overly trusting wife, "To be a successful fraud, you have to be good at it. Obvious frauds don't last very long." If all pastors and televangelists were capped at some livable wage like $50,000 a year with no possibility of earning more, see how many of them would still feel the "call" to Christian service. The gods of human nature are money, sex and power, and this is unfortunately as true in Christian service as in other professions. Those whose god is the real God are, as you say, rare indeed.

 

[Michael74]

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers Ephesians 4:11 NIV

 

[Classik]

Pastors are a job that people take to make money.
Evangelists are those that know how to raise money.
Missionaries are those that need financial support.
Missionaries that support themselves are rare indeed.

sad

 

[Classik]

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers Ephesians 4:11 NIV

Good defending

 

[Obadiah]

Funny how discussions of pastors (who should really be respected and admired highly among our Christian brothers) always turns to demonizing them for doing the same thing all the rest of us do, trying to make a living and providing for families. But maybe we need to define what kind of "call" are we talking about. When a true Christian prays for guidance in their lives and suddenly feels God leading them in a certain way regarding ministry, it is often referred to as God "calling" them into whatever it might be. Then on the other hand, many times we talk about a church "calling" a pastor. That's nothing more than Christianeze for "you applied for this job we were offering, and we want to hire you." Those are to very different uses of the word "call" and knowing which one you are referring to makes a big difference in how we respond to your question.

 

[By Grace]

Can anyone choose to be a pastor? Is there really a need for a call? How about being an evangelist or a missionary

If you are called to be a pastor, you absolutely know it.

Absolutely nothing else satisfies your soul.
Absolutely nothing else causes your soul grief
Absolutely nothing else keeps you from "throwing in the towel"
Absolutely nothing else can make your heart leap for joy as to disciple a newbie, or lead another into salvation.
Absolutely nothing exhausts you more than to give out 30+ hours of study in a 35 minute sermon.
Absolutely nothing else awes you when you go "off script" and are anointed to say something that Holy Spirit is telling you at that moment. (Sometimes you will not remember it,or sometimes it can be a prophetic word, which is as scary as it is awesome.)
​

If indeed you believe that God is calling you, contact your pastor, and tell him, asking him to mentor you until you make a decision. Also do not be afraid of grad school. f you are called, God will enable you, even in those pesky languages of Koine Greek and Hebrew, which I believe are essentials for EVERY pastor or missionary

 

[By Grace]

Pastors are a job that people take to make money.

The priests of the OT were supported by the tithes of the worshipers, and Jesus says even the oxen can eat the grain that they are grinding. So do you not believe that a servant is worth his hire?

Evangelists are those that know how to raise money.

So do sales people, PBS and Christian radio. It is not money that is evil; rather it is the LOVE of money that is evil

Missionaries are those that need financial support.

Do you not support your family and tithe to your church?

Missionaries that support themselves are rare indeed.

No. Like some other pastors, they are called "bi-vocational". Which do you think is better for a missionary to go to a foreign land, learn the language and preach the Gospel while working on a job, or to do all that AND be supported by other folks so h/she can get onto the field quicker?

As you might guess, I have a different perspective than you on those things.

 

[Edward]

Can anyone choose to be a pastor? Is there really a need for a call?

How about being an evangelist or a missionary

Since man and the earth were created, it was God's garden, and the souls of mankind is it's fruit. The will of God is a desire for a big harvest. We're all pastors and ministers brothers and sisters. It's just that most of our ministries are private to your circle of friends & family and so forth. (John 20:21, John 14:6) This is for all the believers and not just the disciples.

Mark 16:15-16
15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned./(KJV)

Romans 10:
14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!/(KJV)

However, lots of people do not go to church. They say that, be careful how you speak because you are the only church that some people may ever see. Be ready to give an answer for your faith. To give your own testimony at least. We're supposed to sow seeds of love and the gospel into the hearts of others. At least sow seeds and give testimonials among friends & acquaintances. It is in this respect that we are all indeed pastors on some level.

 

[Michael74]

For many are called, but few are chosen. Matthew 22:14KJV

 

[Rollo Tamasi]

The priests of the OT were supported by the tithes of the worshipers, and Jesus says even the oxen can eat the grain that they are grinding. So do you not believe that a servant is worth his hire?


So do sales people, PBS and Christian radio. It is not money that is evil; rather it is the LOVE of money that is evil


Do you not support your family and tithe to your church?


No. Like some other pastors, they are called "bi-vocational". Which do you think is better for a missionary to go to a foreign land, learn the language and preach the Gospel while working on a job, or to do all that AND be supported by other folks so h/she can get onto the field quicker?

As you might guess, I have a different perspective than you on those things.

By Grace, we don't see eye to eye but I would like to answer you so you can understand me a little better.
I am one of those people who faithfully go to church every week for my 30 years of being saved.
I think what I see can be honestly stated, which is what I did.
1. First off, priests served in the Temple 2 weeks a year, they supported themselves the rest of the time.
2. How much is a servant worth?
Good question. How much should we pay our Sunday School teachers?
Or our ushers?
Or our elders?
Or our deacons?
3. Evangelists find a nice living when they raise money.
All evangelists I've ever know personally work for free and are pleased with serving God this way.
No, they don't travel the world, they don't go from church to church, they aren't on tv.
These evangelists are out in the streets proclaiming the Word of God.
4.Me saying that missionaries need support and that few support themselves is a fact.
It was not meant to be a positive or negative statement, just the way I see it.
You ask if I support my family?
I assume to mean to include the missionaries in my church as being part of my family.
Yes, I support my missionaries.
But then you ask if I tithe?
Yes, I do have a fruit tree in my backyard, but no, I do not give every tenth piece of fruit to the church so that they can feed the poor.
5. And then you finish with bi-vocational pastors and missionaries.
I would like to see my pastor get out and do something besides giving 2 sermons a week and going on pastor seminars around the country 4-5 times a year.
I really don't know what else he does.
But he gives a great sermon.
Is that worth a full time salary?
Missionaries need support, mostly because nobody has a calling like the Apostle Paul.
Nobody.

 

[th1b.taylor]

Well, there are a lot of opinions, aren' t there? I'm not a Pastor but have been known to take the Pulpit when it was needed to be so. Before the MS took me so far down, if the door was open, I was there and from my First Call I taught. I knew I had been called because my wife knew I was being troubled by God to teach and so did my Pastor, without me telling either one of them.

I was seated on the last Pastoral Selection Committe and the first time our present Pastor walked into the interview I knew he was the man God was calling and when we narrowed the field to two men I stood against the other six members until they went to hear both men preach. I was praying throughout the entire process and I was not impressed by the polish of the older man but rather, I did my best to let God speak to my heart and we voted in the younger School Teacher, Simenay Graduate.

We we attempt to do God's Work, we tend not to be reverent and that is not what God will have us to do. The Church ends up with the wrong man, often, because we try to do on our own instead of looking to see where and with or on whom God is working and then moving to join God in His work. If we will stop looking for a Saul of our very own and will listen to God we will not pick, just, somebody to fill the gap.

 

[tim-from-pa]

Can anyone choose to be a pastor? Is there really a need for a call?

How about being an evangelist or a missionary

You have to be called.... first to be a Christian, and then to what God would have for you to do.

Ephesians 4:11 is a prime example of what I am saying, because we are the body; he is the head. Last time I looked at any body, it was the head doing the thinking and deciding except for maybe hot-blooded teenagers and lunatics.

Not trying to be critical, but merely asking the question hints to me that you need to focus more on the the Lord being the Lord and not our own agenda out of good intentions. I mean, it's almost a given that we don't do anything outside the Lord's authority and what he said in His word. Perhaps a better question would be if everyone was called. Certainly there's pastors out there who were not called to the ministry, and even if they were called, went astray.

 

[By Grace]

By Grace, we don't see eye to eye but I would like to answer you so you can understand me a little better.
I am one of those people who faithfully go to church every week for my 30 years of being saved.
<SNIP>

Thank you for your reply and your opinion. But I can state that your opinion is surely based upon not knowing the facts about the duties of a pastor, and the time that it takes to do each. Properly, the term is called ignorance, and I use that word in a non-condemning way; in no stretch of the imagination do I insinuate that you are an ignoramus or anything nasty. My purpose is to give you a different perspective, and not to "best you in a discussion". That is childish. Then dont try to do it reba

Below are some duties of a pastor; some are daily, others are weekly. Should you chose to reply, I would like you to copy the chart below place the number of hours that you believe that a pastor should devote to each. Just to get an idea of what I am doing, I filled in a few categories as examples. Feel free to add any duties that you believe a pastor should do, which I omitted.

Activity Hours Daily Hours Weekly

Personal Devotions 1 7

Study for Each Sermon/Bible study 2 14
Multiply by each (X3) 6 42

Sermon Prep & Delivery

Visitation of Congregation

Visitation to Hospitals

Reading Local Newspapers

Meetings

Denominational Paperwork

Preparation of Bulletin

Personal Study of Bible

Further Education

Doing Church Business

Planning Future Events

Add Others

Travel to & from Above


Thank you for your time in doing this!

Sorry that neither the chart, nor the special formatting came through. :-(

 

[reba]

Not all pastors are in for the money... I am a PK ( preachers kid) Dad most often had a second job that would support the family..Years later when we were grown he was blessed with not having a second job...
The things that ByGrace listed are only part of what can be done...
getting late night calls because so and so are fighting... The plea of the drunkerds wife to go find him... Living in a small town with school students living 20 miles away and missing the bus guess who they call and know a good hearted guy will get them home..
Counseling when God takes the baby home
Cleaning up the mess left by the former jerk of a pastor.. spiritually .. emotionally and financial

Some pastors can never be paid in dollars for what they do... Sadly some only have dollars...