Ministering in the church constitutes the highest privilege. Nothing could be more honorable or have greater eternal significance than serving our Christ in His church. This privilege is also the most serious responsibility a person can undertake. Fulfilling this privilege and discharging this responsibility demands a comprehension of the church and its ministries that is correct according to God’s Word. In order to grasp the issues of the church and establish that understanding as a foundation for ministry, we need to understand a few basic truths:
The ten items above are precisely why I love the church and have devoted my life to it. Understanding those truths is the foundation of effective ministry. Unless spiritual men devoted to these realities lead the church, the next generation of churches will not be without blemish. I am concerned over a growing trend to produce strong natural leaders who know how to manage a business or enterprise but do not understand the church from Christ’s perspective. Their leadership style and substance is earthly, not biblical and spiritual.
Some contemporary church leaders fancy themselves to be businessmen, media figures, entertainers, psychologists, philosophers, or lawyers. Those notions contrast sharply with the tenor of the symbolism Scripture employs to depict spiritual leaders.
In 2 Timothy 2, for example, Paul uses seven different metaphors to describe the rigors of leadership. He pictures the minister as a teacher (v. 2), a soldier (v. 3), an athlete (v. 5), a farmer (v. 6), a workman (v. 15), a vessel (vv. 20, 21), and a slave (v. 24). All such images evoke ideas of sacrifice, labor, service, and hardship. They speak eloquently of the complex and varied responsibilities of spiritual leadership. Not one of them makes leadership out to be glamorous.
That is because it is not supposed to be glamorous. Leadership in the church—and I am speaking of every facet of spiritual leadership, not just the pastor’s role—is not a mantle of status to be conferred on the church’s aristocracy. It is not earned by seniority, purchased with money, or inherited through family ties. It does not necessarily fall to those who are successful in business or finance. It is not doled out on the basis of intelligence or talent. Its requirements are blameless character, spiritual maturity, and, above all, a willingness to serve humbly.
Our Lord’s favorite metaphor for spiritual leadership, one He often used to describe Himself, was that of a shepherd, a person who tends God’s flock. Every church leader is a shepherd. The word pastor itself means “shepherd.” It is appropriate imagery. A shepherd leads, feeds, nurtures, comforts, corrects, and protects; responsibilities that belong to every churchman.
Shepherds are without status. In most cultures, shepherds occupy the lower rungs of society’s ladder. That is fitting, for our Lord said, “Let him who is the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as the servant” (Luke 22:26).
Under the plan God has ordained for the church, leadership is a position of humble, loving service. Church leadership is ministry, not management. The calling of the ones whom God designates as leaders is not to a position of governing monarchs but of humble slaves, not of slick celebrities but of laboring servants. Those who would lead God’s people must above all exemplify sacrifice, devotion, submission, and lowliness.
Jesus Himself gave the pattern when He stooped to wash His disciples’ feet, a task that was customarily done by the lowest of slaves (John 13). If the Lord of the universe would do that, no church leader has a right to think of himself as a pastoral elitist.
Shepherding animals is semiskilled labor. No colleges offer graduate degrees in shepherding. It is not that difficult a job; even a dog can learn to guard a flock of sheep. In biblical times, young boys—David, for example—herded sheep while the older men did tasks that required more skill and maturity.
Shepherding a spiritual flock is not so simple. It takes more than a wandering bumpkin to be a spiritual shepherd. The standards are high and the requirements hard to satisfy (1 Tim. 3:1–7). Not everyone can meet the qualifications, and of those who do, few seem to excel at the task. Spiritual shepherding demands a godly, gifted, multiskilled man of integrity. Yet he must maintain the humble perspective and demeanor of a shepherd boy.
With the tremendous responsibilities of leading God’s flock comes the potential for either great blessing or great judgment. Good leaders are doubly blessed (1 Tim. 5:17), and poor leaders are doubly chastened (v. 20), for “from everyone who has been given much shall much be required” (Luke 12:48). James 3:1 says, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment.”
People often ask me what I think is the secret to Grace Community Church’s development over the past thirty-five years. I always point out, first of all, that God sovereignly determines the membership of a church, and numbers alone are no gauge of spiritual success. In the midst of tremendous numerical growth, however, the spiritual vitality of our church has been remarkable. I am convinced God’s blessing has been on us primarily because our people have shown a strong commitment to biblical leadership and biblical ministry.
The leaders of Grace Church have endeavored to withstand the preoccupation some churches seem to have with self-esteem and the selfishness of our contemporary society. Our elders desire both to model and to proclaim Jesus’ call to discipleship: “He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life shall lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake shall find it” (Matt. 10:38, 39).
I love being a pastor. I love the work of ministry for a number of reasons:
The purpose of this volume is the equipping of those who understand and love the church so that they may serve that body with blessing and power by doing ministry biblically.
John MacArthur