Hard questions from real people, both believers and unbelievers, require solid, accurate, Biblically-based answers. Bible doctrine must be taught from the pulpit and must also be learned by everyday people who attend our churches. Pastors must be objective and remain objective in the Gospel declaration, regardless of ego and familiar faces in the congregation.
Critical Biblical Details In Profiling A New Pastor
“These things (doctrinal principles) also you have learned (manthano – Koiné Greek – means under strict academic discipline) and received (metabolized – accepted as true) and heard and seen in me (Paul), practice these things (put into continuous action) and our God of peace shall be with you.”
The Plan of God for the believer is to learn, understand, believe, and apply Bible doctrine (Biblical Truth) in everyday life.
When we are taught under the spiritual authority of our pastor-teacher and believe the teaching, we are to then meditate and process what we have learned, and apply those things to life circumstances, with faith. In doing so, we are equipped for spiritual warfare in our everyday lives. Equipped with what? Doctrine! This is God’s purpose for every believer.
1 Timothy 2:3 summarizes God’s plan for doctrinal instruction: “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.” Here we see that God desires that all men should be saved and learn God’s Truths.
Learning and applying Bible doctrine is how we live the spiritual life and it is how God blesses us, and we glorify Him as a result.
In Ephesians 4:13, Paul states it like this: “Until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man (advancing believer), to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Notice also the use of the word ‘unity.’
Unity is another result of doctrine in our souls when believers in the local congregation are taught Biblical principles and categories from the Word of God. A body of believers united in study and service is unstoppable. Why? Because God is glorified when we follow His plan.
This is the order in which we learn and execute God’s plan for proper spiritual growth: Study, believe, metabolize, and apply Scripture. The congregation can fulfill none of these requirements effectively unless they are taught by the right pastor-teacher, one who knows how to study and teach the Word of God.
When we receive the Word, believe the Word, and metabolize and apply the Word, God is glorified and His plan for the believer’s life advances. When we all learn together, believe together, and then apply the teaching of our pastor, the church becomes stronger and more unified. We are like a marching army with our Lord Jesus Christ leading the way to the high ground of fullness in Christ – this is true spiritual maturity.
To summarize: The Word of God must be in us and it must be understood, believed, processed, and made ready for battle, but the battle is the Lord’s. This is God’s plan for you and me – for our church-body of believers. Therefore we must have a leader who understands these principles and teaches these principles.
The pastor cannot communicate what he does… not… know.
The responsibility of the pastor-teacher, first and foremost, is to communicate Bible doctrine in the academic classroom, which is the auditorium of the church on Sunday morning. The church must be a teaching ministry. Biblical principles must be taught both categorically and systematically from the pulpit.
What do we mean by the words categorically and systematically? We mean teaching subject matter by topics or subjects, starting with the foundation of “salvation” and “after salvation what?” and then continuing the journey, going deeper and deeper.
After salvation, the pastor must teach us so that we can function in life as God intended. We do that by applying what we have learned. It is critical that we, as believers, understand the following:
- The Deity of Jesus Christ
- Doctrine of Salvation
- Doctrine of Justification
- Eternal Security
- The Grace of God
- Angelic Warfare
- Judgment Seat of Christ
- The Mystery Doctrine, which is the current Church Age
- Filling of the Holy Spirit
And these are just a few. There is so much to learn, so much that God wants us to know and use in our daily lives, that absolutely no pastor out there should be struggling to come up with a sermon each week.
An important side-note: If the pastor shows up for two morning services on Sunday and is rarely seen or heard from again until the next Sunday, that’s a pastor the congregation can do without. If you’re not being taught anything, then it’s time you ask yourself why. Whether you are or you are not, all fingers should point directly at the pastor.
Learning God’s Word by categories, as stated previously, is like fitting together the pieces of a puzzle. There are hundreds of fascinating categorical studies that every believer must metabolize on the road to spiritual maturity. We cannot function in the plan of God if we are not grounded in Bible doctrine – in fact, we cannot mature spiritually without doctrine. We cannot grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (as we are commanded by God to do) without the right pastor-teacher.
Again, I’m not talking preaching, I’m talking teaching, as in a University-type setting. The pastor must instruct the Bible students (congregation) in the Word of God as in an academic classroom.
Christians are preached to death from all angles, and preaching is mere milk. Preaching is telling the congregation what they already know… again and again and again, ad nauseam. And they learn… nothing.
What we need is instruction in Biblical studies (the MEAT of the Word) two times Sunday morning, once Sunday evening, and at least once (if not twice) during the week, plus pastor-led prayer meetings, etc. Without proper and frequent instruction, we will remain babes in Christ when our command from the Lord Himself is to grow!
How can we know which person is the right pastor-teacher? By his academic training? By his personality? By his teaching? The correct answer is all of the above, but most of all it is the message not the messenger!
Again, the pastor cannot communicate what he does not know. Therefore, his life must revolve around a joyous devotion to studying and teaching the Word of God. He must look forward to countless hours of study under the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Colossians 1:24-29).
The pastor’s personality is not to be the main issue in the selection process. Pastors are human beings and should not be placed on a pedestal by members of the congregation – they too have ‘feet of clay.’ Placing our faith in a pastor because he is a dynamic speaker and a charismatic person is not following Scriptural guidelines, plus it sets us up for a fall.
When we place our faith in a pastor because he is dynamic, we are trusting the pastor, not the Lord. When believers idolize the pastor, they enter the gates of iconoclastic arrogance (placing someone on a pedestal). This is a trap of the devil. If and when the pastor slips into sin, the result is the congregation being shocked to a point where some never return to the church or to the Lord. They quit the plan of God because they idolized the pastor and not the Savior. Unrealistic expectations only serve to distract us from God’s plan.
We must be occupied with Christ! We are not to be preoccupied with the pastor. Again, it is the message – the teaching that comes from the pulpit, not the ‘rosy Sunday glow.’
The apostle Paul was anything but personable. He was short and mostly bald. He didn’t have a dynamic speaking voice. He did not try to impress his listeners with how great he was or through showmanship – Paul had no showmanship at all. But God blessed Paul’s ministry unlike any other teacher in the Bible. Paul stuck with doctrine. He followed the leading of the Holy Spirit, and the result was he became the greatest teacher who ever lived. He was a teacher of accuracy. He always went to the point and never feared reprisal.
The spiritual authority of the pastor is taught in Hebrews 13:7: “Remember those who led (taught) you, who spoke (taught) the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:17a: “Obey your leaders (pastors) and submit for they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account.” Pray for your pastor that he will be devoted to a life of study and teaching by the Holy Spirit.
The pastor is responsible directly to the Lord for his teaching ministry. Be aware before you decide to become a pastor, there is a double price to pay when you get out of line through sin or through not instructing your congregation accurately (Luke 12:48; 1 Timothy 5:17; James 3:1).
Paul gives us wisdom regarding the ‘profile’ of a pastor.
He is to be many things, but most importantly he is an overseer and teacher. He is the appointed shepherd (guardian); he is a servant ordained by the Good Shepherd for active duty. Paul highlighted some very important characteristics that the pastor and other leaders must have so we know what to look for in the selection process. In Ephesians 4:11-16, the Pastor is to equip the saints for service by teaching God’s Word.
In Colossians 1:23-29, the pastor is to rejoice in his sufferings for the body of Christ and carry out the teaching of the Word, inculcating the congregation with doctrine so that he may present them “complete” (mature) in Christ – this is the pastors primary responsibility as commanded by God.
In 1 Timothy 3:1-9, the pastor must be above reproach, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, gentle, and free from the love of money.
In 2 Timothy 2:24-26, the pastor must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition.
In Titus 1:6-9, the pastor is not quick tempered, not addicted to wine, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.
In closing, there are several Bible Seminaries that can be called for pastoral referral. Chafer Theological Seminary in California is one of them. Chafer produces some of the finest pastors in Christianity today. Lewis Sperry Chafer was the founder and first president of Dallas Theological Seminary more than fifty years ago. May I suggest that the leadership of your church contact these great institutions in the search for God’s selection if a pastor-teacher is needed.
This in-depth look at how to choose a new pastor/teacher goes hand-in-hand with The Importance of Systematic Theology. Please reference this important subject.
Walk With Me
I’d rather be taught by the pastor-teacher
Than preached to by the preacher;
I’d rather one would walk with me,
Than tell me where, and how, I ought to be.
Sermons give advice for everyone
But I’d sooner see it lived and done;
My eyes listen better than my ears
Vision seems to make hearing clearer.
C. S. Craig – October 10, 1997