PASTORAL THEOLOGY
LECTURE 22
PASTOR & TEACHER
Feed My Sheep
Jn 21:2,3,11,12,15-17
2 There were together Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples.
3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
11 Simon Peter went up, and drew the net to land full of great fishes, and hundred and fifty and three: and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken.
12 Jesus saith unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord.
15 So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
16 He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
17 He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
Peter was going to be left to take over the role of ‘chief shepherd’ of that flock (the church of Jerusalem).
But, Peter was not fully committed to being a shepherd that would feed (teach) them yet. His infamous statement “I go a fishing” painfully showed that. Jesus Christ had to make sure that Peter was going to be committed to feeding His sheep (teaching).
It was very, very important to Jesus Christ that this would be done, and done faithfully and whole-heartedly. If the shepherd really loves Jesus Christ, he will make very sure to feed (teach) His sheep (the church folk). Pastor, don’t say that you love the Lord if you aren’t very much involved and committed to feeding (teaching) His sheep (the church folk)! Peter had to be repremanded 3 times…it should have only taken one time.
So, pastor, don’t fall into the Peter Principle! Don’t have something of more interest take away from the teaching of the flock of God! Not even a secular work career! Not one’s family! Not a fun hobby! Not even preaching!
All pastor and no Teacher
Some pastors feel that they have the gift of pastor, but not teacher. They often will have some other man in the church teach the adult Sunday School class. They will have some other man in the church teach any Bible Study that might go on. They will send off all their ‘preacher boys’ to far away para-church Bible Colleges to have someone with the ‘gift’ teach and train them. And, the pastor will just stick with ‘pastoring’; which usually means he just wants to be the guy in charge; the one running things; The Pastor.
Another group is the ‘man of God’ who feels called to ‘preach’, but not to teach. He loves to pound the pulpit and rant and rave all over the platform. But, he avoids as much as he can informative organized lessons on the Bible. He can only seem to ‘preach’. There usually is little depth to the preaching. It’s all preach and no teach!
1 Tim 4:11 These things command and teach.Command it (preaching) and also teach it!
If he has the gift of pastor, then he has the gift of teacher
Eph 4:11-12 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
The sentence structure shows (by semicolons) that ‘pastors’ and ‘teachers’ go together. And that is a gift that is given to ‘some’…to some men. This is the only time in the New Testament where we see the term ‘pastors’ (there is no ‘pastor’). If they are two separate offices then they still go together as a gift to a man of God. Those that don’t buy this need to also evaluate this ‘qualification’ for pastors: 1 Tim 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
A pastor who won’t teach needs not to be in the pastorate. A pastor who can’t teach needs not to be in the pastorate. A pastor who doesn’t want to teach, but does anyways, needs not to be in the pastorate. And, conversely, a man of God who loves to teach but doesn’t really want to pastor, needs to go to other pastures. There are, in fact, many like this: they usually become professors at famous Bible Colleges after leaving a failed church.
What are you there for? - “conducting services”; “filling the pulpit”; “running the business”??? Your main job is feeding thosesheeps until they are perfect. God has equipped you with the gift of pastoring and teaching. If a pastor is not doing this, that pastor may need to go out to pasture…
2 Tim 1:11 Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
1 Tim 2:7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.
You are appointed to being a ‘teacher’, also. Don’t forget that dear pastor! God is grading you on how well you do at teaching. Don’t get out of balanced. This is serious stuff!
Apt to teach
1 Tim 3:2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
2 Tim 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
It is clear from these verses that a pastor must be ‘apt to teach’. Why is that? Well, being a pastor involves lots and lots of teaching! Tons of it! In fact, the majority of what a pastor does is ‘teaching’. Someone who is wanting to be a pastor, needs to show that he wants to be a teacher, also. He also needs to display an ‘aptitude’ for teaching. He should have had much experience at teaching in a variety of different venues; definitely including teaching adults. Aptitude can’t necessarily be learned. It has to be inherently within you…gifted at it. And, of course, God gifts you via the Holy Spirit with this aptitude. This aptness should be very obvious. There shouldn’t be any doubts on whether or not this man seems apt to teach.
It doesn’t say ‘apt to preach’ here; though most grade the goodness of a pastor want-to-be on how good he preaches. It doesn’t say ‘apt to lecture’ either. Lecturing is for the dead, stale, science halls of universitidom. He is to show that he can teach. Anyone can lecture (read information from a book or notes). Interestingly, nothing is said in the so-called ‘qualifications’ listing about ‘preaching’! But it does about ‘teaching’!
This aptness to teach will be displayed in those that he is teaching learning a whole bunch from him. He will have the aptitude to present the information in such a way that the students (disciples) can well learn it. A pastor who doesn’t seem to be able to get the students to learn things well, might not have the aptness. A pastor who doesn’t seem to teach well, might not have the aptness. A pastor who just lectures when he teaches, might not have the aptness (i.e. might not have the gift of Pastor-Teacher).
Also, this aptitude isn’t fully grown right at inception (i.e. salvation). It needs to blossom through time. Thus, the pastor-teacher will get better and better in his teaching abilities because he has the aptitude for it. He doesn’t start out as an amazingly awesome teacher; but, he should start out with a flicker of aptitude showing itself, at least.
How much should you teach them?
The Satanic ‘clergy-laity’ entity has greatly promoted keeping the church members uninformed, uneducated, dumb, in order to be able to ascert control over them. The Catholic Church has done this for 1200+ years and this is the main reason the system has so much control over its adherants. Communist governments practice the same thing: China executed all ‘professionals’ (college educated) in their country in order to keep the people reliant on the ‘masters’ in government for all their needs. America is fast becoming much like China in this (short of executions).
The man of God should not fear his disciples. He should try and make them better than he ever was. He should attempt to cause them to attain to more knowledge of the Bible than they ever had at that age. Reproduce a better product than you are. Get excited when someone in the congregation knows more than you do on a given subject; don’t get mad or embarrassed. It’s all for the glory of God!
Mark 6:34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
2 Tim 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
The teacher needs to pass on tons of information to his students, his disciples, the church members. The Bible has enough information in it to easily take a lifetime to effectively teach. Matthew 28:20 surely declares that there is a lot to be teaching.
Matt 28:19,20 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with youalway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Pastor-Teachers need to not ‘shun’ declaring unto their church ‘all the counsel of God’…and that’s the whole Bible!
Acts 20:27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
1 Cor 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you…
The pastor is to deliver to the church folk that which he has received of the Lord; that which he has been taught. Yes, the pastor-teacher is to teach his BibleCollege classes to his disciples (not verbatim though).
John 15:15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
Jesus Christ taught His disciples ‘all things’ that He was instructed; thus a pastor-teacher needs to do the same.
How much teaching should the pastor-teacher be doing, anyway? One hourlong Sunday School a week? A Bible Study here and there throughout the month? Bible studies every night of the week? Twenty hours of BibleCollege instruction a week?! Every waking hour teaching the beloved disciples???!!!!
Luke 19:47 And he taught daily in the temple. But the chief priests and the scribes and the chief of the people sought to destroy him,
Acts 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Acts 20:20 And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,
Acts 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Education level
“Hello Doctor Hifalutant; nice to meet you.” “We will be having as our guest preacher, Doctor Sam Arrowghance.” Good evening, my name is Doctor Empressev, and I pastor the Ecumenical Cathedral of SanFransicko.”
Should those pastors that have ‘earned doctorates’ (or even honorary doctorates) use that in their title? Isn’t it a bit ‘over the top’ for the servants of God? Should we call all those with Master of Divinity degrees, “Master”?! And, those with Bachelor of Theology degrees, “Bachelor”?!
If you look at any of the IFB conferences going on in America, they typically market them by using the title “Doctor” in front of most, if not all their speakers. Thus, if you don’t have a doctorate, then you probably won’t be invited to speak. This is classic for the Sword of the Lord conferences.
Extra credit: A perfectly good reason why a woman should not be a pastor is because….
1 Tim 2:12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
She cannot be a teacher of men; thus, she cannot be a pastor-teacher.
In large, economically robust, cities, where many of the citizens have college degrees, the pastor having a
Masters or Doctorate degree can prove very beneficial; of course, it is not necessary. Potential visitors might be curious to what level of education the man that they may want to be their teacher of the word of God has. If they have a Masters, they surely might want the same from their Teacher. It would be an odd thing for a man to go to ‘Silicon Valley’ to start a church, with him having been trained kind of OJT with his pastor in Crawdad Creek, Arkansas. Another oddity is the pastor with triple doctorate degrees going to the jungles of Africa as a Missionary.
I believe it to be wise for local church trained pastors to be awarded a Bachelor’s, or Master’s, degree, and not something called a “Certificate”.
Should a pastor shoot for getting a Masters or a Doctorate? I think it is perfectly reasonable. However, he should do it because he wants to learn and because he wants to relate better with the people in the community, and not do it to be impressive.
Should a pastor ever stop learning? Of course not. Should he ever stop learning in a formal instruction venue (i.e. college)? Formal education (meaning a structured curriculum based type) can be very helpful to keep the pastor ‘accountable’ to continued learning. In the medical profession, it is required to have CME’s every 2 years (Continuing Medical Education credits). Though, a pastor should be motivated enough to continue on his own at learning the Bible. He should always be studying it as he prepares sermons and lessons. And, if he is actively teaching a BibleCollege (or Institute) then he will be learning plenty there. But, there is the temptation for some pastors to feel like they’ve arrived once their ministry is ‘successful’ and they cool down on all the learning and start ‘enjoying’.
To be an effective teacher, one must be an effective learner. They must be challenging themselves with more knowledge so that they will have the fire within to pass on to their students…to give them the fire also. The students will see that in their teacher and it will surely rub off on them some. Also, the teacher will lose it if they don’t use it. They may have emassed great knowledge in BibleCollege, but that was 20 years ago, and now they can’t seem to remember how John 3:16 goes. Once the teacher stops being taught himself, then he stops being a teacher (in my humble opinion). The best teacher is the one who is an avid learner. He will always be coming up with new and challenging truths for his students to ponder.
Be a good minister of Jesus Christ:
1 Tim 4:6 If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.
Teaching elders vs pastor
1 Tim 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
“Some churches, particularly under Presbyterian polity, make a distinction between teaching and ruling elders. This distinction rests upon 1Timothy 5:17, James 3:1 and other passages. The distinction is made that some elders are called to teach and govern while others are called to govern only. Within this distinction, there are two-office and
three-office views. The two-office view sees the church offices as elder and deacon. The three-office view sees the church offices as minister, elder, and deacon. Under the two-office view, teaching is a gift that all elders possess and all (pastor or overseer) receive their ordination from the same source. Under the three-office view, teachers or ministers in the church possess not only a separate gifting but also a separate office. Under the three-office view in Presbyterianism, ministers (or teaching elders) are ordained by the presbytery while ruling elders and deacons are ordained by the
‘Pastor’ Melissa Scott (Catholic); a famous teacher (how sad) minister in the local congregation. In Presbyterianism, all elders (both teaching and ruling) are eligible for participation in church courts (congregational session, presbytery, synod, general assembly). Those holding to the three office view are more likely to hold to a distinct demarcation between clergy and laity.” (Wikipedia)