What are God’s commandments for a Pastor?
I have served Christ all my life and I have attended the church beginning with Catholic school. Over the years I have observed different Pastors and their calling to lead God’s flock. I have noticed a distinct change in the church and our leaders within the church. To fully understand both we must actively look at the word of God.
WHAT IS A PASTOR?
What is a Pastor? Do we really understand what a pastor is and his or her role in the church? A Pastor/ Elder and /or Bishop is a person elected by God and the church to oversee. The word Pastor is derived from the Latin word Pastour or Pasteur, which means Shepard. Shepard means feeder, a person who oversees the flock, and feeds them. The Latin of pāscō or pascere means to graze, feed, supply, maintain, and tend to. 1 Tim 6:10 The love of money is a root of all evil and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
When attending church or encountering a pastor we are expecting this person to be Christ like. Pastors are not the head of the Christian church. Jesus Christ is the head of the church and the Pastor is beneath Christ. He or she is held accountable to Christ first and those elected as board members to ensure the Pastor’s and administrative council are within the objectives of the church. Also upholding the biblical gospel and commandments to perform duties as a Shepard.
WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS TO BECOME A PASTOR?
The qualifications to become a Pastor have changed and no longer can a Pastor effectively and sufficiently lead the flock of Christ with just his or her desire. We all desire to serve Christ and we all fall short of his glory; however he is merciful in all he does. Today we expect a Pastor to have wisdom and knowledge of the Gospel of the Lord along with an intimate relationship with the Lord. A Pastor should have attended a bible college or have extensive training within a church and found acceptable to Christ and the church.
What are the Qualifications to become a Pastor?
A Pastor or Shepard should be
1. Blameless in the eyes of God and the church. He or she should be in good standing in both the kingdom of God and the Church.
2. Good marriage and home life that is equivalent to the standards that Christ gave and to the kingdom of God. If one’s private life is in disapproval of God’s commandments, then one cannot lead a flock. This includes family, friends, neighbors, etc.
3. A Pastor must be patient, hospitable, and has the aptitude to effectively teach and lead. We do expect our Pastors to be on 24/7 call. We expect to find a counsellor, and someone who will demonstrate the same love as Christ.
4. The Pastor must be mature and is called by Christ to lead his flock
5. A Pastor must be capable of preaching and ministering the word of God, that feeds the soul and honors Christ the head of the church.
God the father thought of everything before Christ died for our sins. God found that his children, us, needed someone they could touch and feel.
Each church can add to this list as they feel sufficient based on their expectations for a leader in their church. Each Pastor should have an anointing on his or her life and spiritually has power in the kingdom of God.
How much should a Pastor be paid?
The Bible has specific text on a Pastor receiving his pay from our tithes and offering. This is completely true, and I agree. We should care for our Pastors as they labor for us before the Lord in prayer and thanksgiving.
The question that most people inquire about is, where my tithes are and offerings going. The monies should be allocated based on membership, tithes and offerings received, and member attendance. The Pastor’s salary is based upon membership, tithes, and offerings; however if membership is low and those in attendance have economic hardship then the pastor’s salary is non-existent.
It is a sin to not pay tithes and offerings unto the Lord. We are not paying tithes and offerings to the Pastor directly; we are giving this offering to God. Now, the overseer has the responsibility of making sure the church is cared for i.e. bills, repairs, charity, wages, and supplies, etc. Oftentimes we receive a cheerful giver, and they will physically make an offering directly to the Pastor is perfectly acceptable.
Where we get a little muddled is, how many raises should a Pastor receive in a year or a term while actively leading? How much retirement money should the Pastor receive in the event he or she decides to retire? We see Pastors giving themselves raises on a quarterly basis, if membership is good and accounts receivables are high and stable.
God would want his Shepard to have a modest live style equivalent to his or her labor. Here is where things can become unclear, when we have some Pastors that refuse to meet with certain people from their flock. We have Pastors that only cater to the rich as opposed to those that are financially deficient. We also see Pastors that have several vessels of other Pastors working underneath the head Pastor.
Should a Pastor accept Celebrity status?
God is concerned with the intentions of our hearts. What is in our hearts when we become leaders for Christ?
Christ observes the allocation of monies as well as the Pastor’s finances. Christ was not a flashy guy, he walked everywhere for the most part and had a regular donkey. I am sure the people of the bible were watching the sky for their Messiah. I assume they expected to see Jesus descend from heaven in a gold chariot, gemmed trumpets and angels surrounding him.
God knew better than to do this, because of the Israelites. If you remember in the old testament in the book of Exodus when Moses delivered the Israelites from Egypt and Moses went to receive the ten commandments directly from God. He returned to find dancing around a golden calf. God observed our obsessive behavior for things of this world including jewels.
This is one of the reasons why God chose simplicity, he chose for Christ to appear cosmetically like the people he would be ministering too. God chose for Christ to experience human life from birth to adulthood. Christ worked along with his stepfather Joseph, and his other siblings. Christ the son of God is humble; he has no pride, or ego. God did not want us to praise Christ for his adorned Chariots, trumpets, or angels. God wanted us to hear him, to see the face of God in Christ, and to believe in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.
We now have Pastors obsessed with being praised for their worldly possessions versus their spiritual possessions. We have Pastors that require a fee to pray for a “breakthrough” to God. This is a sin, as stated earlier a Shepard is to guide and feed his flock. Jesus did not request an amount to any of the souls he delivered. We see Jesus speaking with the rich about the kingdom of God. Jesus requests that they offer 10% of their wages and/or monies to the Lord’s kingdom. We saw the rich boast and gave to be seen by their peers and not intent on God seeing them. Jesus comes across and old woman in the book of Matthew, who had no more than 2 pennies and in faith to God she gave those two pennies. Jesus praised her for not only her faith but her intention to please the father in heaven above. Pride leads to Satan and soon thereafter comes the fall.
When pastors refuse to travel in modest accommodations or they refuse to meet with people of a social economic class that may be lower, that is a sin. Besides being a sin or not being a sin it is rude; therefore breaking a few rules as stated above.
Can Pastors run the church as a business?
This is a yes and no answer to begin with. Churches file taxes, and their members file taxes; therefore accounting is apart of a business. The church has a responsibility to serve God, but the money received must be allotted and justified not only in the church’s eyes but the government. Pastor’s that fail to file taxes can be persecuted, fined, and jailed if fraud is suspected.
Biblically we see Jesus reprimand, and rebuked those that used the temples as a place to sell items. (John 2:23–25) The rebuke was not just towards the items, but at the lack of focus on God. Jesus warned the people not to turn to temple into an unholy ground, allowing thieves to come in. The temple should be treated as the house of God and those coming in should be there to be in his direct presence with God.
In closing, God is concerned with our hearts and our thoughts conscience and subconscious. God tells us that we sin in our hearts before we physically act upon the sin. Our Pastors need prayer, encouragement, and a modest allocation of funds to provide for himself and the church.
We must remember that the devil is always in the details; pride is a demon that works slowly and meticulous to steal us away from God.
If a Pastor is actively sinning, while actively serving then he cannot lead a flock, for they will fall into ruin. If a Pastor in a church, besides those faiths that do not allow marriage of a pastor, is unmarried and actively dating he should not lead a flock until married. I say this because the two can become muddled, quickly and sin soon follows. When dating one must be able to give time to their love interest. That entails dating, talking, meeting, intimacy and so on. As a Pastor God wants to be by his side 24/7 on universal time, except when outside the church with his wife and family. If you are a full- time pastor than your labor will be the church, family, community.
God observes his pastors and determines if they are a Cain laborer or a Able laborer when it comes to Pastoring for the Lord.
Pastors that have a 6,7,8, figure income run into becoming another Solomon. A wise and knowledgeable fool, that does not adhere to God’s call for righteousness.
Solomon fell because he believed he could not fall, and the enemy had other plans for him. Solomon’s insolence created one of the most intriguing blueprints in summoning and controlling demons. He fell from Grace when he entered into an agreement with all the demons from hell. Solomon created the Key of Solomon and is the founding father of other organizations, along with others from the bible. I hope this has been a helping hand and I implore you to research the word of God regarding his intentions for the Church and our Pastors. Be safe, be blessed! Happy Holidays
TITUS 1:5
5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:
6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
1Tim 3:1–16
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?
Hebrews 13:17
Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
2Tim 2:15
Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need
to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
Col 2:1–23
For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. …
2 Corinthians 3:1–18
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all. And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, …
Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Luke 22:26
But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves.
Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed
Mark 12:41–44
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. 42But a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, worth only a few cents. 43Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on.”
Source: Bible Gateway
Holy Bible
What Christians want to know.com
OpenBible.info.com
BibleHub.com
King’sJamesBibleonline.com
