Sometimes I will be asked, “Pastor Rich, what does it take to be a pastor?” I respond by asking, “Why are you thinking about it?” If the answer is yes, then I will give a more detailed explanation. If the answer is no, then I will merely share a very short reply.
But let’s say that the answer is “yes.” By and large, there are many factors that come into play, but the main one is a bona fide calling of God. You do not want to step into the position of a pastor unless you are certain God has called you.
Next, I will ask, “How are you as a student of the Scriptures?” The typical response I get is, “Yeah, I faithfully have my daily devotions.” I then reply, “You got a long way to go still. If all you do is have your daily devotions, then you are not doing nearly enough.”
Paul, told Titus who was a pastor on the island of Crete one pastoral responsibility that he had to take seriously: You need to “be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:6).
From this one phrase, we see that the one major responsibility that a pastor has is both positive and negative.
From the Positive Side
The pastor is called to exhort believers in sound doctrine. He is to spend much of his waking hours strengthening the saints in both the knowledge of God’s Word and their obedience to the Word.
The word, “exhort” basically means “to encourage.” It literally means “to call alongside of” for the purpose of giving support, strength and help. A pastor will exhort his people publicly from the podium on Sundays, but then needs to come along side of them and give private support and strength as well. The pulpit provides the scattering of the seed, while the private time involves adding water to the seed so that it will grow.
Therefore, I will ask the inquirer: “Are you good at exhorting people? Because much of your time will involve doing just that.”
Next Paul used the word, “sound” which comes from the Greek word from which we get our English word, “hygienic.” It has the basic meaning of being healthy and wholesome, referring to that which protects and preserves life.
What is said by Paul to be healthy and wholesome? Doctrine! Sound doctrine is what protects and preserves the spiritual health of God’s people. What is doctrine? All the teachings of the bible. It is the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:20, 27). Paul told the elders at Ephesus that while he was with them, he declared to them the “whole counsel of God.” He held nothing back. If the Word of God taught it, then Paul preached it.
Now in order to teach doctrine, it will become a demanding task. It will consume much of your time. You will have to do all you can to guard whatever time you have been allotted. There will be meetings for you to attend. There will be fellowships for you to show up at. There will be unexpected house call, hospital visits and emergencies that will come and take away from your study time in God’s Word. Some times others will be show up unannounced. Sometimes you will think to yourself, “I am just going into the store, pick up some eggs and hurry out.” Bu then someone you know sees you and wants to talk. What you thought was going to be less than five minutes, ends up being 20-30 minutes.
My point is this: Your study time in God’s Word will be tested. When you do get the time alone with God that you desired, you will want to sleep or do something else. You got to sit yourself down in your chair and not get up until you have dealt a major blow in understanding the bible passage that you are to preach on this coming Sunday. Your sides will hurt. Your stomach will growl. Your head will think of easier, faster and betters ways – use a DVD, find a guest speaker, preach an old sermon long forgotten, etc. If you are called to be a pastor, you must resist such side streets and go down the rough and long road of pain in order to master your knowledge of God’s Word.
Sure it is tough and hard and wearisome. This is why James said, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we shall incur a stricter judgment” (James 3:1). We pastors will one day give an account before the Lord on not only of the things we preached and taught, but also to what degree and intensity did we prepare our messages. The pastor must learn how to work both harder and smarter.
Therefore, simply doing your daily devotions is not nearly enough. Do not think that the only time you need to study God’s Word in depth is when you are scheduled to teach or preach it? You need to study God’s Word daily, and this is in addition to your devotions.
Here’s an example that I do which I learned along the way. For me, and I think for everyone else as well, the best way to learn God’s Word is through repetition (Isa. 28:10). This is why the bible puts a high premium on memorization (Ps. 119:11) and meditation (Josh. 1:8).
Here is how I go beyond just having my daily devotions. I take a book in the bible – now I am reading through the Book of 1 John and I read through it once a day for 30 days. I read through the book each time in one sitting through various translations. Then I spend the rest of the time reading through it gathering important data – such as words that are frequently used, topics that reoccur, and themes that stand out. I underline phrases, words, and read commentaries so I can understand the text and hear what others have to say about it. I write my own title for each chapter. I do this for 30 days – one reading per day. I do this so that after 30 days or reading through 1 John, I know the book much better than I did before. I also give God’s Word an opportunity to work in my heart and change me from within. I know what each chapter speaks about and I know where many of the verses are found just by knowing where such verses are on the pages of my bible.
On a shorter book like 1 John, I can do this, but longer books such as Matthew that has 28 chapters, reading it all in one sitting per day would be too long for me. So I divide the book into four sections of seven chapters. I read through the first seven chapters for 30 days. After the 30 days, I read through the next seven chapters for 30 days. After that, I read through the third section of seven chapters for 30 days, etc. until I complete the whole book. It will take me four months to read through the Book of Matthew 30 times. But once I am through, I understand Matthew a lot more than when I first started.
I do this with the Gospel of John, Luke and Mark. Longer New Testament books, I divide them into smaller sections at least seven chapters and read those chapters for 30 straight days, once per day in various translations to begin with and then settling down with the one translation I use most often – The New American Standard Bible. By this method, of reading each New Testament Book for 30 days, I will have read through the entire New Testament in two and a half years. Imagine the familiarity one will have of the New Testament?
I do not do this with the Old Testament because much of the Old Testament is narrative or story telling. But some books of the Old Testament I apply this method to, such as the wisdom books or books that are more didactic in nature – Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, Jeremiah, etc.
For example, I take one chapter in Proverbs and read it everyday for seven days. Every Sunday, I move onto a new chapter in the Book of Proverbs. I don’t switch chapters until I have read a chapter seven times once per day. I use the time to seek to understand every single proverb that is written. If I come across a proverb that I do not understand, I find out what it means, so when I read through it during the week, I know what it says and now have a greater idea on how to apply it to my life.
I also, seek to locate other examples in the bible that support a proverb. For example, in reading through Proverbs 27, verse 1 states: “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” I then try to seek examples elsewhere in the bible where this teaching is supported. So I remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6:25-34 and I write this in the margin of my bible next to Proverbs 27:1. I also remember that James says that “all boasting is evil” (James 4:16), so I write this passage down also in the margin of my bible next to Proverbs 27:1.
So by the time I have read through a chapter in Proverbs seven times, once per day for a week, I not only understand each Proverb better, but I also have great examples and illustrations to use to further support the principle. I don’t often time finish finding examples for all the proverbs, but I try to find as much as I can and then move on to the next chapter. I know that I will eventually come back and read the chapter I finished, and read it over again for seven days and pick up where I left off.
I have various web browsers on my iphone and bible applications which I use during the day for review of the chapters I’ve been reading.
Now this is all in addition to reading certain books, studying more depth certain bible passages, writing blogs, and I still have not gotten to my weekly sermons.
So when someone comes to me saying, “Pastor Rich, how does one become a pastor,” the one thing I look for is how great of a student of the bible the person is. He may not be that great to begin with – for that’s how it is with all of us in the beginning, but I try to ascertain, how much of a longing do you have to understand the Word of God?
If all you have on a consistent basis is merely your daily devotions that just won’t do. You got to be miles and miles – now watch this – ahead of the people you are called to shepherd and watch over. You cannot just keep in step with them or try to stay one or two steps ahead of them. You got to be way out in front in your knowledge and understanding and application of the bible. And if you are not way out in front, then you have no business pastoring a group of people.
In Words We Live By, Brian Burrell tells of an armed robber named Dennis Lee Curtis who was arrested in 1992 in Rapid City, South Dakota. Curtis apparently had scruples about his thievery. In his wallet the police found a sheet of paper on which was written the following code:
1. I will not kill anyone unless I have to.
2. I will take cash and food stamps—no checks.
3. I will rob only at night.
4. I will not wear a mask.
5. I will not rob mini-marts or 7-Eleven stores.
6. If I get chased by cops on foot, I will get away. If chased by vehicle, I will not put the lives of innocent civilians on the line.
7. I will rob only seven months out of the year.
8. I will enjoy robbing from the rich to give to the poor.
This thief had a sense of morality, but it was flawed. When he stood before the court, he was not judged by the standards he had set for himself but by the higher law of the state.
Likewise when we stand before God, we will not be judged by the code of morality we have written for ourselves but by God's perfect law.
Ask yourself, “How good of a student of the Scriptures am I?”
Tomorrow we will look at the negative side that Paul told Titus about.
