The role of the pastor of a local church is unique in some ways from other believers’ and yet has many things also in common with them. It is helpful here to draw a distinction between the church member and the Senior Pastor of the local church; that is, the one who is called to be the overseer of the body of believers.

In Ephesians 4:11ff a distinction of giftedness is made by Paul between those who have leadership gifts and those who are gifted in other ways. According to this passage of Scripture, the purpose of the gifts to be pastors, evangelists, apostles, etc are for the equipping of the saints for service; to build up the Body of Christ. I have heard it said by a mentor of mine that the pastor’s job is to work himself out of a job. By this he meant that the role of the pastor is such that he is working to attune himself to the word of God and understand it so thoroughly that he may communicate it to the congregation in order that they may in turn be moved to service. Continue Reading »