How do you 'pastor' somebody?

[Abiding Now]

How do you 'pastor' somebody?

FIRST and this is an absolute FIRST, take their money, get as much as you can, then make unreasonable demands upon them for more money, call them names from the pulpit, don't let them go on vacations, intimidate them every Sunday and Wednesday. Ughhhh, at least that's what I read around here.

tic

[hometown guy]

Originally Posted by Abiding Now

How do you 'pastor' somebody?

FIRST and this is an absolute FIRST, take their money, get as much as you can, then make unreasonable demands upon them for more money, call them names from the pulpit, don't let them go on vacations, intimidate them every Sunday and Wednesday. Ughhhh, at least that's what I read around here.

tic

Lol

[houston]

Originally Posted by Abiding Now

How do you 'pastor' somebody? FIRST and this is an absolute FIRST, take their money, get as much as you can, then make unreasonable demands upon them for more money, call them names from the pulpit, don't let them go on vacations, intimidate them every Sunday and Wednesday. Ughhhh, at least that's what I read around here. tic

sounds about right

[phareztamar]

Originally Posted by Steve Epley

First comes the call and burden.
Your burden is to pray for their spiritual well being and seek God for messages that will perfect-encourage-and bless them.
You watch for their souls to lead-admonish-and yes sometimes to reprove and rebuke them to keep them in the narrow path.
You are grieved when you see them making wrong decisions that will affect adversely themselves and their families.
God has placed you in their lives to feed them which means to care for them. Simple but there it is.

Amen pastor.

[Abiding Now]

Originally Posted by Abiding Now

How do you 'pastor' somebody?

FIRST and this is an absolute FIRST, take their money, get as much as you can, then make unreasonable demands upon them for more money, call them names from the pulpit, don't let them go on vacations, intimidate them every Sunday and Wednesday. Ughhhh, at least that's what I read around here.

tic

Oh yeah, you tell them that you pastor the ONLY church where they can be saved and if they leave, they are reprobates. tic

[n david]

Originally Posted by Abiding Now

Oh yeah, you tell them that you pastor the ONLY church where they can be saved and if they leave, they are reprobates. tic

[KeptByTheWord]

Originally Posted by Esaias

The problem is most 'pastors' on this board do not seem to match the biblical definition of 'pastor', in that most pastors on this board believe in and support the 'one man, one church' sole pastorship model rather than the biblical model.

Originally Posted by Esaias

but I have never seen a church functioning Biblically, with a plurality of elders having the oversight and teaching house to house (ie spending time with each family or household teaching them sound doctrine).

As someone pointed out on the other thread... 'who pastors the pastor?'

I hold no grudge against those who pastor, however, as you have pointed out, the biblical model of ministry is almost impossible to find, and we have lived in many parts of the country, attended different churches/organizations and have never found this biblical ministry.

Originally Posted by Abiding Now

How do you 'pastor' somebody?

FIRST and this is an absolute FIRST, take their money, get as much as you can, then make unreasonable demands upon them for more money, call them names from the pulpit, don't let them go on vacations, intimidate them every Sunday and Wednesday. Ughhhh, at least that's what I read around here.

tic

This actually perfectly describes the pastor I had for over twenty years, as a child growing up, and it is not an exaggeration. Certainly, not a biblical interpretation of pastor. This pastor particularly enjoyed calling names from the pulpit, and publicly humiliating those in the congregation. Fear and manipulation were his main tools. He did fellowship with Epley in years past, although I don't know that they are in fellowship any longer .

[MissBrattified]

Originally Posted by Esaias

The problem is most 'pastors' on this board do not seem to match the biblical definition of 'pastor', in that most pastors on this board believe in and support the 'one man, one church' sole pastorship model rather than the biblical model.

As a result, their views as to what a pastor's job is, will likely be biased towards the particular model they are part of.

Brother Epley's response demonstrates his concern for the spiritual well-being of the people who look to him as their shepherd. However, I can't help but think that brother Epley has limited himself because of his views on the nature of eldership, oversight, church structure, etc.

My personal experience has been that 'pastors' generally are focused on two things - Doing good sermons, and making sure everybody in the church is paying tithes and not rocking the boat. The pastor has 'the vision' for the church, everybody else is a helpmate to achieve his vision. Anyone who has a different 'vision' is invited to find another church (or worse...). I have personally known pastors who are wonderful Christians, and others who seem to be nothing more than hired help, managers running a business, but I have never seen a church functioning Biblically, with a plurality of elders having the oversight and teaching house to house (ie spending time with each family or household teaching them sound doctrine).

As someone pointed out on the other thread... 'who pastors the pastor?'

[Often unattainable] Ideals aside, I believe most pastors have good hearts and are in it for the right reasons. Even if the system is messed up, that doesn't mean they aren't doing God's work as best as they can and as best as they know how to do it. That also doesn't mean that God isn't in it and they aren't still His messengers.

Systemic changes often take decades or even centuries to accomplish. In the meantime, people have to work within the structure they've been handed. You have to work for change while you're still working with what you have.

There are some men who are no doubt in the pastoring field for the money and maybe even some perceived glamour, but that isn't the majority. It can't be, because most pastoring positions are markedly unglamorous and don't offer much in the way of monetary gain.

Regarding money...just a thought: My Dad struggled and got frustrated with people who didn't give tithes and offerings--not because HE wanted the money, but because there were church bills that had to be paid. When there wasn't enough money in the church coffers, he paid the bills out of his personal accounts, and often put tithes money right back into the church to cover mortgage payments, utilities, etc. Asking for money isn't always a sign of personal greed. In fact, IMO, it's unbiblical for a pastor to NEED to ask for money. If a local church was operating biblically, the saints would be dividing up the bills among themselves and paying for them. (Sharing things equally.) That load was never intended to be on the pastor alone.

[Esaias]

Originally Posted by MissBrattified

[Often unattainable] Ideals aside, I believe most pastors have good hearts and are in it for the right reasons. Even if the system is messed up, that doesn't mean they aren't doing God's work as best as they can and as best as they know how to do it. That also doesn't mean that God isn't in it and they aren't still His messengers.

Systemic changes often take decades or even centuries to accomplish. In the meantime, people have to work within the structure they've been handed. You have to work for change while you're still working with what you have.

There are some men who are no doubt in the pastoring field for the money and maybe even some perceived glamour, but that isn't the majority. It can't be, because most pastoring positions are markedly unglamorous and don't offer much in the way of monetary gain.

Regarding money...just a thought: My Dad struggled and got frustrated with people who didn't give tithes and offerings--not because HE wanted the money, but because there were church bills that had to be paid. When there wasn't enough money in the church coffers, he paid the bills out of his personal accounts, and often put tithes money right back into the church to cover mortgage payments, utilities, etc. Asking for money isn't always a sign of personal greed. In fact, IMO, it's unbiblical for a pastor to NEED to ask for money. If a local church was operating biblically, the saints would be dividing up the bills among themselves and paying for them. (Sharing things equally.) That load was never intended to be on the pastor alone.

Hi, I am Esaias, and I approve this post.

[Michael The Disciple]

A Pastor is a Shepherd. He is first of all a friend. To shepherd someone is certainly not primarily a pulpit job.