A Pastor

The job of the pastor is the most important job in the world. I am not saying that it is most fun, highly paid, easiest or hardest of all jobs on earth. I am saying that it is the most important today. I am not saying that the Church has fully grasped a Biblical understanding of Apostle or Prophet in our day. I am not negating the cultural mandate. If we did practically work out those details, the situation of pastors could be different. For today, and in our current situation, the pastor is the most important job on earth.

Consider these reasons:

1. The entire Church on earth is essentially tens of thousands, even millions of congregations. Each one is led by a pastor. If the pastor fails, that corner of the kingdom of God fails. In this regard, the pastor holds the whole thing together.

2. Even when you look at higher ecclesiastical positions in churches, often the local churches make those positions of leadership possible. No healthy local church, then no healthy position of overseer, presbyter, bishop, cardinal, or even Pope. Why have positions of oversight when there is no one to oversee? Who pays the overseer? The local churches do.

3. In my estimation, all Christian ministries on the earth find their source of income and their base of ministry in the masses of people who are a part of a local church. Christian radio, missionaries, evangelists, traveling singers, Christian authors, Christian television and book stores all derive their existence on the foundation of the Church which is made of congregations led by pastors.

4. The direction of our culture, nation and world depends on the direction that pastors take their local congregation. For instance, when hundreds of pastor decide that abortion is good, then the entire culture is affected. Elections are affected and communities are changed. In our strange media situation today, one wacko pastor can affect the world. One pastor preaching that sin is now acceptable by God gets the microphone on the local news station even if a thousand pastors in the same viewing area disagree, and a 50-50 view point is presented.

5. The health of individual people depends on pastors. Pastors refer to counselors, drug intervention programs, assistance programs of all kinds. Pastors who will stick around, will be the ones who pick up the pieces of a family when these other fee-based programs and options of help do not work out. The pastor is still connected because it is a relationship based connection, not a fee for service connection. When the Dr. fails, the pastor has to deal with the mourners. When the undertaker is paid and done, the pastor walks with the grieving through their first year alone.

6. Pastors lead people to Jesus Christ. The greatest soul winning tool in history is the local church. It is great that world famous evangelists have lead thousands and millions to Christ. However, if any of those stayed in relationship with Christ it is because they were connected to and discipled by a local church led and equipped to do so by a pastor.

I know that we live in a world where many people hate "organized religion." We live in a world where the systems of delivery are changing at an amazing rate. Relationships can be developed in ways globally like never before.

But here is the truth of these thoughts. If you hate organized religion, but say you are religious, you are dishonest, you don't hate organization because you have organized a religion for yourself, you are just very alone. We do live in a world of changing delivery systems, but the most honest delivery is to get to know a person face to face, and be mentored by their life. Though relationships develop globally on the Internet, there is no substitute for face to face interaction. Social networking is deceptive. It is the new way of "keeping up with the Jones'."

We need all kinds of specialized ministries. And, most of all, we still need pastors for churches.