Calling All Pastors!

[Andrew Restrepo]

Hello everyone,

Lately I have become much more interested in Pastoring. This interest is not at all something I plan to act on flippantly, but I have been spending more time listening to the testimonies of various pastors.

I wanted to ask you for your testimony: How did you become a pastor? What was it that settled it in your heart to pursue pastoral ministry?

I would love to hear your stories and receive some advice on how you'd counsel someone who is interested in pastoral ministry.

Thank you.

[Willa]

Several of my pastors said that when God called them to the ministry they had argued with God and told Him all the reasons they could not.  My present pastor had a full ride scholarship to Harvard, both academic and athletic scholarships.  He turned them down to follow Jesus.  

[MadHermit]

Have you ever preached a sermon?  A pastoral calling is often confirmed by how you feel after you did so.  The important thing is not how good you were.  Some of the best pastors were nervous disasters in their first sermon.  What matters is how badly you wanted to preach well.  The calling comes from a burning passion, but that passion must be tested in the crucible of experience.  In other words, God often imparts spiritual gifts and callings when we actively explore different ministry options.  

Also, have you considered where you might receive your training (Bible school or seminary)?  Your decision on this matter may be crucial to the success of your ministry and a confirmation of your calling.  You really need to research available options thoroughly.  I know many who became disillusioned about their calling by choosing the wrong school for their beliefs and academic level.   But do get training in Greek and Hebrew.  Otherwise, you will be at the mercy of whatever errors your Bible translation of choice might contain and you  won't be able to comfortably use the best resources for Bible study and sermon preparation, which often discuss the relevance of the original languages to the meaning of a text. 

[Andrew Restrepo]

11 hours ago, Willa said:

He turned them down to follow Jesus.

Amen! Jesus is worth everything; what a testimony that is to have forsaken those things to pursue Jesus.

8 hours ago, Yowm said:

if you find yourself serving others in the Word and deed with a glad heart, you are a good candidate.

Yes, I find myself doing this quite frequently. I'm passionate about not only serving others but encouraging them through the Word of God.

5 hours ago, MadHermit said:

Have you ever preached a sermon? 

Yes, I've preached several sermons. Many of my brothers and sisters in Christ have seen certain giftings in me and have provided platforms for me to share the Word of God on a regular basis. This has grown me and inspired me to communicate the Word of God effectively and according to His spirit's leading. 

5 hours ago, MadHermit said:

But do get training in Greek and Hebrew.

This is perhaps one of the most daunting but also one of the most motivating areas for me. I am not naturally disposed to enjoying education - I'm actually not the biggest fan of school. But, if I love God, why would I even turn down the opportunity to learn about Him in an intensive manner? And, I've learned how important it is to study the scriptures in their original languages especially if you seek to teach others.

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

[GandalfTheWise]

I'm in my mid-50s and have some good friends who are in full-time pastoral ministry.  One of our best family friends has been a pastor for about 25 or 30 years now.  Over the years, I've been encouraged by a number of pastors and friends to consider FT ministry myself, but it was clear God had a different direction for me in spite of  having many of the right gifts and talents for pastoral work.

One of the things I've learned from them is that most of the effective pastoral work takes place behind the scenes with individuals and small groups.  While much emphasis is placed on teaching and preaching, an effective pastor's ministry is much broader than that.  A dear friend of ours is pastoring a pair of small mainline churches in small-town WI.  The growth those churches are now experiencing is not because of his preaching, but because of the time he spends in the community getting to know people and reaching out to them.  Much of the real work of a pastor is in day to day life and the often slow gradual spiritual growth of individuals and groups over a long period of time.  It is often walking with individuals and families at their lowest points when their lives are falling apart.   Being a good shepherd is much more than having the right teaching or message for each and every occasion, it is also about being willing to patiently walk alongside of people. 

Many who are good preachers and teachers are not good pastors.  Many who are great pastors are so-so preachers and teachers.  Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that the best pastors are those with a wealth of day-to-day common sense, experience, and wisdom.  It's not about knowing all the answers.  It's about being able to help others learn to apply answers in their lives.  It is not about "teaching" people stuff.  It is about helping them slowly and gradually learn practical spiritual truth and apply it in their lives.  Many years ago when I was in my 20s, I had the opportunity as a campus pastor to spend a couple hours in a small group with a retired man with extensive missionary experience.  He'd spent decades on the mission field himself, started countless churches, helped launch hundreds of local people into ministry, and later in life had been in charge of world-wide missions for his denomination and had spent the latter part of his life traveling the world encouraging and helping those missionaries.  In this small group, someone asked him what the most important thing was for good ministry. I was expecting some super spiritual answer, but without hesitation he answered "good old common horse-sense".  He went on to explain that it wasn't about having a headful of knowledge and all the right answers, it was about having the experience and common-sense to do the right thing in most situations.  He was not downplaying spiritual guidance, anointing, and empowering; he was pointing out that much of ministry is in nut and bolts day to day living.  That only comes from having walked with God for years and having learned much about life for ourselves.

When I was back in my late teens, I almost went to Bible college to become a pastor.  In hindsight, I'm glad I didn't.  I'm sure I'd have had a fruitful ministry, but it would not have been what God really made me to do.  God made me as an artist that plays with ideas.  A lifelong career in the hard sciences, mathematics, and analytics has honed my gifts and talents in a way that little else could have.  God's now ordered my life so that I'm semi-retired and can focus on using a lifetime of training and practice to do things that I never could have had I gone into full-time ministry early in life.

I think the most important thing is knowing who God has created you to be.  If God made you to be a shepherd that revels in walking alongside people and helping them in their lives, I think you'd thrive as a pastor.  If you are searching for a noble task to do to prove how good a Christian you are or trying to do something "important" spiritually because of a sense of obligation, you'll end up burning out in a few years.  I used to view life through the filter of finding our "calling" (or in other words what does God want me to *do*).  I've now come to view life through the filter of discovering *who* God created us to be as a unique individual.  When I was younger, I had a strong sense of what God was calling me to do and saw that as the call upon my life.  I started working toward that, and continually failed and fell short, until years later I had given up on it and forgot about it.  A few years ago, God reminded of those things.  I suddenly saw them in a new light.  Those things were not goals for me to strive and be found worthy of; those things were promises about what God was going to do.  I started to see my entire life as preparation for that work rather than a string of failures and successes.  It was not a question of working hard to achieve those things;  it was spending decades being changed into the person God created me to be so that those things would be a natural outflow of my life.

[Hidden In Him]

6 hours ago, GandalfTheWise said:

Many who are good preachers and teachers are not good pastors.  Many who are great pastors are so-so preachers and teachers.  Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that the best pastors are those with a wealth of day-to-day common sense, experience, and wisdom.  It's not about knowing all the answers.  It's about being able to help others learn to apply answers in their lives.  It is not about "teaching" people stuff.  It is about helping them slowly and gradually learn practical spiritual truth and apply it in their lives.  

This is really excellent, Gandalf, and some of the best advice of heard on Pastoring in a while. The dominant teaching role is really supposed to be left to teachers. The Pastor is primarily called to guide the flock, especially in their personal lives and personal decision-making (the word means Shepherd, first and foremost). So a person needs to have a desire to guide people in their personal lives. I have no such desire, which is how I know I am not called to Pastor. I am a teacher of the word, and anything that draws me away from that invariably begins taking me out of God's will for my life, and I can almost feel it tangibly.

Anyway, your posts can be so in-depth that some of the better lines get lost in the shuffle, so I wanted to draw attention to those in particular. 

[MadHermit]

Usually good preachers are also good teachers.  The more frequent problem is that good preachers, especially pastors of large churches, often lack the interest and sensitivity to be good pastoral counselors.  So they delegate that to lay leaders or assistant pastors.  But a newbie like you will have to start in a small church, where it is usually essential that you develop skills in both teaching and counseling as well.  This fact highlights the importance of the right seminary or Bible school for you.  You need a place with good courses on pastoral care and a good supervised field education program.  If inimate connections with your flock's personal problems does not appeal to you, you probably lack a pastoral calling.  

Edited June 29, 2018 by MadHermit

[Behold]

22 hours ago, Andrew Restrepo said:

Hello everyone,

Lately I have become much more interested in Pastoring. This interest is not at all something I plan to act on flippantly, but I have been spending more time listening to the testimonies of various pastors.

I wanted to ask you for your testimony: How did you become a pastor? What was it that settled it in your heart to pursue pastoral ministry?

I would love to hear your stories and receive some advice on how you'd counsel someone who is interested in pastoral ministry.

Thank you.

You do not choose to be a Pastor, the same way you choose to become a Toyota Dealer.   You dont just think....." wow, i could do that'.

A "pastor", is a specific "called" ministry" , and they are chosen, to be so.

A Pastor, tends to be a remarkable "people" person, who loves people and loves to serve people, and understands, in a unique way, how people think.

A Pastor is someone who does not need a lot of sleep, and seems to have energy that never seems to run out.

A pastor is a person who understand that the Pulpit and the attention you get for being a Pastor is exactly what is not the reason you become a pastor.

If God calls you to be a pastor, He will do it with confirmations that are supernatural, and then he'll spend a good bit of time with you equipping you for the job, as the "enabling for service", is the next step, after you are called, and that takes a while.

 

 

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Edited June 29, 2018 by Behold

[MadHermit]

An important aspect of a pastoral call are the divine coincidences that provide opportunities for growth an self-discovery.  When I was just 16, I  was unexpectedly invited twice to preach at a rescue mission, mostly for derelicts.  I was a very nervous fire-breathing dragon!  What they didn't tell me is that the men were required to sit through the service's hymns and prayers, but could be excused to eat just before the sermon.  Of course, the lure was the free meal.  It would have been nice if they had explained this to me.  Just as I got up to preach, all but about 20 of the 200 men walked out on me!  I was crushed because I thought this happened because of my youth!  In any case, these opportunities created a burning desire to master the art of preaching to transform.  

Then was I was 18, I became the president of our church's college and career class.  By default, I was expected to conduct the opening exercises of our adult Sunday school session.  This meant I led the singing, prayed, and shared a brief reflection before about 700 adults.  This was a great and unexpected opportunity for me.  I noticed for  example, that my prayers were un consciously motivated in part by a desire to gain praise for my  eloquence!  I finally realized this when a pretty young woman complemented me for a prayer and I felt proud of my performance.  Fortunately, the Spirit gently exposed my motive to me, so that I began to learn what it really means to lead worship for the glory of God.  

Back then, I was very shy one on one, but these opportunities made  me completely comfortably before large crowds.  After a 12=year career as a Theology professor, I entered full-time ministry and found this a very humbling but rewarding spiritual experience.  I do believe that if you're called to preach, your initial flawed efforts will nevertheless exhilarate and challenge you. 

One lesson I learned about preaching is this: your preaching is only as good as your personal theological library.  You need the best commentaries on specific biblical books that display expertise on the nuances of the Hebrew and Greek and on cultural background.  Such a library will help prevent you from "shooting your wad" after a couple of years of preaching on various topics.   Also, you would be advised to seek out and buy the best books of modern sermon illustrations.  The quality of your preaching over time will be greatly effected by how uniquely you bring the text to life with modern stories.  So while your attending seminary, make regular browsing trips to the seminary bookstore to see what lights your fire  with unique applications of Scripture; and when  you're not in seminary make regular trips to the nearest big Christian bookstore for hours of browsing before you decide which books to buy.  You won't regret it.

[Andrew Restrepo]

Wow! This is all such amazing feedback. 

The day to day interactions with other Christians is sooo important. It's true - plenty of great teachers or charismatic speakers often don't have the compassion or patience to bare with people on a daily basis. 

And I really appreciate the comment about God calling us, not necessarily us choosing to become a Pastor.

Your advice is invaluable! God bless you. Can't wait to hear from others.