Preachers as Pastors
Preaching is essential to pastoral ministry but it is only one piece of the whole. Preaching does not equal pastoring. Men may preach while never showing pastoral care for the flock, a knowledge of their lives, or a commitment to their needs outside of Sunday morning, let alone for the long haul. Beloved, this should never be! The biblical example of the preacher is one with a pastoral heart who cares deeply about those hearing his messages. A pastor's life is intimately tied to the life of the sheep entrusted to his care. The preacher must be a pastor.
Encouragement is more empowering spoken from a heart of love. Exhortations are more effective when one is known and cared for. Application is more meaningful when given with gospel grace. Corrections are always easier on our hearts coming from counselors we know are committed to our good. Rebukes from friends are at once tempered with the undeniable grace of a loving relationship that undergirds them. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend" (Prov 27:6a).
Sadly, men training for ministry often want to be preachers but not pastors. Something of the old adage, 'Being a pastor would be a great job if it weren't for the people' has found many inroads into the minds of those attracted to the noble task of preaching but wearied at the thought of people-work. By contrast, may the Apostle Paul stand as an example for preachers to follow. Paul was immensely interested in forming and maintaining a personal connection with the churches he ministered to. This is evident in the letters that he writes.
We know how Paul lived among the saints. It was so evident to the church at Thessalonica that he could write: "You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake" (1 Thess 1:5). Paul's gospel preaching came to them "not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction." The lives of the missionaries were so observable and known to the church that the new Christians were able to become "imitators" of them as examples to "all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia" (1 Thes 1:5-7). In the second chapter, Paul reinforces the fact that the message was given through ministers who cared deeply about them. Instead of coming to them with deception, flattery, or greed, he says:
[W]e were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory” I Thess 2:7-12.
Preaching is deeply personal work; it's people-work; it's pastoral work. Paul likens his band of preachers to nursing mothers and encouraging fathers—perhaps the most beautiful picture of the pastoral heart in all of Paul's writings. Paul and his company had more than messages to share. "So being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves." All this "because you had become very dear to us," he writes.
Therefore, any portrait of the Apostle Paul as simply a preacher, an orator, an eloquent spokesman of the cross is insufficient. He must be understood to be the pastor who took an intense personal interest in those he ministered to. Paul's detractors critically said, 'His letters are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech of no account.' (2 Cor 10:10). Paul was not known for powerful preaching in one sense. He even said of his own preaching that he was not sent "with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power" (1 Cor 1:17). Rather, the power of his preaching rested in the Christ he proclaimed and the Spirit who was powerfully present, not only in the pulpit but out of it as well.
The Thessalonians knew the heart of the man by the way he lived among them. But what about when Paul was away? Leaving the church was like being "torn away" from them and he longed to see them again.
But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, because we wanted to come to you-—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? For you are our glory and joy. 1 Thes 2:17-20
Ministry was never impersonal, let alone transactional, to Paul. The saints themselves were Paul's joy and crown. What better payment could he have for his work? Paul expresses the same value for the Philippian church. "Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved" (Php 4:1). You feel Paul's love. You hear his longing to see them again. Indeed, we hear Paul repeatedly tell these churches to whom he writes, separated from them physically but not in heart, "I long to see you." (Rom 1:11; 1 Thess 3:6; 2 Tim 1:4). "For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus." (Php 1:8)
If Paul could not come to the saints (because he was imprisoned for example), he sent someone in his place with personal greetings (Phil 2:25-26). "I am sending him [Onesimus] back to you, sending my very heart" (Phlm 1:12). Preachers, just like Paul in days gone by, must be pastors today. Shepherds must smell like sheep. Contemporary pastor, Ray Ortlund, had this to say about his own ministry:
"When I planted a Presbyterian church . . . in the 1980's, I properly revered the ministry of preaching, but I undervalued the ministry of pastoring. And I actually believed that preaching would do everything . . . But preaching is only meant to be a glorious voice, a gospel voice within a larger relational context . . . Look at the letters of Paul. There's a lot of theology there, but I'll tell you what . . . the humanity of Paul, his tenderness, his heart, his relational yearning pours out in his letters and it's that pastoral, emotional, relational context within which preaching really resonates. When people come to church and they hear a clear gospel word from a pastor and they know—they feel—he cares deeply about them . . . that's when people sit on the edge of their seats. They really listen." — Ray Ortlund
When preachers are pastors, people listen. While this message must certainly be applied in my own life as your pastor, I want to encourage you to consider how love, faithfulness, relationships, a longing heart, a personal care for those you speak to will impact the message of Christ you wish to share. When your message comes with the heart of the Apostle, people will "sit on the edge of their seats." That message comes, not in word only, but in a demonstration of the Spirit and power, that all can see, even more, that all can feel. Be affectionately desirous of those you are speaking to. It changes everything.
