The Unbiblical Role of Pastors

June 3, 2010 in Growing Strategies,Leadership with 4 Comments

Eric Geiger just contributed a new article over at MinistryStrategies.com. He addresses an issue that’s consistent with just about every church I walk into — churches “need” volunteers. Here’s what Eric at to share:

Typically pastors or staff persons are hired to minister to people. The number of children increases, so the solution is another staff person. The number of sick people is on the rise; therefore, someone is hired to visit people in the hospitals. The typical approach is both illogical and unbiblical. The view is illogical because a church will never be able to afford to hire the entire ministry away. The view is unbiblical because it violates the essential doctrines of the priesthood of believers and spiritual gifting.

Check out the rest of the article.

4 Responses to “The Unbiblical Role of Pastors”

  1. b/ June 3, 2010 at 10:09 am #

    Been wrestling with this for a while…

    (don’t know how to respond other than I’m still wrestling)

  2. Marc Millan June 3, 2010 at 11:06 am #

    This is a great post, I’ve never heard it said so clearly or addressed so openly. I come from a church that had a HUGE volunteer force, where the culture was to equip, raise leaders to go out and make a difference, BE the difference in our world and community. That church continues to grow. I have always seen, be a part of other churches where the opposite can be said, no one is challenged, equipped, prepared for ministry therefore growth is flat or has begun to drop. Really good, high level accountability type stuff.

  3. Paul Clifford June 3, 2010 at 4:17 pm #

    What about Luke 10:7 (“for the worker deserves his wages”) and 1 Timothy 5:18 (“The worker deserves his wages”)? Sure equip people to serve, but there are very good and Biblical reasons to hire people and not expect them to volunteer.

    Paul was the exception to the pay for ministry model and that was his choice (1 Corinthians 9:3-18). He even argued that people serving in the church should be payed, but he refused the pay that was his right.

    It seems like paying people to do work for the church is VERY Biblical. It’s also Biblical that they not take pay.

    Paul

  4. Steve Cuss June 3, 2010 at 7:27 pm #

    Hi Tony,

    this is a great reminder as I think our team can fall into this trap too. I thought he had a concise way of framing the problem, but oversimplified it too. Pastors still minister, even while equipping, but my takeaway from his article was “pastors don’t minister, they equip.” I suspect the reality is more seamless and messy than this. I lead a church of 300 or so and while I try to equip and many of my excellent volunteers minister, I do too and always will and will likely not be able to draw a circle around the folks I minister to and the folks I don’t.