Are you a good member?

The evil and misdeed of pastors often gain attention in the body of Christ, and very little attention has been drawn to what members do wrong. It is good to understand who a pastor is before we go ahead. A pastor is a shepherd, and he has a flock he feeds and nurtures. I will operationalize a pastor as the head of the local assembly that a child of God has chosen to worship.

A pastor is not any of the following

• A man of God, you don’t attend his church, but you call him for prayers now and then is not your pastor.
• Someone you only watch his sermon on television and social media is not your pastor.
• Your pastor is not the person that you go to his prayer mountain.
• While on campus, you may have a pastor, but that person is not your pastor. If you are a child of God, someone watched over your soul before you came on campus (Ezekiel 3:17). It is possible to have a relationship with the campus pastor beyond the campus. Still, he might be of less help in some cases than the pastor who knows you before your campus days.

Who is a pastor?

Among the fivefold ministry, the pastor is the closest to the children of God. They are also the most blessed. The reason is that God helps them with spiritual resources for their peculiar assignment. I see pastors operate in all the nine gifts of the spirit very easily. God allows this because he wants to meet the need of members. That, to me, is amazing. Some pastors are not primarily one; there are evangelists, prophets, teachers, and apostles who operate in the pastoral office by divine providence. These pastors are also as good as those in the primary pastoral office. In short, there are no two pastors who are the same. However, their roles as shepherds, fathers, and watchmen are constant. There are nine major assignments of a pastor. Without giving these nine, the pastor deserves not your membership.

1. Preach and teach the word of God (I Tim 2:7)
2. Release believers into spiritual gifts (Act 8:17)
3. Establish and oversee a local church
4. Correct and comfort the sheep
5. Protect the sheep
6. Perform rites and holding services, e.g., naming, wedding, and burial ceremonies.
7. Set example for the church and community
8. Training members in various aspects of the ministry
9. Making sure you are proficient in the word of God

How do Christians come under the ministry of a pastor?

The answer to this question is numerous, but I wish to classify Christians into generations. A first-generation Christian is one whose parents never went to church. Such a Christian is the first to be saved and to attend church. A second-generation christian is a christian who followed their parents to church and is also attending one. A third-generation christian is the one the grandparents attended church (saved or unsaved). Their parents did the same, and he is doing the same. For example, I am a third-generation christian; my parents went to church, and so did my grandparents. Timothy was also a third-generation believer.

I Timothy 1: 5

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also

1. Most first-generation christains come under pastoral care through evangelism and the invitation of friends. It is also applicable to the second generation and third who walked away from the faith handed down to them. After the repentance, such get under the pastor of those who preached to them.
2. Second generation christian could also come under the pastoral care of the same ministry their parents attended or attended
3. Second generation christian could come under the pastoral care of churches different from their parents due to marriage, migration, etc.
4. The holy spirit usually leads anyone to a pastor for nurturing, irrespective of their generation.

Whichever means you got to a church, there are membership demands that you must fulfil to make the pastor’s ministry easy. Among them are

1. Loving your pastor is not negotiable. Please do not force it; staying under a pastor you dislike is a waste of time. Someone argued with me that God might force a pastor on a child of God, such that you are forced to love the pastor. Nothing can be farther from the truth. Such an idea is a mockery of divine pattern.

John 10:3

The sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.

This is the pattern of the pastor-member bond; a love bond must exist between the pastor and

members.

When your earthly parents call your name, hate does not come to your heart. Jesus spoke these

words after the Jews threw out the man born blind from the synagogue (John 10). The man faced

the council, and he insisted in his brief that he preferred Jesus no matter the consequence. In the same

manner, you must also prefer your pastor as much as the pastor is following Christ. This love must

birth

loyalty, and support for the pastor and ministry. You must read his books and listen to his sermons.

1. I am not painting pastors as angels in the writeup because they are from among men

Hebrew 5:1-2

For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins: 

Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. 

Hebrews 5 tell us that pastors could have personal struggles too. For instance, many believers run down pastors who have marital struggles. However, marital struggles here exclude those traced to infidelity and unfaithfulness. Instead, it covers disagreements, tension, separation, and even divorce. On the contrary, we do not treat pastors with financial struggles in the same manner. So such weaknesses common to men should be overlooked.