NEW INSIGHTS ON THE ROLE OF THE PASTOR

Recently I had the opportunity to share some of the biblical principles from Ed Slivoso’s book, PRAYER EVANGELISM, with some pastors in Nicaragua. They asked me to talk them about the role of the pastor, so over four days we discussed four biblical paradigms that are necessary if we are going to disciple the region where we live. The discussion was lively because each one of these biblical principles represents a whole new way of thinking about the pastor’s role. The first principle is that PASTORS ARE CALLED TO PASTOR THE CITY, NOT JUST THE CHURCH. In Acts 5:28 church leaders were accused of filling the whole city with their teaching! This shows that they understood God’s heart for the lost. This is evidence that the apostles focused on the heart of the city rather than allowing the church to be defined by four walls of a building. The early church was seen as a powerful force that transformed culture rather than a tame subculture that keeps within the safe confines of a building. Another principle that follows this is that one church can’t pastor the city alone. We must see the church as ONE CHURCH, MANY CONGREGATIONS. We need the whole church to present the whole gospel to the whole city. Ephesians 4:3 says, “Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit…” This means pastors must begin praying together regularly and begin to address the six divisions Paul points out in Ephesians (ethnic, denominational, ministerial, gender, generation, marketplace). Paul instructs us to conduct spiritual warfare only after he has shown us how to heal these corporate gaps. It's futile to try and take on the enemy when we have not seen the power of God bring healing and reconciliation in our own relationships. And how will other churches join with us if they don’t see the power of God in what we’re doing? The Nicaraguan pastors pointed to the same kinds of divisions in their culture that we have in our country, pointing out the wounds that still exist from the conflict between the Sandinistas and Contras back in the ‘80s. There was much discussion about how we are called to be peacemakers and how the transforming power of the gospel can and must bring reconciliation and peace. The third principle is that EVERY CHURCH MEMBER IS A MINISTER. According to Ephesians 4:12, the role of the pastor is to prepare God’s people for works of service. 1 Peter 2:9 declares that every believer is a priest, one who must stand before God on behalf of the people in their sphere of influence. A more recent insight that really accelerates this principle is that labor is worship. Colossians 3:23 says, "Whatever you do work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men." From the very beginning long before music was mentioned men and women worshipped God with their labor. When the average Christian realizes this something amazing happens. Your job becomes your ministry. God’s presence, which inhabits the praises of his people, invades your sphere of influence. The average Christian becomes a powerful marketplace minister bringing the kingdom of God against the gates of hell right where they work. And as Ed Silvoso says, whenever there is a contest between God and Satan, it is no contest. The devil turns tail. The spiritual climate changes and sinners in the marketplace open their hearts to God. The final principle I shared was that Jesus has given us AN EFFECTIVE TOOL WE CALL PRAYER EVANGELISM. Jesus’ only instruction in how to evangelize a city is found in Luke 10:1-24 (Bless v. 5, Fellowship v. 7, Minister, v. 9, Proclaim v. 9). Jesus never said bring people to church. He called us to take the kingdom of God to them, and he will build his church I shared with the pastors how I have seen this happen personally in my own neighborhood, in the neighborhood of our church, and in the secular venues where my band plays music. As I have tried to make prayer evangelism a lifestyle, speaking peace and fellowshipping with lost people, recently several families who for years were closed to the gospel have opened their hearts and have either come to church or asked me to pray for them. This realization that ordinary Christians can do extraordinary things almost made me want to resign my pastorate and pursue a marketplace ministry. But think of the potential when every Christian applies these principles. Worship will take place all over the city, 24/7. God’s presence will invade every place where people live, work and play. Through prayer evangelism we will see the spiritual climate of our whole region begin to change and eventually every lost sheep in our county will have a shepherd they know by name. In Luke 16:16 Jesus indicated that when the good news of the kingdom of God is preached without the trappings of our church culture people will force their way into it. At the end of our time we commissioned the pastors to disciple Nicaragua as a first step to making disciples of all Latin America and beyond. In return we made the same commitment to disciple our nation. Then we prayed for each other. As we were together in the presence of God, there was a renewed hope that God truly has called us to see extraordinary things in these last days.