Slavery versus Servant-hood
In our first point we will compare and contrast the role of slave and servant. The servant is a free man, whereas the slave is owned. The servant goes home while the slave remains on his master’s property. The servant works his shift then is free but the slave must remain at his master’s disposal all day. Furthermore, the servant can quit and work elsewhere but the slave, being owned, may not quit. The servant manages his own life whereas the slave master manages his slave’s life.
Pastor Teachers are Slaves to Christ Jesus
All pastors, evangelists and missionaries, if they function correctly in the ministry, are slaves to Jesus Christ. He is the perfect master so He provides perfectly, under the concept of logistical grace, then greater grace. A spiritual communicator’s ministry is totally in God’s hands. God establishes his ministry. He provides the hearers and all logistics. Furthermore, God terminates or concludes a communicator’s ministry if necessary. Like the slave, a pastor is responsible to God all of the time. He is to be prepared to teach any time, “on season and out of season.” As in any profession, the pastor is on duty 24 hours a day, being responsible to God all of the time. A pastor cannot be time conscious, being concerned with how many hours a day he spends fulfilling his responsibilities. As for his responsibilities, the pastor is not responsible to his congregation but responsible to the Lord for his congregation. This is an important point, because there are those in a congregation who would seek to control a pastor. Let me repeat this: a pastor is responsible to the Lord for his congregation. No member of a congregation should seek to control his pastor. He is responsible to the Lord for you!
The pastor-teacher has no freedom because freedom generates distractions to the job or mission God has gifted him to fulfill. The pastor-slave must concentrate in a singular manner: to study and teach, teach and study. His mission of providing Biblical truths to the congregation leading them to spiritual growth is far too important for the him to be concentrating on other things.
No congregation can terminate a pastor’s ministry. Only Jesus Christ can stop or bring a halt to a pastor’s ministry. This principle rules out members of a congregation or of any outsider trying to undermine a pastor’s ministry. Leave this is the Lord’s hands. If you object to a pastor’s ministry, do not try to undermine his ministry by gossip or maligning him, just quietly leave.
The Congregation Benefits from the Pastor’s Slavery Status
Believers must be free to choose a pastor who will give them the doctrine from which to grow. Never opt for a pastor who does not systematically teach the Word. Your spiritual life depends upon accurate, systematic Bible teaching. However, unlike the pastor, the congregation must be free. Every believer must have the freedom to choose between the following two options: To grow in grace and to mature as a believer, living a wonderful life, or to live in reversionism, being miserable in life, remaining alive just to run interference for other believers who are growing up spiritually, then to die the sin face to face to death!
Even though the congregation is free and the pastor a slave, the pastor still holds the authority in the local church. The authority is spiritual in nature, delegated by God for one purpose: for the maturation of the body of Christ, as per Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians:
Because of whom [Jesus Christ], the entire body [Church Age believers], being joined together [by the baptism of the Holy Spirit], and being inculcated [repetitious teaching of the mystery doctrine] by every joint of supply [pastor-teacher] on the basis of the operational power [omnipotence of the Trinity], in measure, one [pastor-teacher] for each part [local church]. He himself [the pastor] causes growth in the body. Ephesians 4:16Jesus Christ has delegated authority to a pastor-teacher for one reason: to bring about spiritual maturity in his congregation, that particular local body of Christ. The pastor establishes this authority by accurately and systematically teaching the Word. The pastor’s only authority revolves around the teaching of the Word and must be established by teaching the Word of Truth accurately. The congregation, because of the angelic conflict, must have the freedom to accept or reject the doctrine taught from the pulpit.
