THE THEOLOGY OF PASTORAL MINISTRY __________________ A Paper Presented to Dr. Scott Moody Luther Rice College and Seminary __________________ In Fulfillment Of the Requirements for PA 3401 __________________ By John J. Visaggio April 2, 2017 2 Pastoral Ministry Leadership Pastoral Care and Shepherding with care: What is Pastoral Care and Shepherding care we see they go hand and hand they are both a leadership position in the church and with the care of the congregation even though the definition of the Church is as quoted “In the New Testament denotes all, the word “church” all believers in Christ at all times and places and in Pauls’s image of the church as the Body of Christ (e.g., Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4; 5-23)” 1. The needs to able shepherding his flock as a leader of the church and being guided by the Holy Spirit and we must realize as quoted “Pastoral ministry is sacred work. We are the shepherds who are a charge to oversee the flock of God, which is purchased with his own blood.”2 23Be thou is diligent to know the state of thy flocks and looks well to thy herds. (Proverbs 27:23). In this scripture, we see King Solomon talking about leading his flock in the word of God before Jesus was sent by Father to save the lost world. We see in the New Testament that Jesus preach on this particular subject of being Good Shepherd in John 10 and caring for his flock and teaching the Word of God to his disciples and to the general public. We could take Paul as an example to Timothy when Paul wrote the two letters to Timothy that became 1st and 2nd Paul showing concern for Timothy in caring for the church and for the flock as stated in . We go into the two letters especially in 1st Timothy as Paul explain the importance of guiding the flock(Congregation) to protect from false teachers and false doctrine and to guide them into true maturity in the fundamentals of Church doctrine and the Word of God as a child of God as from John MacArthur states.“ A pastor is the spiritual leader, a man of God with a mandate and requires to embody in his person the ideals of 1 2 Millard J. Erickson, Christian theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983). H. B. Charles, On pastoring: a short guide to living, leading, and ministering as a pastor: (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2016). 3 the faith he proclaims.” This statement is so important for a pastor to lead his in the godliness world were there so many false doctrines that could come into and affect the congregation as the states “The pastor, then is his calling a spiritual leader.” A pastor needs to understand what God expect of what kind of man to guide his flock in the scriptures states of this kind of leader God requires.“ 2 feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 3 neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” (1 Peter 5:2-4Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV) This one requirement that God expect from his pastor even though the scripture uses “elders” you can also read as “pastor” do not take this out of contents refer back to the MacArthur book Pastoral Ministry How to Shepherd Biblically page 232 to 233 subtitle Biblical Guidelines for Leadership. We see in 1 Peter 5 that it is broken down to understand the major areas that the pastor needs to understand first foremost the guidance from the Holy Spirit then first Be faithful (1 Peter 5:1-4) “Their Ministry: Shepherd the Flock.” “Their motive: Not constraint, but consent.” “Their manner: Leadership is not a dictatorship.” Their reward: In the future” then second the pastor needs to humble (1 Peter 5: 5-7, then third the pastor needs to be watchful (1 Peter 5: 8-11). What Peter explains here is so important for the pastor to be effective in all aspect of his duties as Shephard in the eyes of God or other words to do what right in the eyes of God. Preaching and Worship: Preaching with passion: The pastor first must believe in Jesus and is truly born again and put Christ in the center his life above everything. The pastor must have the fire of the Holy Spirit to 4 preach the Word of God with so much passion he must love the Word of God with all his soul then he must take God and Scripture serious to able to present the word of God with conviction in his own life as well as the life of his family and the life of his congregation then and only then pastor will have true passion in what he preachers. Preaching must walk to pulpit with a purpose to preach the word of God that would awake the congregation up to new reality of God’s word to convict the soul and heart of the people as stated by Walter Burghardt insists: “If our homilies are to inspire as well as inform, our preachers must be set aflame.” Passionate preaching is contagious. Hearts are challenged and changed, and apathy in the congregation simply wilts away.”3 This is so true for the preacher to get to the heart of the congregation with the passion and love and fire of the Holy Spirit. With all is said if the preacher does not have passion in what he preachers then what does all this mean the statement is so clear by Lloyd-Jones said “If a man’s heart is not engaged I take leave to query and to question whether he is really understood with his head, because of the very character of the Truth with which we are dealing…Do we believe it, have we been gripped and humbled by it, and then exalted until we are lost in wonder love and praise?”4 and we must preach with authority to show that we are here not to entertain the congregation as Paul warn Timothy, they are not inclined to “ endure sound doctrine but wanting their ears tickled, they accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires” (2 Tim. 4:3)” As Paul states to the Church in Corinth “26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: 27 but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.” (1 Corinthians 9:26-27Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV). This is 3 Our Sunday Visitor Catholic Publishing Company, "Preaching with Passion," Our Sunday Visitor Catholic Publishing Company, , accessed February 21, 2017, https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/InFocus/Article/TabId/721/ArtMID/13629/ArticleID/7988/ 4 John MacArthur, Pastoral ministry: how to shepherd biblically (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005). 5 important for the preacher and a Sunday school teacher to understand that you need passion and true Christian in just presenting the Holy Scripture to the class members and to the congregation. As MacArthur states in chapter 13 page, 177 “perfect shepherd-sheep speaks of God’s guidance and nurturing of His sheeplike followers.”5 He the preacher is our example of Jesus our Great Shepard. This is most important to understand as MacArthur stated in his commentary “It is essential to preach the Word with authority in order to counteract the prideful rejection of God’s truth and authority that is the root of all sin.”6 Worship is spread throughout the Holy Scriptures as shown in the Old Testament and New Testament “27 All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee.” (Psalm 22:27) and “6 And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.” (Hebrews 1:6). We must consider the definition of worship: “Honor, reverence, homage, in thought, feeling, or act, paid to men, angels, or other "spiritual" beings, and figuratively to other entities, ideas, powers or qualities, but specifically and supremely to Deity.” Then we must look at the types of worship such as Old Testament and New Testament worship first Old Testament worship is different the New Testament we see in the OldTestament that the people first went to the temple to bring their sacrifice to the priest as quoted. “The principal, Old Testament word, is shachah, "depress," "bow down," "prostrate" (Hithpael), as in Exodus 4:31, "bowed their heads and worshiped"; so in 94 other places. The context determines more or less clearly whether the physical act or the volitional and emotional idea is intended. The word is applied to acts of reverence to human superiors as well as supernatural. the Revised Version (British and American) renders it according to its physical 5 MacArthur, John. Pastoral ministry: how to shepherd biblically. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005. Chapter 13, pp 113 6 John MacArthur, New Testament commentary, Titus (Chicago: Moody, 1996). 6 aspect, as indicated by the context, "bowed himself down" (the King James Version "worshiped," Genesis 24:52; compare 23:7; 27:29, etc.).” The New Testament idea of worship is a combination of the reverential attitude of mind and body, the general ceremonial and religious service of God, the feeling of awe, veneration, adoration; with the outward and ceremonial aspects approaching, but not reaching, the vanishing point.”7 These are the definition of both the Old Testament and New Testament concerning worship. But there are different types of worship in the church today we have worship in the formed of praise. Such as worshiping by singing hymns as that David did in the Old Testament in Book of Psalms was common practice and throughout the New Testament in early 1st-century church Paul warn the church in Corinth “15 What does this mean? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind. I will sing psalms with my spirit, but I will also sing psalms with my mind. 16 Otherwise, if you say a blessing with your spirit, how can an otherwise uneducated person[a] say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you’re saying? 17 It’s good for you to give thanks, but it does not build up the other person.” (1 Cor.14:15-17) by Paul making this statement, he tells Christian today that “although worship emphasizes God, it is also intended to benefit the worshipers.”8 Today Ministers, Christians, and churches cannot lose sight of the importance of worshiping God this one aspect of getting a closer relationship with God the fellow Christian. Teaching with Authority The pastoral ministry theology was first looked at the prime example of a teacher with authority is Jesus Christ at the age of twelve in the Gospel of Luke “And came pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking 7 "Worship - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia," Bible Study Tools, , accessed March 24, 2017, http://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/worship.html 8 Millard J. Erickson, Christian theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983). 7 them question. And all that hear him were astonished at his understanding and answers.” Luke 2:46-47 and also in when Jesus came from the forty days in wilderness and entered temple and them delivery book of Isaias to Jesus and this is true teaching and authority in what Jesus stated “ 18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4: 18-19). In the commentary, we see that when Rabbis (Teacher) came in the synagogue services ask the visiting rabbis to teach a Scripture lesson and make whatever comments they felt were appropriate and in turn, Jesus prove himself to be the Christ that fulfills the scripture mention above and prove that he was the true teacher of the Scriptures. The pastor needs to follow this type of example do not get me wrong do not mean to proclaim that he is christ but to able to teach with authority with the Guidance of the Holy Spirit in his sermon such as in Matthew 23:2-3 and the footnote that was referred in the Scofield Study Bible as stated by Jesus “Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: 3 all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.” (Matthew 23:1-3Authorized (King James) Version (AKJV). In a footnote of the Scofield Study Bible state that Jesus had true teaching with authority as stated “Moses seat has reference to the position of a teacher of the law of Moses. Compare Ezra 7: 6, 25-26. The law is to be honored, but not the hypocritical teachers of it.”9 This is another area of the Pastor needs to carefully in preaching and teacher the Word of God not to be hypocritic the congregation will perceive this and turn away from the pastor. We also see that Paul explain to Timothy to teach with authority as MacArthur states “Likewise Paul 9 C. I. Scofield and Doris Rikkers, The Scofield study Bible: King James Version (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009). 8 instructed his trainee to teach with authority. He commanded Timothy to “prescribe and teach theses things (1Tim. 4:11)”. To further in the scripture we see Paul remind Titus to also teach with authority as stated “These things speak and exhort and reprove with authority. Let no one disregard you”.(Titus 2:15) the minister must have fill understanding of the Old Testament and New Testament and guidance of the Holy Spirit to able to teach with authority to the congregation and classroom. We also must remember that to teach we must first seek God in the understanding of the scripture and not fall into the trap of using only self-understanding in thinking that we are teaching with authority within ourselves instead of seeking God first for true divine knowledge. MacArthur states that every minister must realize “Our authority has a foundation. First, you must know what you believe about the Bible. If you are not sure, it is the Word of God you would not be authoritative. Next, you have to know what God’s Word says. If your not sure what it means, you cannot be authoritative.” 10 And final we minister must understand it is the highest duty or other words a clear mandate to uphold the God’s Word above everything to present the teaching to the people of the church to make as clear and understandable to reach the hearts of the congregations. We must refer back to God’s Words as stated.“ 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”(2 Tim. 2:15) and “16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.” This, in my opinion, these two scriptures are a clear mandate as minister and teacher of God’s Word. And finally, the pastor must have the two components to be able to teach with authority are objective and subjective as the author states “Actually, it is the combination of these two 10 John MacArthur, Pastoral ministry: how to shepherd biblically (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005). 9 factors that constitutes authority. Both are needed. The written word, correctly interpreted, is an objective basis for authority. The inward illuminating and persuading work of the Holy Spirit is the subjective dimension. This dual dimension prevents sterile, cold, dry truth on one hand and overexcitability and ill-advised fervor on the other.”11 These are needed for an effective pastor to able teach with true authority he also must be able to combine both objective and subjective to able to teach and exhortation the God’s Word. Fellowship Fellowship what does this word really mean in the sense of Christianity and of the church and of the people in the church, we must first look at the meaning of fellowship,we look at this with fellow authors and the scriptures to find a true meaning of this word fellowship. We see fellowship throughout the scriptures in the Old Testament and New Testament. And in the New Testament, we see a new concept starting with four Gospels of Jesus and in the Book of Acts then into the epistles finally in the Book of Revelation. First must look into the Gospels of Jesus especially in Matthews 16: 18 when “Jesus promise that he will build his church, and in Paul’s image of the church as the body of Christ (e.g. Eph. 1:22-23; 4:4, 5:23).” 12 More frequently on the other hand “church “ refer to a group of believers in a given locality. Here is the fellowship in its true meaning the Body of Christ fellowship with each other and with Christ and God we see throughout the New Testament especial in the book of Acts the beginning of the Church and the beginning of the Christian fellowship as stated in Acts “41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. 42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in the 11 Millard J. Erickson, Christian theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983). Millard J. Erickson and L. Arnold Hustad, Introducing Christian doctrine, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015). 12 10 breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.” Throughout Paul’s teaching and writing we see compares the body of Christ with Fellowship of Christ as stated “10 that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him: 11 in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:.” (Eph.1:10-11) here is another example of fellowship “The of the body of Christ also speaks of the interconnection of all the person who makes up the church. Christian faith is not to be defined merely in terms of the individual relationship with Lord.” 13 The body of Christ is the true fellowship of the Christian faith in what Paul in writing was stated and in Jesus teaches showing true fellowship among the family of God. Conclusion This paper explains the most important aspect of Pastoral ministry theology from the Leadership (Pastoral Care and Shepherding with care) to Fellowship this is important to able to lead the flock from the front and to preach with passion and to teach with authority the Word of God to the congregation. We must take words of Paul when told Timothy “16 All Scripture is Godbreathed and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good action.” The minister must take the word of God serious and believe in what he is preaching to the congregation is the inspiration of God Holy Word and finally be able to fellowship with congregation instead isolating himself from the flock. Finally, the minister must be the rock of the Church and the example of a true Shephard. I can not stay this any better then Paul said about 13 Millard J. Erickson and L. Arnold Hustad, Introducing Christian doctrine, 3rd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015). 11 the preacher than in the letter to the Romans.“ 15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15)” Biography Our Sunday Visitor Catholic Publishing Company. "Preaching with Passion." Our Sunday Visitor Catholic Publishing Company. Accessed February 21, 2017. https://www.osv.com/OSVNewsweekly/InFocus/Article/TabId/721/ArtMID/13629/ArticleID/79 88/. MacArthur, John. Pastoral ministry: how to shepherd biblically. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005. Scofield, C. I., and Doris Rikkers. The Scofield study Bible: King James Version. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Chapter 23: 1-3 Erickson, Millard J. Christian theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1983. Page 221 paragraph 2 Erickson, Millard J., and L. Arnold Hustad. Introducing Christian doctrine. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2015. Page 392 Charles, H. B. On pastoring: a short guide to living, leading, and ministering as a pastor: Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2016. MacArthur, John. New Testament commentary. Titus. Chicago: Moody, 1996. "Worship - International Standard Bible Encyclopedia." Bible Study Tools. Accessed March 24, 2017. http://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/worship.html. 12