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Our
Lord has established a very special relationship between
the pastor and the people in a congregation. Outside of
the family there is no other relationship, which is
capable of such warmth and meaning. Not even family
doctors have the close ties that exist between the pastor
and the people. This is especially true of longer
pastorates. A pastor is involved in the most meaningful
parts of people's lives: births, baptisms, confirmations,
weddings, hospital calls, counseling, and funerals. All
of these activities are in addition to the weekly contact
of worship, Bible studies, meetings and social events.
Our Lord has intended a special and close relationship
between the pastor and the people as the pastor is his
representative to care for his people. And so it is for
these reasons that it is especially painful when the
relationship between the pastor and the people is harmed
in any way. In August of 1997 a group of Missouri Synod
theologians met in St. Louis to discuss issues related to
the doctrines of Church and ministry. The President of
the LCMS, A.L. Barry, said in his keynote address: "Recently,
we in the Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod have become more
and more aware of tensions among many of our pastors and
congregations concerning Church and ministry, especially
when it comes to the relationship between the priesthood
of all believers and the office of the public pastoral
ministry."[1] Concerning conflicts between pastor and the
people he said, "It can even raise questions in the
minds of people concerning their basic understanding of
the gospel....There is no doubt in my mind, then, that
our convocation is devoted to a timely and important
topic."[2] Sometimes we hear of autocratic pastors or
pastors who hurt the people and the ministry with
adultery or theft or alcoholism. At other times we hear
of the people constantly nit-picking the pastor, trying
to manage the pastor like an employee and thus making his
life miserable, robbing him of the joy of ministry. My
point is simple: the ministry of the congregation is
aided or harmed by the relationship between the pastor
and the people as the author of Hebrews says: "They
keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey
them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for
that would be of no advantage to you" (13:17).[3] Our
subject then is about pastors and people working together
in the ministry that Jesus Christ has given to his Church.
Our presentation will have two major parts. The first
part will be about the relationship between the pastor
and the people as members of the "team". The
second part will discuss the ministry that has been given
to the "team", the pastor and the people.
I. TEAM =
RELATIONSHIPS
A team is the opposite of an individual. Golf is not a
team sport. Golf is a game, which involves an individual
competing against other individuals. Rather, a team
involves a group of individuals associated together in a
common activity. Teams sports include baseball, football,
and basketball. No individual is the team, but a part of
the team.
In the Bible this team concept is described as the Body
of Christ, the Church (ekklessia--assembly). No one
individual is the Body of Christ, the Church. Rather,
individual believers together make up the Body of Christ,
the Church. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians: "The Body
is a unit, though it is made up of many parts, and though
all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with
Christ" (12:12). Perhaps the idea of "partnership"
comes closest to the concept of team. In Philippians Paul
writes: "I always pray with joy because of your
partnership (KOINONOS) in the Gospel…."
A team consists of different positions, roles and
functions all working together in harmony. A team by its
very nature involves relationships. This nature is
illustrated by sports teams. Baseball has 9 different
playing positions that must work together in harmony as,
for example, in a double play. Football has 11 positions,
which work together in harmony such as the line
protecting the quarterback as he throws to a speedy
receiver. Basketball has five that work in harmony as
seen in a fast break that ends in an easy lay-up. In
addition, there are other distinctions on team sports.
There are starters and there are substitutes. There are
also non-playing personnel such as administrators,
coaches, and trainers. All of these positions are
important for the team to function at its best. Indeed,
the performance of the team can be harmed by jealousy,
strife, and controversy. In recent years Seattle sports
teams have experienced such turmoil. During the 1996-97
basketball season the Seattle Sonics were distracted all
year by a controversy with one of their major stars:
Shawn Kemp. This player was unhappy that a player of
lesser stature had a more generous salary package.
Controversy surrounded the team throughout the season and
at its conclusion Shawn Kemp expressed his desire to be
traded. This controversy contributed to the Sonics
failure to win the championship that they wanted.
Ignoring the problem made it worse by affecting the whole
team. If the problem had been dealt with the team could
have reestablished its harmony and perhaps done better in
the playoffs. The Sonics still haven't recovered. To a
lesser extent the Mariners experienced the same problem
with a disgruntled Randy Johnson, and then Ken Griffey,
Jr.
And so it is with the Body of Christ. It too consists of
different positions, roles and functions designed to work
together in harmony. Two classic passages show this
relationship. In Romans Paul says: "Just as each of
us has one body with many members, and these members do
not all have the same function" (12:4). Again he
states in 1 Corinthians: "There are different kinds
of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds
of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds
of working, but the same God works all of them in all men"
(12:4-6).
This is specifically true in the relationship between the
pastor and the people. This is the scriptural and
historic distinction between the office of the public
ministry and the priesthood of all believers. All
Christians are priests (including the pastor!), but not
all Christians are pastors. A Christian priest is born in
Baptism, but a pastor is called and ordained.
As a priest, every Christian offers sacrifices to God as
Paul teaches in Romans 12:1: "Therefore, I urge you,
brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your
spiritual act of worship." The status and duties of
the priesthood are stated by Peter in his first letter:
"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may
declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness
into his wonderful light" (1 Peter 2:9). Here we
must distinguish between standing or status, and function.
As pastors we remember the high status of the people that
we serve. Peter reminds us pastors that the people we
serve are chosen by God, are royal priests, are holy, and
belong to God. As God's people his priests have the
privilege and responsibility of preaching the Word to
others, to "declare the praises of him who called
you out of darkness into his wonderful light". James
Pragman summarizes Luther's teaching on the priesthood by
saying: "Such priests have the right and duty to
preach the Word, to teach, instruct, admonish, comfort,
and rebuke the neighbor at every opportunity and whenever
necessary."[4]
The point to be emphasized is that of equality. In
describing this equality Pragman refers to the writing of
Wilhelm Brunotte: "In his book Das Geistliche Amt
bei Luther Wilhelm Brunotte concluded that Luther's
teaching on the universal priesthood consisted
essentially of these facets: (1) Each Christian has the
same spiritual power and worth; (2) Each Christian is a
co-worker and brother of Christ; (3) Each Christian is a
priest who can offer his sacrifice to God without the
need of an intermediary; and (4) Each Christian has the
divine mandate to extend the gospel whenever and wherever
he can. Brunotte also cautioned against any attempt to
see these four elements as rigid and inflexible."[5]
On the other hand, the pastor is called by the rest of
the priesthood to specific responsibilities of service.
It is not by human design or simply a matter of good
order, but it is Christ's will that a congregation
consist of pastor(s) and people. This relationship is of
his making and therefore a precious relationship that is
to be characterized by love resulting in harmony and
unity as Paul says to the Corinthians: "I appeal to
you brothers, in the name of our lord Jesus Christ, that
all of you agree with one another so that there be no
divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united
in mind and thought" (1 Cor. 1:10). To the Romans he
says, "Do not think of yourself more highly that you
ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment....just
as each of us has one body with many members, and these
members do not all have the same function, so in Christ
we who are many form one body" (12:3,4). And again
to the Philippians: "If you have any encouragement
in being united to Christ...then make my joy complete by
being like-minded, having the same love, being one in
spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or
vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than
yourselves" (2:1-5). There is only one priesthood
and it has its servants, the pastors. This means that
pastors carry out their responsibilities not on their own
authority but on the authority of Christ for the whole
community of God's people. Pastors, unlike the priesthood
of believers, do not act as individuals but in the name
of God on behalf of the community of priests. In his book
Freedom for Ministry Neuhaus writes: "One hastens to
add that the authority for ministry, while it is
personal, it is not individualistic. Again, the ministry
is the ministry of the Church, and therefore there must
be means by which the 'inner call' to ministry is
ratified and celebrated by the 'external call' of the
community."[6]
In this relationship the priesthood is to honor and obey
its pastors as servants of Christ insofar as they serve
with the Word. Paul emphasizes this truth in his first
letter to the Thessalonians: "Now we ask you,
brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who
are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them
in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live
in peace with each other" (5:12,13). Pastors are to
be honored not because they have a likable personality,
although that is always nice. But they are to honor the
pastor because of his office, because of his work. The
people are to obey the pastor as they would Christ:
"Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.
They keep watch over you as men who must give an account.
Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden,
for that would be of no advantage to you" (Heb. 13:17).
This harmony is the result of a mutual love, which
acknowledges the equal standing of all and also the
different functions. Equality and function are not to be
in opposition. This harmony is destroyed whenever the
pastor or the people try to "rule" the other.
The parts of a human body were designed by God to work in
a naturally harmonious relationship. For a body part to
work against another body part would be the result of the
harmful effects of disease. And so it is with the Body of
Christ, the pastor and the people. For a body part of
Christ to work against another body part would be the
harmful results of sin, as Paul says in the fifth chapter
of Galatians: "If you keep on biting and devouring
each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each
other" (v.15).
The Scriptures use several images to picture this
harmonious and close relationship between the pastor and
the people. There are some obvious and not unexpected
overlapping in the images.
_____________
1. September 1997
issue of The Reporter. This meeting resulted in this
publication of "Church and Ministry", (CPH) the
collected papers of the 150th Anniversary Theological
Convocation of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
2. Ibid.
3. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations are from the
New International Version.
4. James Pragman, Traditions of Ministry, (Concordia
Publishing House: St. Louis, Mo., 1983), 16,17.
5. Pragman, 17.
6. Richard John Neuhaus, Freedom for Ministry (William B.
Eerdmans Publishing House: Grand Rapids, MI, 1992), 66.
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