A Reformed Understanding of Pastor

The Reformed Understanding of Pastor

(This was delivered by Ed Collier at the conference called 'A Defence of Calvinism'.)

It’s important to see that historically the reformed understanding of the pastor flowed out of the reformed understanding of justification.

At the heart of the reformation in the 16th century was the rediscovery of the wonderful Biblical truth by Luther (and others) that salvation doesn’t come to us because of our righteousness or our works or our merits. But salvation comes to us because of what God has done for us in Christ, and us simply receiving that by faith alone.

And so Luther came to see that the true Church was that assembly of people who through faith were united to Jesus. And so he went on to ask the question, what was it that had brought these people to put their faith in Christ? What was the reason they believed? He saw the answer was that they’d heard the Word of God preached to them and had responded to that word with faith and repentance.

And so Luther concluded that if people were going to hear and believe then what the Church needed most of all was preachers and preaching. And of course that wasn’t his own logic. He got it from Paul in Romans 10. V 14 ‘how they shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard. And how shall they hear without a preacher?…v 17 So they faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

So Luther was saying if the gospel is justification by faith alone, and faith comes by hearing the word, and hearing the word comes through the preaching of the word, Luther concluded what we need is preachers and preaching. Preaching that would lead people to faith and nurture their faith.

And yet as Luther looked at the Catholic Church he saw that at preaching was inadequate and at worst it was non-existent.

He made this comment: ‘3 great abuses have befallen the service of God. First God’s word is not proclaimed: there is only reading and singing in Churches. Second, because God’s Word has been suppressed, many unchristian inventions and lies have sneaked into the services of reading, singing and preaching and they are horrible to see. Third, such service of God is being undertaken as a good work by which one hopes to obtain God’s grace and salvation. Thus faith has perished and everyone wishes to endow churches or to become a priest, monk, or nun’.

What Luther came to see then was that what was needed was a complete reformation of the ministry. The sacrificing priest of the Catholic Church needed to be replaced by the preaching minister. For Luther the pastoral ministry was fundamentally a preaching ministry. This was essential to the gospel and the life of the Church.

And what Luther emphasised was also emphasised by the other great reformers. Zwingli, Bucer, Calvin all put the highest priority on preaching in the life of the Church. This was seen to be the chief work of the pastor.

Calvin himself gave great emphasis in his own ministry to preaching the Word. Its estimated that each year he would preach 170 sermons with lecturing on top of that - so if you’re someone who complains a bit about having to preach twice on Sundays like I do, just think of Calvin preaching 170 times a year with lecturing on top!

Calvin gave that great emphasis to preaching because he saw that that was his main work as a Pastor. The Pastor, as the word also means, was a Shepherd. And as Calvin looked at the Bible he saw that the way he was to Shepherd God‘s flock, the way he would care for and guide and protect and feed the Sheep was ultimately through the preaching and teaching of God‘s Word.

And that emphasis has carried on to be at the heart of the reformed understanding of the pastor. Through the reformation period, through the Puritan period, down to the present day, reformed Churches put great emphasis on the fact that the role of the pastor is to preach and teach the word. Not just from the front on Sundays, but also in small groups, one on one, to families, in evangelistic efforts, in training up others - the key thing is preaching and teaching God‘s word.

Maybe its best summed up in the words of Paul to Timothy, (2 Timothy 4 v 2) “Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching.”

But all this leads to the question, “in the Reformed view, what is the preaching and teaching of the pastor meant to be like? What should characterise the preaching and teaching that should be at the heart of the pastors work?”

The Reformers and Puritans brought out a number of main emphasises.

1) Preaching should be Biblical.

The job of the pastor is not just to feed the sheep with his own ideas and opinions and blessed thoughts. His job is not to lead them in his own ways. The job of the pastor is to bring God’s Word to the sheep.

See 2 Timothy 3:15-17 - Paul says to Timothy its God’s word that leads people to faith in Christ (v15), and its God’s word that enables people to grow in the faith so that they become complete and thoroughly equipped (v 16-17). The Bible contains everything we need. Which is why Paul goes straight on to say to Timothy - preach the word! (4:1-2)

That’s the job of the pastor. To preach the WORD. And that means explaining to people what Scripture means, and then applying it to their lives. Those are the 2 key words - explanation and application.

2) It should be doctrinal.

In other words in our preaching we shouldn’t simply be concerned to bring out the meaning of the text we’re actually preaching on, whether that’s John ch 1 or Exodus ch12, but we should be seeking to show how the truth of that text links in with the truth found in other texts.

So, for example, if we’re preaching on James 2 where it says we’re justified by works, we need to show how that links in with what Paul says about justification, and what Jesus says about justification.

So this is where Systematic Theology comes in. Showing how the different parts of the Bible connect together. Showing that ultimately it’s one mind behind the Bible.

3) It should be evangelistic/ gospel centred.

Paul tells Timothy in 2 Tim 4 v 5 to ‘do the work of an evangelist’. And that reminds us that our preaching and teaching always needs to have a double focus. It needs to focussed on nurturing and encouraging those who are already Christians. But it also needs to be focussed on encouraging and challenging those who aren’t Christians to become Christians.

And gospel-centred preaching is essential to both those aims.
It’s the wonderful message of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that the lost need to hear so that they will become Christians. And its that same message that Christians continually need to hear to invigorate them, to encourage them, to excite them, to stir up love for God in them, so that the want to grow and serve God.

And so as preachers we need to continually keep a focus on gospel preaching. On bringing people to those fundamental truths of what God has done for us in Christ and how we need to respond to that.

4) It should be pastoral and practical.

In other words we need to be remember that there are real people out there, living real lives, facing real experiences, asking real questions, facing real difficulties and who need help to know how God’s word applies to their different circumstances.

So in our Churches we’ll have old people and young people, we’ll have single people and married people, we’ll have people trying to bring up children, and people who are grieving because they can’t have children. We’ll have people facing assurance problems, people with depression, people who are ill, people who are dying, people at work, people at university, people who are wondering how they should spend their leisure time, people who are wondering how they should use their money. All sorts of different people. All sorts of different circumstances.

And our job as Pastors then is not just to preach general truth to these people. But our job is to show how the truth of God’s word applies to these peoples different questions, problems and experiences. Whether that’s in our preaching or one-to-one etc.

The puritans were the masters at pastoral and practical preaching. So the first part of their sermons was spent explaining and unpacking the text of the Bible. And the second half was showing the “uses” of that passage. Showing how it could practically apply into peoples lives.
So there are some of the main things that the Reformed tradition has emphasised should characterise the preaching and teaching of the pastor.

But lastly I want to ask what is the aim of all this preaching and teaching. What is its main purpose?

Well the reformers and puritans emphasised that the main aim of preaching and teaching was what Paul says in Col 1 v 28 where he writes “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.”

Maturity in Christ! That was the great aim of the preaching of Paul and of the Reformers and the Puritans and needs to be the aim of our preaching too. We need to be preaching in such a way that leads people to put their faith in Christ so that they’re joined to him. But we also need to be preaching and teaching in such a way so that people will grow in their faith. So that they won’t simply stay as babes but that they’ll become mature.

Mature in their understanding and knowledge of God. Mature in their lives of holiness. Mature in their service to God. Mature in the way that they look to please God and bring his word to bear on every part of their life whether its work, or family, or leisure, or finances or whatever.

Our aim should be to have Churches where people are coming in and getting converted, and then growing in faith to be strong men and women of God. And its our preaching that’s essential to that aim.

One of the missionaries that my Church supports was visiting last year from Peru. And he was saying that if you look at the Church scene in Peru “it’s a mile wide and an inch deep.” In other words there are a lot of people who call themselves Christian, but there’s very little maturity. And I guess that’s a challenge for us and our Churches.
We want wide Churches. We want lots of being saved. But we also want deep Churches. Mature Churches. And our leadership and Biblical Pastoring is key to that.


Also think about Prayer life. Personal life!