On Pastoring by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Moody Publishers
Published: 2016-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

THE PASTOR AS WORSHIP LEADER

The priority of the pastor’s public leadership on Sunday mornings

The pastor’s ministry work falls into two broad categories: behind-the-scenes responsibilities (such as meetings and visitations) and public ministry (such as Sunday morning worship). Both areas are important, but faithful stewardship of time and opportunity demands that you make your public ministry your chief priority. Indeed, you should visit the sick. You should counsel those who need biblical guidance. And you should personally disciple new Christians and emerging leaders in your church. But you should not engage in these one-on-one ministries to the neglect of the general assembly of the church.

As the early church grew, the apostles faced a pastoral care crisis. The apostles responded to the need by appointing “deacons,” so that neither pastoral care nor teaching were neglected (Acts 6:1–7). This is an example of wise and godly leadership that every pastor-teacher should follow. As a pastor, I want to be with and around my members as much as possible. But I need to practice intentional neglect for the sake of the health of the entire congregation.

What is the pastor’s role in corporate worship? I submit that the pastor is the worship leader of the church. You may not be able to sing. You may not play a musical instrument. You may not know how to lead a band or direct a choir. But you are still the worship leader of the church. As the worship leader of the church, you are to lead the congregation in three areas of worship: preaching, prayer, and music.

Preaching

The preaching of the Word of God is the highest point of Christian worship. It is not because the act of preaching itself is so important. It is because the Word of God inspires worship. We cannot worship a God we do not know. We get to know the true and living God by divine revelation, not human speculation. God’s self-revelation is found in the pages of Holy Scripture. As Paul testified to the Corinthians:

And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. (1 Cor. 2:1–6)

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