Opus 2012-8, Spiritual Gifts: Pastor

(Ephesians 4:11 KJV)  And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

Years ago when I first taught on spiritual gifts there were tests available designed to suggest what your spiritual gifts might be.  They are still available.  I was pastoring at the time and could set my own schedule of teaching so I took the time to have people take the test.  Everyone took it for themselves and then we began to take it for each other.  An interesting and surprising trend emerged.  The most common gift in our little congregation seemed to be the gift of pastor.

At first this seemed to be some kind of mistake, but the more I looked at it, the more I could see it being true.  We tend to think of the pastor in terms of leadership, administration, knowledge and so forth.  In reality the word means shepherd.  The pastor is one who helps, nurtures and protects those weaker than themselves.  A pastor in the Biblical sense is one who cares for and about the people around him. 

This made sense when I looked at this little church.  They were people who were concerned and helpful.  If one had a problem, others would reach out.  They took care of each other.  It is possible for this to become ingrown, but the up side is that the gift of pastoring is much more common that most people think.  It is not a profession, it is a gift.

homo unius libri