PASTOR AS LEADER
Many books and sermons have been produced to tell us that the biblical model for a pastor as leader is that of servant, shepherd, visionary, CEO, teacher, disciple maker, and/or counselor/chaplain. But what about the biblical model of pastor as father?
Consider this: The Bible tells us clearly that the church is a family and is to be patterned after the way that families are patterned. See I Peter 3:8 and I Timothy 5:1-2. This is why one of the central biblical requirements for pastors is that they lead their families well (I Timothy 3:4-5). By the way, the word Pope is Latin for “father,” and in the early church ministers were often called “popes” or “fathers,” because pastors were to be spiritual fathers.
The church is designed to be led properly just like a father should lead his family properly. God the Father is to be glorified in our congregation through the Lord Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, and I am to lead our church as I have been charged, like a spiritual father. Within that model, I will often function in different roles, of course, as all good fathers should, but that is my primary leadership model.
Devotedly your pastor,
Bill Blanchard