definition of a pastor

recently a good friend of mine posted a new entry into his blog (the details of which are not important to this entry, but it is a great read and he is a good guy so you can read it here: http://is.gd/dsA4t); what has prompted this entry was what came out in the ensuing discussion and what follows is a challenge to all pastors out in Christiandom.

the idea is simple, i want to lay a challenge down at the feet of anyone who calls themselves pastor, who is called pastor, who "is" a pastor, or who speaks as one who has a pastoral calling in your life - how do you define "pastor" in your context and what does it mean.

let me put it this way - with so much happening in the Church in the twenty-first century, i believe there exists a huge leadership gap and that gap starts with the pastors in our churches.  i do not mean to be flippant or to be obtuse; but rather my aim is to challenge our thinking and to push to seize control of Christ's ministry here and now.

lets start with this question: what makes someone a pastor?  is it the position that they have been given?  is it the organization that legitimizes them as pastor?  is it their ability to preach well from the pulpit and teach the Word?  is it the compassion they have for the people around them?  is it a heart that is broken for those who are lost?  is it an ability to council and to help people through difficult times?  is it the ability to inspire others to reach their highest potential?

i fear that in the modern church there is too much reliance on preconceived notions about what makes a pastor.  far worse is that i have encountered a multitude of men and women who fit the description above and operate under the name of pastor - good men and women with good hearts - that have no clear idea what it means to be a pastor.

is this endemic of a great falsehood in the Church or is this just the perversion of the word over the years?

at the end of the conversation, it becomes apparent to me that we need to reconsider what that word means - in other words, ask our selves two questions:

first, what is a pastor?

second, what kind of pastor am I?

in the end i hope to challenge everyone to rethink what we mean by pastor and what it means to pastor - shed the label and our preconceived notions of what it is and challenge ourselves to do more now.  there are far too many people that have a title that they should not or hold onto a role that does not fit who they are.  this does not make them bad people just victims of a flawed idea.

i speak this out of nothing more than my own struggle.  in the end i want to challenge you all to join me, let's come up with a new idea.  let's figure out a better way to pastor.