Asked and Answered

The Pastor’s Greatest Responsibility

Someone asked: Is it the pastor’s responsibility to make an invitation at the end of the service to reach the unsaved? What is the pastor’s greatest responsibility to reach the lost or feed the saints?

This question might presume one task is more important than another is. Let us consider that thought for a moment. For this to be true, the Bible would make a distinction in roles and responsibilities in the Church. Ephesians does make some distinctions between roles. Take note of the following passage.

“And He Himself gave some [to be] apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head——Christ—— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV).

While the above passage makes a distinction in roles, the primary focus seems to be the growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. In addition, it is important to note that the evangelist is included in the list of men that Christ gave for that stated goal.

Therefore, making any distinction, as far as importance is not biblical. Every member of the body has its role and supplies its part to edify the body.

However, the question raised, “Does a pastor have a greater responsibility to feed the flock or reach the unsaved?” is valid. His goal is to equip the saints for the work of ministry. However, that is also the goal of the evangelist, and the teacher, and so on.

Therefore, as far as one’s role in the Church, every believer should have the same goal. He must complete that task as the Lord leads. If a local church needs to be more evangelistic, a pastor may find it necessary to emphasize evangelism. If he believes that a large portion of the congregation is unsaved, he may feel compelled to exhort listeners to respond.

Can a pastor become unbalanced in his emphasis? Of course, but he is God’s servant and should be respected as such. Everything he does should have the edification of the body as the goal. However, he might reach the goal by putting an emphasis in one area over another.

Therefore, the concluding thought is this: a pastor’s primary responsibility is to grow the body for edification of itself in love. He should do this as the Lord leads and the situation dictates.