With one of the early smartphones in my hand, I thought, “I’m glad my dad didn’t have a smartphone when I was young.” When my dad came home from work, he was with us. Years later, after the negatives of social media were discerned, I thought, “I’m glad my pastor didn’t have social media when I was a young.” When my pastor came out of his study, he was with us.
This is a short article to commend a simple truth: pastors are local theologians.
As Peter put it: “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Pet. 5:2). Peter had more to say about shepherding than this, but everything Peter wrote to pastors assumed a local sphere for our sacred work.
Most local church pastors don’t want to be anywhere else most of the time. But some of the time, we do want to be somewhere else. A pastor can wonder if he shouldn’t be somewhere bigger, somewhere more strategic or significant. Or just somewhere different, somewhere that will appreciate him more. Perhaps some should. But often enough our straying imaginations are a sign that we simply need encouragement to shepherd the flock of God among us.
That’s what this article seeks to do with a little help from our “fellow elder,” and a man who knows his own weaknesses. Here are three encouragements for local church pastors from the Apostle Peter.
Pastors, We Are Theologians because Our Churches Are God’s Possession
Man-centered ways of thinking about church lead to man-centered ways of leading church, and, therefore, man-centered ways of evaluating ourselves as pastors.
But Peter exhorted us, “shepherd the flock of God.” (1 Pet. 5:2, emphasis mine). That’s who we are dealing with here: God and his flock. How encouraging!
We may plant a church, but we do not create a church. We may revitalize a church, but we are not the source of new life for our church. We may strategize for growth in maturity or size, but we never grow the church, not in an ultimate sense: “So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth (1 Cor. 3:7). We may have chosen to accept a call to a pastoral role, but before we chose to come, God chose those saints in his Son.
You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Peter 2:9–10)
All pastoring is theological because the pastor shepherds God’s people into the fullness of their identity as God’s people so that they may declare his excellencies and live as his servants (1 Pet. 2:9, 16). That is, to be clear, emphatically not our excellencies and not our servants.
We are there for them because they are there for him, and not the other way around.
We are not entertainers—though our people should find us interesting. We are not therapists—though our people should find us thoughtful doctors of their souls. We are not Chief Executive Officers—though we should be faithful overseers of our flocks for the sake of the church’s mission. No. Churches are the pillar and buttress of truth, and that truth is truth about God, and thus the church’s pastors teach sound doctrine that accords with godliness (1 Tim. 1:9, 1:10; 3:15; 6:3).
What does that sound like? Like this: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Pet. 1:3). It sounds like the sovereign work of God in the new birth rooted in the resurrection which gives us an imperishable hope in view of the coming revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 1:3–9). That’s called theology and it’s how Peter began his letter.
Pastoring is a thoroughly theological task. But for whom?
Peter, after all, wrote to the “elect exiles” all over Asia Minor.
Pastors, We Are Local Because That’s Where God’s People Are
Peter wrote of the “brotherhood throughout the world” and yet he wrote for the churches in “in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia (1 Pet. 1:1; 5:9). We know he wrote to churches there because in his letter he wrote to the elders in those places (1 Pet. 5:1).
The writers of our New Testament letters wrote to local churches, and we can tell. Not just because they often addressed “the church” in a particular place. But because they wrote into local situations.
We learn about the local challenges of first-century churches by listening in to these letters. Paul commended individuals by name and even “named names” when necessary (Rom. 16:3–16; Phil. 4:2; 2 Tim. 2:17). The people were local and so were their problems. The Galatian church needed to know there is no good news apart from justification by faith (Gal. 1:6). The Corinthian church needed to hear they are fools if the resurrection is not true (1 Cor. 15:17). The Colossian church needed to hear that union with Christ is fullness of life in contrast to empty philosophies involving angels and asceticism (Col. 2:8–3:3). In a region obsessed with magic and invisible powers, the small Ephesian church needed a word about their heavenly position (Eph. 1:3, 20; 2:6; 3:10; 6:12). The Hebrew audience needed to hear of Jesus’s incarnation so they might know him as a sympathetic high priest (Heb. 4:15).
There were no boilerplate letters for the apostles, nor for Jesus. Jesus himself wrote seven letters tailored to seven churches, each with their own context and threats (Rev. 2:1–3:22). Only tailor-made messages for the need of each church would do.
So it was for Peter. The rejected “exiles” to whom he wrote needed a word concerning their chosenness in Christ (1 Pet. 2:4, 9). They were elect exiles (1 Pet. 1:1)! Subject to difficult authorities, these discouraged Christians needed to hear that Jesus, “has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” (1 Peter 3:22, emphasis mine).
Peter knew his hearers. He spoke to them accordingly.
The variety and occasional nature of our New Testament epistles invites us to speak to our congregations likewise in personal and specific ways. So, while some of our people may listen to some of our generation’s “best preachers” on the internet (and we thank God for them!), only local pastors can speak a personal word to the flock of God among us. We know them and love them as only their shepherds can. May that be apparent in our preaching.
We may understand this calling quite well, that we are local theologians for our people. But what are we to do on our more discouraging days? When it seems we want that couple to be reconciled more than they want it themselves? When one criticism of our preaching weighs heavier on our minds than many words about God’s Word at work? When the glory of the ministry seems to elude us and the grass seems greener on the other side of the pulpit? Sleep goes a long way.
But even better than sleep is a better source of encouragement.
Pastors, We May Be Obscure Here, but We are Seen by Heaven
Peter seems to know that elder-pastors need big encouragement.
That’s why Peter did not just exhort elders to “shepherd the flock of God.” He put our difficult task in its proper heavenly context:
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you. (1 Peter 5:1–2, emphasis added)
We must not be in the pastorate for shameful gain, but there is nothing wrong with being in it for gain. In fact, our pursuit of godly gain is precisely how Peter motivates us: “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Pet. 5:4). That crown of glory is nothing less than the fullness of salvation (1 Cor. 9:25; 2 Tim. 4:8). Heaven not only sees our work; our work leads to heaven.
Here’s what this means: there is nothing lost whatsoever for being local. Our churches may be small and, at times, difficult out of all proportion to their size. But local church pastors are not out of sight and out of mind for God, for his eye and his mind are ever on his people.
They are his, and so are we. A great encouragement, indeed.
Make Local Great Again
Much has been made in recent years of the pastor as a public theologian. That has been a needed emphasis. Among other things, it means pastors must speak about and into matters beyond the walls of their churches. But it is increasingly tempting to think that the action is out there rather than in the room with our people. We need pastors who are public theologians, yes, but for the sake of their local churches.
When we shepherd the flock of God among us, the Chief Shepherd sees, and he is pleased. And for this reason, there is no better place to be.
I think my pastor growing up knew that. His greetings, his preaching, and his prayers were local. Just like the Apostles. He always had a Word from God for us. When we spoke in private, he always had a Word from God for me.
That’s the kind of pastor I want to be.