THE REASON FOR MINISTERS

Eph 4:12-13
12 Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, 13 until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ. NLT
** Ok, so here it is, after explaining what leaders God has placed in the church, Paul explains their responsibilities. EQUIP! To do what? To do God’s work. When I was in Alabama pasturing a church there, it seemed like most people not only believed that the pastor should always have a money making job outside of the church pasturing but also that the pastor was suppose to do all the work inside of the church too. If we wear the pastor out, then we’ll just take the next one that comes along. Meanwhile everyone just sat around having potlucks and doing nothing but either applauding the pastor for his great stamina or complained because he just couldn’t keep up. (I think this way of life is not just a Alabama thing but it stretched thru the USA). Ministers, take a deep breath and stay focused on the word. EQUIP them, PASTOR them don’t parent them. Give them tools to do the word and over see them well. If a person dies of starvation while sitting in a steakhouse all their lives, it’s because they are lazy not because they have lack of food.