I need to make a confession here. Back in the late 90’s I left a church because they were getting ready to send out a statistical survey to the surrounding neighborhood that would be used to determine future direction. Also, I wrote some posts back in the fall discussing some of the ways political surveys could be manipulated to provide the desired results based on the manipulation of the sampling population and how exactly the survey questions were constructed and posed. So I know there is indeed some risk in evaluating anything based on survey results. So in all the surveys offered this week, we should indeed consider was there some bias in those conducting the survey or possibly some underlying motive that would predicate such results. At the same time, looking at a number of different surveys on different topics that seem together to give the same poor health report on Christianity, the church and individual faith in America, does indeed increase my concern for the body of Christ. Please consider these pastoral and church statistics in light of the Holy Spirit survey results and also the various survey results regarding Biblical illiteracy and see what conclusions you come to (IF YOU ARE A PASTOR, please share how your own experiences seem to refute some of these findings … or confirms them.). - 1,500 pastors leave the church every month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or contention in their churches.
- 1,300 pastors are terminated by the local church every month, many without cause.
- 90% of the pastors surveyed feel they are inadequately trained to cope with the ministry demands.
- 50% (another survey indicated 80%) of the pastors starting out will leave the ministry within 5 years.
- Only 10% will make it thru a lifetime of pastoral work to retirement.
- 50% of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce
- 70% of pastors constantly fight depression.
- 70% of pastors feel grossly underpaid (I wonder if those two statistics are related).
- 40% of pastors confess to having an extra-marital affair since starting their ministry.
- The majority of pastor’s wives surveyed (one survey reports this at 80%) said that the most destructive event that has occurred in their marriage and family was the day they entered ministry.
- In 2007, over 4,000 churches closed their doors.
- The profession of “Pastor” is near the bottom of a survey of the most-respected professions, just above “car salesman”.
There are a number of dimensions to this post and pastoral analysis. A good place to start is with pastor (or shepherd) Moses … All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die." Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin." So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. Ex 20:18-21 (NASB) God’s invitation was to all the people … but the people didn’t want to get too close to God. They wanted someone else do it and they’d just hear it second hand. The same invitation and expectation of God is there today. But the people today would rather not get too close … let the pastor talk to God and he can then tell us second hand. That is not what Jesus intended and the people placing that expectation upon the pastor are oftentimes the cause of many of the problems described above. Since when does it make sense for the sheep to tell the shepherd what to do? On the other hand and interestingly enough, most modern Bible translations only offer the term ‘pastor’ in one verse of Scripture: And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. Eph 4:11-13 (NASB) Pastor has a few more references in the KJV, primarily in the form of warnings from the prophet Jeremiah. I find it odd that subsequent translations changed the Jeremiah translation use … but then the use of the term pastor as a role and title only became widespread after the publishing of the KJV. While some might suggest the following passages could provide more insight into the roles and responsibilities of a pastor, some translations describe this role instead as the bishop … this gets so confusing. It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do. An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not addicted to wine or pugnacious, but gentle, peaceable, free from the love of money. He must be one who manages his own household well, keeping his children under control with all dignity (but if a man does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of the church of God?), and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil. And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. 1 Tim 3:1-7 (NASB) Please note Who makes one an overseer or pastor according to Scripture … and in the following passage who appoints them … Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have coveted no one's silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' Acts 20:28-35 (NASB) For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, 11 who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. Titus 1:5-11 (NASB) Based on the Scripture passages offered above and the pastoral survey results offered earlier, what sort of conclusions might you arrive at regarding the role of the pastor as defined in many churches today and the men who fill it? Afterword: Here are the KJV passages regarding pastors … The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. Jer 2:8 (KJV) (NASB used rulers instead) And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. Jer 3:15 (KJV) (NASB used shepherds instead) For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. Jer 10:21 (KJV) (NASB used shepherds instead) Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. Jer 12:10 (KJV) (NASB used shepherds instead) The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. Jer 22:22 (KJV) (NASB used shepherds instead) Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Jer 23:1 (KJV) (NASB used shepherds instead) Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. Jer 23:2 (KJV) (NASB used shepherds instead) Any thoughts or inspiration as to why the term would have been changed subsequent to the KJV? Have you ever encountered any pastors in your journey of faith who fit the descriptions offered by the prophet Jeremiah in the KJV? Is there a message in these references we should be heeding as a warning in the elevated role many (but not all) a senior pastor holds? Please remember the following in ALL teaching that you consider!
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Matt 7:15 (NASB)
But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; 3 and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. 2 Peter 2:1-3 (NASB) My prayer and hope is that your church has a pastor just like the passages describe above and all these statistics and ideas seem ‘out there’. I encourage you to stop for a moment and THANK GOD for providing a pastor who fulfills the expectation described in Ephesians 4 and fulfilling the promise He offered thru the prophet Jeremiah: And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. | 
