How do spiritual gifts and individual talents relate to the position of a pastor?

Spiritual gifts and individual talents are sometimes downplayed as being of secondary importance when it comes to the selection of a pastor.  Just read many pastoral job descriptions and you will find that the requirement of a college degree often trumps many of the other prerequisites, to include spiritual gifts and individual talents.  Many times the college degree does not even need to be related to the church or the ministry…just a degree is needed.  What could be the reason behind this?  For starters, churches normally want competent leaders and a college degree can be easily quantified.  On the contrary, spiritual gifts and individual talents as well a person’s character are more difficult to measure.  What kind of messages do many churches send to the world by requiring secular standards for a religiously-oriented vocation?  Is the ministry limited to white-collar workers?  Should blue-collar workers not even bother applying?  So what importance does the role of spiritual gifts and individual talents play in the selection of pastors and church leaders?   

What are spiritual gifts and individual talents?  Scripture teaches that the Holy Spirit baptizes a new believer at the point when he or she acknowledges Jesus Christ as his or her personal Lord and Savior.  When the Holy Spirit baptizes the new believer, commonly known as the baptism of the Holy Spirit, He uniquely gives to each believer a spiritual gift or gifts for the common good of the overall church. (Matthew 3:1-2, 11; I Corinthians 12:3-7)  In similar manner, people are born with individual talents, or skills, that they normally use for the betterment of society.  As people grow older and are given opportunities to try new things, they will normally gravitate toward certain hobbies, professions and/or interests where their natural-born skills can be applied in a constructive manner.  Often times, people seek out mentors who help them find their God-given talents as well as their niche in life.  As a result, we should have a much better world full of people who are passionate about doing things they love, be it working in a trade/profession, raising a family, helping others or some other contribution to society.   

How do spiritual gifts relate to pastors and church leaders?  In the Apostle Paul’s instructions to Timothy, the overall theme for an overseer’s qualifications focuses on a person’s character being above reproach.  In addition, the text indicates that the overseer should possess the spiritual gifts of shepherding, teaching, and leadership. (I Timothy 3:1-5) What is the importance of a pastor possessing all or part of these spiritual gifts?  The spiritual gift of shepherding, or guiding others, is when the Holy Spirit guides a believer to watch over the spiritual welfare of others and bring them into fellowship with one another.  (Ephesian 4:11)  The spiritual gift of teaching, or instructing, is when the Holy Spirit guides a believer to help others learn about the Word of God and applying it to their lives. (Romans 12:7; I Corinthians 12:28-29; Ephesians 4:11)  The spiritual gift of leadership, or governments, is when the Holy Spirit guides a believer to diligently guide others and/or an organization by perseverance and adherence to the Word of God. (Romans 12:8; I Corinthians 12:28)  In other words, spiritual gifts have nothing do with anything we can accomplish our own (e.g., training, schools), but rather the Holy Spirit empowering our lives as vessels of God’s work. 

How do individual talents relate to pastors and church leaders?  Basically, individual talents can be used in conjunction with spiritual gifts.  Take for example, God chose David while he was a youth tending sheep and the Spirit of the Lord empowered him in applying his skills (or talents) for becoming the king of Israel.  (I Samuel 16:1, 10-13)  In the New Testament, Jesus Christ chose two fishermen – Peter and Andrew – and used their fishing skills with the words, “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4:19 NIV)  The same applies today, someone may have natural carpentry skills and God may empower that person with the spiritual gift of apostleship, or being an ambassador, for the purpose of spreading and relating the message of the gospel to individuals in different areas of the world.  As a result, the person may decide to be a missionary carpenter building churches, hospitals, or like manner in another region of the world.  Apply this same scenario to the function of leading a church and you will find an unlimited number of ways God can empower pastors with spiritual gifts via their individual talents, be it God-given natural talents and/or learned trades/skills.  

In summary, one of the primary goals of the church is teaching people how God can change lives through the power of the Holy Spirit.  In keeping aligned with this premise, we need to remember the importance of the example that the pastor sets for the congregation, in that the qualifications of the pastor tend to set the precedence for various supporting roles within the church.  Therefore, we should avoid pigeonholing people based off their occupations, especially whether they are white-collar or blue-collar workers.  Look at how the people in the synagogue judged Jesus Christ’s wisdom, referring to Him as a blue-collar worker – “What’s this wisdom that has been given him…Isn’t this the carpenter?” (Mark 6:2-3 NIV)  Instead, we should try following the standards that God spoke through the Prophet Samuel concerning King David.  “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7 NIV)

How does church governance impact the choice of a pastor?

One of the commonly overlooked aspects for hiring a pastor is the impact a church governance style can have on the hiring process.  Just take a look around at the churches within our communities and country.  Some churches have lifelong pastors while others seem to have a different pastor every few years.  In churches with a hierarchical system, the same situation often occurs as some overseers are appointed and/or hired into lifelong positions while others serve only for a set period of time.  So how does church governance impact the choice of a pastor as well as the potential candidates who may apply for the position?  What are the likely scenarios when you apply the pastor selection process to the three major church governances, be it the papal, presbyterian or congregational style?  Basically, whose vested interest is at stake – the church, the pastor, or both?  Additionally, how does this impact the overall direction of the church?

In regard to the papal system, the pastors and/or church leaders often fall into two different categories, depending on whether the church is completely independent or part of a hierarchical body.  In regard to the independent church model, many of the pastors and/or senior pastors of these churches are the actual founders of the church, or the predecessors who have been appointed by the original church founders.  Many of these individuals attain the pastoral positions as a result of the merits of their efforts applied in initially founding and establishing the churches.  Likewise, pastors selected and/or appointed into a hierarchical system often follow the same pattern of progression for attaining their respective leadership positions.  Overall, one of the major drawbacks to the papal system is the reality that some church pastors and leaders may be susceptible to the temptation of choosing future leaders based off their own personal agendas, rather than God’s will.  Conversely, pastoral leaders in a papal system often have a long-term vested interest in their respective local churches, which provides leadership stability for the congregants.  Furthermore, the church leaders have the freedom to cast long-term Biblical visions for their respective churches, without the impending fear of being dismissed or removed from their pastoral position by a disgruntled board member or group of board members. 

Concerning the presbyterian system, pastors and church leaders are often appointed and/or hired by a presbytery or group of church elders.  The great thing about the presbyterian system is that the group of elders usually consists of well-rounded believers who have a concerted interest in safeguarding the direction of their respective churches, especially from local perspectives.  In similar manner, many pastoral candidates may appreciate the opportunity to discuss a church’s long-term vision with a core group of elders, rather than the whole congregation, in order to prevent disruption within the church.  On the contrary, many churches may be limiting themselves by trying to choose “perfect candidates” from outside the congregation through the prism of their church elders’ religious views, instead of waiting for the Holy Spirit to work in the lives of possible future leaders from within their churches.  Likewise, many pastoral leaders may find themselves compromised when they try to cast long-term visions for their congregations, since the long-term fate of their pastoral positions lies with the very group of elders who appointed and/or hired them.

As for the congregational system, pastor candidates are often selected by a pastor hiring board and the congregation later comes together to cast their individual votes for approving/ disapproving the selected candidate.  On the surface, the congregational system seems to allow for everyone to get their vote on who they prefer to lead their church.  However, the reality of the matter is that most church members only get to vote during the final selection process of the pastor, not the entire selection process.  On the positive note, church members have the opportunity to participate in decisions concerning the welfare and direction of the church. Ideally, as a result of every member being allowed to vote on church matters, the vested interests of the congregation should remain preserved.  Realistically, many congregational-style churches have encountered the opposite results – church splits.  What happens to hired pastors in these scenarios?  Unfortunately, some church members may potentially fall into the trap of choosing a pastor who teaches what the congregation wants to hear, rather than a pastor who teaches what the congregation should hear.       

In conclusion, church governances can have broad impacts on the type of individuals churches choose for its pastors, be it lifelong pastors for their congregations or different pastors every few years.  What message are our churches sending to our communities?  Do pastors represent the short-term, disposable needs of our churches or do pastors play an integral part in the long-term vision of our churches?  We need to take heed to the Apostle Paul’s words to Timothy – “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (II Timothy 4:3 NIV)

Should churches hire pastors from within or outside the congregation?

The process a church uses for appointing and/or hiring its pastor(s) is a very sensitive issue for many people.  Basically, the way a church chooses a pastor often serves as an indicator of the church’s short and long-term goals.  Likewise, this same selection/hiring process tends to reflect the churches position on leadership, whether its leaders must be groomed by a higher affiliation or denominational structure or if the possibility exists that the Holy Spirit may raise up leaders from within the congregation.  As a result, people often ask the question – are local churches watching out for welfare of their religious affiliations or denominational institutions, instead of the spiritual welfare of the people in their surrounding communities?

As for short-term and long-term goals, such as starting a church, a religious affiliation or denomination may decide to select/hire a “church-plant” pastor whose primary purpose is to move into a community and start a church.  During this initial process or short-term goal, many of these “church-plant” pastors will utilize the individual talents and spiritual gifts of believers from within the community for establishing the church.  In a sense, people are often drawn to the newly “planted” churches because of the opportunity to get involved and share their individual talents and gifts.  However, as these new churches grow, the true intentions and long-term goals of the parent affiliations and/or organizations that helped finance the churches tend to be exposed.  Unfortunately, when the need for hiring a full-time pastor and/or additional pastors arises, too many of these newly “planted” churches feel compelled to look beyond the community members who helped establish their churches and only hire pastors from outside the congregation who have been groomed by of the respective parent religious affiliations and/or organizations. 

As for a contrasting scenario, an individual or group of individuals who have a passion for reaching others with the message of Christianity may also decide to start a church in a community-- - without the financial support of a religious affiliation or denomination.  During the start-up process, the church is funded solely by the founding individual(s) as well as anybody who contributes to the cause.  In similar manner to the religious affiliation/denominational church plant, this “church-plant” will also utilize the individual talents and spiritual gifts of believers from within the community for establishing the church.  As these churches grow, many of these founding church leaders will decide to trust in the work of the Holy Spirit and appoint/hire people as pastors from within their congregations, while others may consider appointing/hiring people from inside and/or outside the congregation.

Of course, there are many pros and cons to the two aforementioned “church-plant” scenarios.  The most obvious is the availability of funds, or lack thereof, to start a church.  Having the financial support of a religious affiliation or religious denomination is a definite positive when starting up a church.  However, the same scenario may prove to be a negative as the church grows and the pastor finds him or herself limited by the institutional bureaucracy.  On the contrary, starting a church without the financial backing of a religious institution could be perceived as a huge negative.  Conversely, if a pastor manages to start a church in this scenario, he or she will have the potential to experience the unlimited freedom of following the guidance of the Holy Spirit…especially in the appointment and/or hiring of pastors and other church leaders.

In summary, we need to ensure that the criteria for hiring pastors, whether from within or outside the congregation, falls in line with the overall purpose of the church – reaching everybody with the message of Christianity. (Matthew 28:18-10)  In similar fashion, churches must never lose sense that the spiritual welfare of the people in their surrounding communities takes precedence over religious affiliations or denominational institutions.  Otherwise, what message are we sending to our communities?  As for a closing thought, Jesus Christ was not limited by any religious bureaucracy --- rather Jesus Christ chose his disciples to follow Him at where they were in their normal lives, not necessarily their religious vocations.  (Matthew 4:18-22)