What It Means to Be a Pastor

â€Å"Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? † says the LORD in Isaiah 43:18-19(Holy Bible, KJV). Though these words were written thousands of years ago, they speak anew for being a pastor today. How does a person know if they are called to be a pastor? How does a person know what God is calling them to do? Why is it important to consider carefully and prayerfully one’s call, especially a call to be a pastor? I am convinced that to enter pastoral ministry without God’s call is one of the greatest deceptions of the devil. This is so because the one who is deceived and drawn into pastoral ministry apart from God’s call will not be as effective, because it takes a special anointing, and a closer relationship with God to be a pastor, but worse, the one who ventures into ministry for the wrong reasons will be powerless to prevent the desecration of God’s holy name. Here are some questions to consider for those who may be in the feeling stage of considering their call. Why is it important to consider carefully and prayerfully one’s call, especially a call to be a pastor? The non-called pastor, the non-called person in any position, is one of Satan’s most effective weapons. (See 1 Timothy 4; 2 Timothy 3-4; 2 Peter 2; Jude; and Revelation 2-3). Spiritual leadership requires the ability to listen, to respond to, and to effectively communicate God’s desire and will for a congregation Ministry is not only teaching, or being in view of congregation, but it is above all serving. It is shepherding, discipline. It is running to the hospital to sit at the beside of the sick and doing so at any time of night or day. In today’s economic times, we all have one way or another faced some difficult times, and instead of drawing closer to God, there seems to be a collective turning away from God. . According to the Western Recorder August 3, 2010 issue, the average salary for a full time Southern Baptist Pastor is $55,829; while the average pay package for a full time Southern Baptist pastor is $66,275. I don’t know about you, but these amounts sound insanely high to me. I figured that pastors made about $10,000 less than this; I make almost $28,000 less than this (God takes care of us). (http://sbcvoices. com/what-is-the-average-pay-for-a-full-time-southern-baptist-pastor-or-staff-member/#sthash. grh71N84. dpuf) Being a pastor will require a lot of your time and a whole lot of sacrifice, your wife and children will miss you every time you step out to minister and you will constantly be reminded of the cost of such a venture. Being a pastor is a continuous sacrifice, there will be times you have to choose between your ministry and your personal life, when the phone rings in the wee hours of the morning and you have to deal with your wife going through the house, cussing the dog and kicking the cat because the members don’t seem to respect the house, but you must go because the will of God must be done. Being a pastor is not something you can be trained to do, because to pastor you must have a love for God’s people. There is no other job or position in which people allow you into living rooms, hospital rooms and often the darkest places of their lives, there are very few jobs that require the amount of love and compassion it takes to truly and effectively care for God’s people, to whom much is given, much is required.