On Pastoral Authority...

The authority under which the pastor ministers is the authority that God has given the pastor. The pastor has the authority to do what he or she does because God has chosen him or her to serve in this way. Pastoring is not a task that everyone in the church is given. One must have a specific calling from God if they choose to become a pastor. God has chosen them to be His representative. In a very real way, when the pastor “shows up” to something, those who are there in that particular circumstance feel as though God Himself has shown up. This is not entirely inaccurate since the pastor does carry or at least ought to be carrying the Spirit of Christ within his or herself. While it would be inappropriate for the pastor to think of themselves as God or some kind of deity, it is appropriate for the pastor to remember that whatever the observing people see in his or her life affects how they view God. While it would be nice to assume that most people see the pastor as an ordinary human being who makes mistakes just like everyone else, the reality is that the pastor represents God to the people in a very unordinary way. While all saints are to represent Christ, the pastor is held in a way to a different standard. The pastor is entrusted with more of “the things of God” than the average Christian. The lay recognize this and correctly see that the pastor is to be looked up to more so in matters of faith than the average Christian. It was by the choice of God that some would be called into pastoral ministry, and in this calling to be His “mouthpiece.” While the church as a whole decides to whom they give the title of pastor through differing yet similar means within denominations, it is not the church that gives the true calling. While the church has the authority to give authorization to those seeking to become pastors, it is God who has given this authority to the church, and it is God who gives the authority to each individual who has been called into pastoral ministry.