The pastor’s purpose

Among other responsibilities, the primary function of a pastor is to grow its assembly up in the Lord.  They do this by supplying it with the necessary spiritual truths needed to thrive.  Their purpose also entails helping their people discover, and engage in, their own ministry functions (Ephesians 5:11, Ephesians 2:8-9).

However, truth by itself is not enough.  To see growth, it must be applied in the proper order.  School systems teach us this.

School learning

Student growth in school comes by learning and applying specific principles in a specific order over time.

Each grade level, from the 1st to the 12th, has specific learning outcomes.  These are progressive.  It is in the gradual expansion of this learning framework where growth and development occurs.  For example, 1^st graders learn numbers.  2^nd graders learn how to add them.  3^rd graders learn how to multiply them. 4^th graders learn how to add and multiply them together using an order of operations called algebra.

Each principle is built upon the previous.  One day the evilness of calculus comes along!

What is the school’s overall objective? It is to move students from the basics to the advanced  in both knowledge and application.  However, attempting to teach calculus to 1st graders would not be helpful because they do not have a current framework for it.  Doing so would cause confusion and stunted growth.

Is calculus really evil?  No.  It is just not an appropriate principle for those entering the first grade.

We grow spiritually in like manner.  We must first learn the basics and move upwards.

Kingdom Learning

In God’s Kingdom, the Holy Spirit has designated a specific order of truth for God’s children to learn and mature by.  This is not an intellectual growth.  It entails flourishing spiritually in the Lord and His purposes.

If a new believer fails to learn God’s operational order of truth, trying to learn others of meatier substance could become harmful instead of helpful.  Peter addressed this, giving reference to some of Paul’s teachings: He (Paul) says essentially the same in all of his letters, although uneducated and unstable readers misinterpret the difficult passages, just as they always misread Scripture, to their spiritual ruin. – 2 Peter 3:16 (VOICE)

Peter reveals:

• Some Bible passages can become easily misinterpreted.  This can hurt us.
• Paul’s writings were divinely inspired and considered scripture (some in the church discount unfortunately).

His point: like the growth of a baby, as we mature what we eat must change.  We move from milk, to puree, to solid food, and then to meat over time.  Meat itself not bad.  On the other hand, it could kill an infant.

Pastors must recognize the importance of unfolding the right truth at the right time to the right audience to maximize growth.

The growth of the saint

The big challenge for assemblies is that different saints are in different places of maturity.  It is like having different rows of plants at various stages of growth and each need different care strategies.

This level of diverse maturity needs addressing if  growth is to be seen.  Usually, once a week a general message is given.  Although it may be full of life, it may be received differently by different people.  To one, it may be very helpful.  To another it may be confusing (like calculus to a 1^st grader).  To another it may be boring (like addition to a 10th grader).  The confused and bored leave while the encouraged stay.

The proper order of truth

Do the scriptures give us what what order of truth should be provided to a congregation?  Yes!. “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of:

1. Repentance from dead works
2. Faith toward God (the gospel of Christ)
3. The doctrine of baptisms (three in total: body baptism, water baptism, spirit baptism)
4. laying on of hands (equipping for ministry and gifts)
5. resurrection of the dead, and of
6. eternal judgment”

– Hebrews 6:1-2

God wants these foundational truths laid first.  Then, permitted He is satisfied with our knowledge of them, He will provide a different teaching curriculum for continued upward growth.  As it is written, “And this we will do if God permits”. – Hebrews 6:3

Approaches to consider

Teaching to an auditorium of 1^st and 12^th graders who are coming and going can be challenging.  The most effective approach is to teach these elementary principles in public while offering private lessons separately.

When applied to local church assemblies, it ensures everyone understands foundational truths while also providing personal growth opportunities in parallel. Otherwise, an assembly may be going in circles rather than upwards.

Pastoral scalability is also critical.  It enhances personal growth and also reduces the risk of a church becoming a revolving door. The bigger the crowd, the more that individual care and connection must be prioritized.  A single pastor cannot pastor hundreds alone.  There is a limited supply of time, energy, phone calls, visits, and attention to go around.

Effective scaling first requires casting clear vision.  Then, setting in place pastoral (overseer) and deacon teams (1 Timothy 3:1-13) to help achieve it.  The team’s size should be proportionate to the size of the congregation.  A 1-to-12 ratio is a good start – Jesus used it.  At the advice of Jethro, Moses scaled his pastoral team by 70X overnight – a rather reactive decision after a period of burnout.  However, God honored it and empowered them for the tasks (Exodus 18:1-27).

I have counseled many pastors.  Many feel burned out.  Discouragement often sets in when they think about the fruit of their labors.  Lurking behind their despair is usually the absence of a clear vision, a healthy team, and a good feedback process for evaluate results.

Where is your flock?

Biology teaches us that all living organisms require a feedback system for growth. An effective feedback and evaluation process is critical to church vitality.

Evaluation begins by diagnosing your flock’s current state through questioning, data collection, or polling.  This reveals where gaps exist and what actions should be taken.  As Proverbs says, “be sure to know the state of your flocks, and pay close attention to your herds.” – Proverbs 27:23.

Questions should relate to your mission and the elementary principles as outlined above.  Examples:

#1: Repentance from dead works and faith toward God (Hebrews 6:1).  How many have repented and put their faith in Christ?  How many did last year, last quarter, last month, or last week?

#2: The doctrine of baptisms (Hebrews 6:2a).  How many have been water baptized? How many did last year, last quarter, last month, or last week?  What about Spirit baptism?

Etc..

We see Paul applied this same approach.  After leaving Corinth and travelling to the upper country of Asia minor, he encountered some leftover disciples of John the Baptist in Ephesus.  Supposing them to be Christians, he first asked them some questions to assess where they were:

• Question 1: “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed” (Acts 19:2)? They said no.
• Question 2: “into what then were you baptized” (Acts 19:3)?

Based on their responses, his changed his messages.  First, the gospel (Acts 19:4).  Second, water baptism (Acts 19:5).  Third, the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:6).  Notice how these corresponded to truths 1-4 above from Hebrews 6:1-2?  The church in Ephesus was planted and started flourishing soon thereafter.

Conclusion

Are the basic principles (Hebrews 6:1-8) of Christ being taught?

If you are a pastor, what is the state of your flock?  Are you regularly evaluating and measuring their spiritual growth?

Are you scaling yourself – selecting and delegating activities to team members?

Are you casting vision to inspire engagement?