[Pastor Ralph]

Q4. (Ephesians 4:12) What's wrong with the old model of the minister or pastor being the main worker in the Church? How does it hinder people in the congregation? How does it hurt the community? What is the purpose of pastors and teachers?

[Commissioned]

What's wrong with the old model of the minister or pastor being the main worker in the Church?
The old model of the minister or pastor being the main worker in the church is not the plan of God. This model obstructs the work of the Holy Spirit in the church.

How does it hinder people in the congregation? How does it hurt the community?
Part of the work of the pastor, as the Apostle Paul tells us, is to equip and prepare God's people for works of service. When the people are not being equipped and prepared for works of service then the whole body suffers and the work of the Spirit is hindered among the congregation. There will be no edifying of the body by "word of knowledge", "word of wisdom,' "gift of healing," etc.

When these gifts are not flowing in the local church the congregation and the community suffers for lack of the full working of the Spirit among them.

What is the purpose of pastors and teachers?
Pastors and teachers prepare God's people for work of service, so that the congregation that they serve may mature in spiritual things and go about performing in the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given them for the body of Christ.

[cct1106]

All focus and praise in on the minister and not God.
Hinder people from getting spiritually fed.
Divides the community. Even makes and bring reproach on Our Creator and His Son.

Pastors: are suppose to lead his flock by true Bible teachings and not his own opinion or thoughts or interpretations.

Teachers: Are to teach accurate knowledge from the scriptures and not their own ideas, opinions, and thoughts.

[Ken7]

This model is part of what holds back God's Church in America. Pastors and church leaders have a responsibility to encourage teachers and evangelists in the church. This means identifying and developing the candidates. We must change the attitude of 'it's the pastors job'.

[PCHRIS]

This method can stifle up and coming people with these gifts but on the other hand its trying to break peoples mindsets 'that its always the pastors job' is draining. As it is pointed out it is the pastors job to equip, disciple and train people to use their God given gifts in the church.

[Pat Beckner]

What is wrong with the minister or pastor being modeled as the main worker in the body of Christ? For one thing it gives them too much power. It weakens the body and makes them lazy and therefore the community is not recieving what it needs from the church. When we come together in church, it should be to worship God and then to be taught and then to be equipped to go into the world to spread the gospel. God never intended for one man to do all that...that is why we are many members. If only the brain is working but none of the members...what can be done..the brain can think to do something but if the feet can't go there, if the mouth can't speak,if the hand can't give...then what good is the brain?

[JustJeff]

With the pastor as the main worker in a congregation it simply is not possible for that one individual to handle all of the ministries functions, no matter ther size of the church. By taking on most roles the pastor restricts the abilities of individuals within the congregation to find their calling and grow into their ministry. This limits the outreach of the church as untrained Christians cannot be effective witnesses for the Lord nor are they able to work with people who would normally call upon the Lord in their time of need. They don't know how.
Pastors and teachers should work to empower the congregation to grow into mature Christians, fulfilling the calling that the Lord has upon each of our lives.

[June]

If the pastor does all the work, he is hindering the growth of his flock. Others can not grow in their gifts. Pastors instruct, equip and lead us to serve God with our gifts that were bestowed on us by the Holy Spirit. He grows us spiritually. If the pastor does all the work of the ministry there is no outreach growth, only his immediate circle of people but not making disciples to reach the community with spiritual growth.
Pastors and teachers are to proclaim God's word in order to build up the body of Christ. They will be godly instructors of sound doctrine, nourished on faith and disciplined in godliness.

[masika]

All believers are the same in the eye of the Lord. We are all given Special function to do in the house of God . A pastor can not manage alone since he/she can not have all the spirirtuasl Gifts to function in the Church When Jesus was on the Cross at Calvary , the Curtain in the Temple which was seperating the people from the Holy of Holies was torn into two. Believers are now free to talk to God , so long us they repent of their sins .
The purpose of pastors and Teachers is to make people Disciples of God , and when they are mature , they are to train also others.

[mxapology]

that old model would be inncorrect according to cor. and eph. and how the design and application of how the church functions were to be carried out according to Apostles Paul and Peter and the other leaders that were commissioned by the Lord Himself and the Holy Spirit. That the members join together to make a whole body. What good is one eye or one ear or one foot or arms with no legs or legs with no arms. If a pastor is doing most of the work then that would be the problem,,, right. Look at a game who does most of the work the quarterback? coach? widereceiver? center? what about hockey the center? the goalie? the coach? the defence? don't they all play a position? I think its more important to realize the fact that we are in a war and not worry about what gifts and whose gifts and whose doing the work and whose not doing the work. We are running out of time folks and the mormons and jehovahs witnesses are beating us to the punch and now we have the muslims to deal with. I reccommend removing all the women from the church and that would hopefully eliminate all the bickering. Ya can't get the Christians off their butts to knock on doors ya can't,,, they won't move,,, what is it lazyness? fear? worry? some guy holding a sign at a football game,,, wow,,, and thats evangelism??? why doesn't he right it on a piece of wood and feed it to people with a slingshot?
WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME FOLKS

[Lisa Rupert]

Q4. (Ephesians 4:12) What's wrong with the old model of the minister or pastor being the main worker in the Church? How does it hinder people in the congregation? How does it hurt the community? What is the purpose of pastors and teachers?
The church should work like the body does, each having a function. The brain can not act without the other parts of the body. Jesus wants the church to be a functioning body with all parts contributing. A team needs many types of players, each good at what they do, each contributing to the success of team, each teaching other members of the team so that the team is successful in it's endeavors. Without a team effort the church can not function the way Christ intends it to function. You open the door to jealousy, members feeling left out, feeling insecure, bored, not learning, bickering, fighting amongst members and not contributing to the body of the church. This type of church has members that just attend, the body of Christ won't mature into a complete body. God's message won't come across and the community will suffer.
The purpose of the pastors and teachers are to equip, prepare and train our members so that they can participate in the growth of the church. Creating a mature body and learning to spread the love of Christ throughout our congregations and communities.

[BJB123]

The old model of the Minister (Pastor) doing all the work hinders the Minister/Pastor from spending time with the Lord praying and studying the Bible realizing that the Pastor does have to fellowship and visit the flock but the main thing is the Pastor needs time with the Lord and seek His revelation so that he can share this with the flock in church. One man (Pastor or not) cannot do all the work. Someone has to lead others have work and follow Gods directions.

The congregation needs to take an active part in the church and it's function, such as visitation and outreach, teaching and equipping others to serve the Lord. The Saints of the church can share with communities things that encourage and build the community into a Godly community.

Pastors and teachers are to prepare and equip the Saints to do God's work and to God's glory.

[kiqstart]

Q4. (Ephesians 4:12) What's wrong with the old model of the minister or pastor being the main worker in the Church? How does it hinder people in the congregation? How does it hurt the community? What is the purpose of pastors and teachers?

If he is the main worker in the church, not everything could be accomplished. Many hands make light work. We are all called to be disciples. We all have different gifts and different talent, also different trials we have been through that would allow us to reach other people.

[BJB123]

This message is for MXAPOLOGY:

You are very bitter with a bad attitude. Your recommendation to remove all the women from the church is not what God would do. God would not remove anyone from the church. Yes there is bickering, but it comes from men and women. There are some lazy christians and some who are busy doing God's work. Don't condemn everyone for what some do not do in the church. MXAPOLY, I will pray for you tonight. Be blessed my brother in Christ.

[Stan]

Q4. (Ephesians 4:12) What's wrong with the old model of the minister or pastor being the main worker in the Church? How does it hinder people in the congregation? How does it hurt the community? What is the purpose of pastors and teachers?

It puts all the work of going forth on the pastor but Jesus said to the disciples go into all the world, no one person can accomphish that it is to great a work, there fore we must all be willing to do our part in spreading the Good News that Jesus is Lord.

If we fail to do our part ther will be those in the community that never hear the word or know that we are all Gods children and they are love just as we are. We miss out on the blessing that Paul spoke of when He said blessed are the feet that come in the name of the Lord.

Pastors and teachers are to prepare those who are being sent into the world to spread the Good News. They are to serve those in the church who are unable to go forth, those who are home bound but still living a faithful life to Christ.

[haar]

The Church, the body of Christ is meant to be built by the leaders who have the different gifts of the spirit (apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers). Where a minister is the main worker in the church, that churh will be undernourshed. Consequently, individual gifts of the members of the congregation will not be identified. Thus, that Church will not grow into maturity.

The purpose of a pastor is to tend, care, lead and guide the flock while the purpose of a teacher is to bring out the truth of the Word of God to the congregtion so as to build the the body of Christ.

[Eudora]

Q4. (Ephesians 4:12)

WOW! This puts a whole new perspective on it when you combine these two verses. And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: This does make a division between the gifts that are imparted. The ministers and the teachers (co-shepherds under Christ Jesus) are supposed to be equipping the general body with the platter of food and the body is supposed to come to the table, eat and then go out and share their portion with those who didn’t sit at the table.

Yes God isn’t calling for perfection, He is perfecting those He calls.

What's wrong with the old model of the minister or pastor being the main worker in the Church? I am not familiar with an old model of a minister or a pastor being the main worker in the church. I always thought it was supposed to be that way. I always thought we were supposed to sit and listen and grow. I never knew that we were supposed to take the word we heard and share it with others. I knew that our church wanted us to invite people in but now looking back I am so glad that no one came because it was a dead dirty rag of a church. You know, where the dead bury the dead?

How does it hinder people in the congregation? It was only our family in the church I grew up in. Two lay ministers would come from Portland Oregon to Marion Oregon and we would drive there from where we lived. If anyone else ever attended it was someone who drifted in. That would only happen once or twice and as a result, all nine of us children were raised up in lies and twisted works. I am so glad that church is long since been changed into a home , because that’s pretty much all it was worth when it was a church was a house, with four walls.

My dad was spirit filled but the ministers that came were not and eventually my dad was ordained and he took us out and taught us at home after that. Eventually that went by the way side as well, cause the family grew up one by one and moved out and moved on and as a result of that, only one of my brothers even reads his bible and two claim Jesus but I think if the truth be told, they have no idea what it means to be born again. I think my one brother that does read his bible now, will find Jesus and be born again and I think he is going to be just as upset as I was when I first found out the truth.

I share with the others what I have learned and as much as possible and every opportunity that is provided. Actually I am not sure I ever have a normal conversation with my brothers and sisters anymore because all I ever talk about is Jesus, what He has done in my life, what I see Him doing in the lives of others and what I learn from scriptures which is something new every singles day. They all don't want to visit with me as a result and so I pray and pray and look for new scriptures to pray for the different needs that I am aware of. I always ask God to keep trying and beg Him not to give up on them. I keep believing in that one scripture and claim it for all my siblings, and their children and their children that "thy and thy house will be saved" God knows that they are part of my house because they are in my heart and they truly are part of my home, but I pray for the world as a whole too. I don't see why everyone else can't be part of my house because we are all born of the seed of Adam who was planted by God the Creator. Not all seed is good but I pray for them anyway. Our God is a great big and forgiving God.

The Holy Spirit took me on a three month journey working very closely with me to work that all out and eventually led me to the understanding that it wasn’t the church’s fault but that satan had blinded this group of believers that was in Portland and that the folks they sent out were not equipped with the truth either.

How does it hurt the community? The community of Marion got passed over as a result and I do not know if there is another church there now.

What is the purpose of pastors and teachers? He who believes and adheres to and trusts in and relies on the Gospel and Him Whom who sent Jesus, and is baptized in the Spirit of Truth, would be sharing the Good News that Jesus is alive and that we can be saved from the penalty of eternal death if we repent and can have a personal relationship with Jesus. And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in His name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; They will pick up serpents; and even if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get well.

And then those that are taught this truth can go out and share this same truth with others so that through the Spirit of The Lord, can be working with them and confirming their message by the attesting signs and miracles in the same likewise manner. It is in this way that eventually, the truth will spread into all the nations, by Word of testimony and the Word of God, the Gospel truth.

[charisbarak]

The old model of the Pastor doing all the work makes the old model of church more of a performance that people attend & then go back home.

It hinders each member from growth, recognizing & using their spiritual gifts and the body becomes weak & numbers drop & the Lord's work is not done.

It hurts the community because it is not ministered unto, nor witnessed to.

The job of a pastor/teacher is to equip & prepare each member to be able to minister to the church as a whole & to make a difference in the community.

[Minchar]

Q4. (Ephesians 4:12) What's wrong with the old model of the minister or pastor being the main worker in the Church? How does it hinder people in the congregation? How does it hurt the community? What is the purpose of pastors and teachers?

The problem is is that the minister or pastor will become burnt out. They need to focus on what they are called to do and not do everything. They would not be effective as ministers or Pastors if they are overwhelmed. The people in the congregation will be hindered because they will become lazy and dependent on the leaders to do everything. They will never grow up or mature if they are not trained in ministry. I am seeing this in my church where the leadership is doing everything. The people are not growing and the leaders are becoming overwhelmed and tired. The purpose of Pastors and Teachers are to train and equip the saints for the work of ministry. We need to equip and edify the saints so that they may be of service.