The answer came as an antagonistic accusation: "A pastor's only job is to feed the flock."
I said, "Is that scriptural?"
This person leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. "I don't know where, but I'm sure it's in there somewhere."
-- -- --
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep."
- John 21:17
-- -- ---
I don't believe Christ meant that his church should sit down every Sunday morning at a big spiritual Lazy Susan while the poor pastor runs back and forth from The Church Country Committee Kitchen to the serving table to make sure every member of the congregation has all their needs met because that was his calling.
I don't believe Christ taught that it's the preacher's job to make sure the flock waddles out of the pews at 12:01 PM fat n' happy ... thanks to the preacher's sweat and labor. I don't believe the pastor is the church's butler, their hired hand, their whipping boy, their Mr. Fix-It ... or even their Genie In A Bottle, either.
I don't believe for one minute that scripture teaches anything like that.
-- --
In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables.
"Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word."
- Acts 6:1-4
In other words the disciples knew that the church, which Christ intended to be his body on earth, had many members, with different talents and gifts- and each member ... not just the pastor- was called to play a participatory role.
Not that each member was called to stumble around dazed and disconnected in a pasture all week, waiting for a church bell on Sunday mornings to signal it's time to run to the altar in time to be fed.
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
- Romans 12:3-5
- Colossians 3:15
