Anonymous Asks (282)

“Do I need institutional accreditation to pastor?”

It very much depends on what you mean when you use the word “pastor”. There are at least three possibilities I can think of. (1) You are contemplating making a livelihood from preaching and teaching in a local church. (2) You desire the work of an elder and are just using “pastor” in a less formal sense as a synonym for “shepherd”, which it is. (3) You are using the word in a completely informal sense, meaning you just want to care for God’s people even if nobody but the sheep and the Lord notices you doing it.

Charting a Career

If you are using “pastor” in Sense 1, I would say you definitely need to go to a Bible school or seminary and come out with a piece of paper. If you want a career and a salary as rewards for your efforts, you need to provide some local church with proof of your seriousness about meeting its perceived needs. Any church able to pay you a respectable salary will be looking for visible evidence of your competence in Bible study and that you have been trained to be presentable on the platform. Graduating from a theological institution is usually adequate for that purpose.

Now, of course, you realize you could become just as competent these days studying at home on your own before or after work. That would give you a useful combination of life experience, independence and self-discipline. It would also give you a more realistic awareness of how much time you will have available to you to study and prepare messages while keeping up with all the other demands on your time that will surely become a regular feature of your life if you choose a pastoral career. Unfortunately, being self-taught would not help you impress boards of elders and church leaders who view graduation from a theological institution as a necessary first step. You will put yourself at a big disadvantage compared to other candidates for the sort of job you are looking for.

Accreditation will also limit your options for service to bigger, more financially successful churches who can afford your salary while smaller congregations make do with whomever they can get. Perhaps you are fine with that.

Whether this approach to service is the will of God for you or anyone at all is a separate question, and one you might think about asking him in prayer, and through a comprehensive study of the New Testament use of the word “pastor”. I would definitely advise you do this before you spend too much time and money pursuing a role that may not be terribly biblical in the modern context.

Desiring the Work

If you are using “pastor” in Sense 2, meaning that you aspire to the work of an overseer in a local church, well, the Bible says you are pursuing a noble task. You definitely do not need accreditation to serve as an elder and shepherd the people of God. It may even slow you down.

I mean this: a biblical elder/overseer/shepherd/pastor qualifies for recognition by marrying and raising godly children. These, his character, his orthodoxy and his proficiency with the word of God are the evidence of his competence to shepherd the people of God. By “godly children”, I mean children who are faithful and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. A study of the Greek words translated “debauchery” and “insubordination” will quickly lead any competent student of the Word to the conclusion that no toddler, preschooler or adolescent could reasonably commit these sins. This means that at least some of the pastoral candidate’s children must be, at very least, godly late-teens or early twenty-somethings.

No matter how eager you are to serve, no young man will be able to meet this standard tomorrow morning. The Lord designed it that way. Biblical elders are … older. Not ancient, but definitely not neophytes. If you desire the responsibility and reward that go with shepherding the people of God, the quickest way to get there is to get your family life in order and start establishing a public testimony to that effect. Two or three years of study in Bible school or seminary may seem the most efficient way to build your Bible knowledge base if you are a new believer, but if you are already studying scripture on your own and familiar with the Word, you will have plenty of time as you raise your family to develop your ability to teach the Bible and learn from others the most effective ways to share wise private counsel. You will also have the track record and testimony to speak to their needs from personal experience.

You also need to find a decent local church operating on New Testament principles to serve in, or else you will probably not have opportunity to do so publicly when you qualify. Churches that pay salaries for expertise will have limited use for a layperson on the platform or in a leadership role, no matter how skilled and qualified he may be.

Just Do It

Finally, perhaps you are already a student of scripture, and are using “pastor” as a verb rather than a noun (and certainly not as a title). You are simply concerned about meeting the needs of the people of God, and you couldn’t care less if you ever attend an elder’s meeting or get your name and phone number in the church bulletin on the leadership list. Perhaps you are single and intend to stay that way, or your children are too young to qualify you for service, but your goal is still to encourage, correct, mentor and build up God’s people whenever and wherever you can.

Here’s the good news. Marriage and a godly, grown family are requirements for recognition by a local church that the Holy Spirit has gifted, equipped and qualified you to serve as an overseer. They are not prerequisites for showing hospitality, encouraging young men and women, leading a youth or college and careers group or watching out for wolves in the local church and bringing them to the attention of leadership. They certainly are not required for leading Bible studies, evangelizing, or teaching the word of God from the platform, except in churches with a schedule dominated by a single, seminary-trained man. You may not get much opportunity to minister publicly in that sort of environment.

You will also not have disciplinary privileges, if we can call them that. Trust me, that aspect of the job is overrated. Encouraging, correcting and praying for insubordinate believers is plenty of work without getting involved in decisions about whether the real sinners among them should be allowed to continue in fellowship.

In short, if you have the gift, love, desire and self-discipline, you can get to it right now. You will be unrecognized, at least at first, but your labor and input are desperately needed by every local church I’ve ever attended. That said, operating incognito has its benefits. You can reach people who might not open up and talk to a perceived authority figure.

I heartily recommend you do.