Becoming a minister

Have you ever wondered what is involved in becoming a minister of the Word of God?

Of course, the process varies from church and denomination to church and denomination. In some churches, all one has to do is want to be a pastor, and if enough people are willing to sign on, you’ve got a job.

Most communions of the Body of Christ require a bit more in the way of preparation than that, however. Church members expect their pastors to be capable in handling the Word of God and watching over the spiritual concerns of a flock. Typically, this means knowing how to manage a church and its various ministries so that one continues to attract new people over time.

Bible college or seminary is the preferred route to the ministry of by far the largest number of preachers and pastors in this country. Gather with pastors in a cross-denominational seminar or workshop, and one of the most frequent questions you’ll hear them asking of one another is, “Where’d you go to seminary?” It is assumed that most pastors have gone to seminary or Bible college, because these are regarded as the standard and effective routes to travel in seeking preparation for ministry.

Faulty template?
But the evidence in our nation indicates that something is not quite right with this template. In America today we have more Bible colleges and seminaries, training more men for ministry, offering more programs, degrees, and certificates, than at any time in the nation’s history. More graduates are being deployed into churches, or starting new churches, than ever before, their degrees and ordination credentials in hand to certify them as qualified for the job.

But look around. Does the moral, cultural, and social atmosphere of our nation strike you as being in particularly good spiritual health? The numbers reflecting church membership and attendance are in decline. Young people tend to abandon the faith as soon as they leave home. For all the evidence of a vibrant Christian culture in our land, that culture – pop music, websites, books and conferences, and all the rest – is having very little effect on the rest of the nation. 

Someone, it seems to me, ought to challenge the process whereby we credential men for the work of making disciples and building the Church of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because, clearly, it doesn’t seem to be working.

The only valid credentials
The Jews challenged Jesus on the grounds that He did not have the proper credentials to be teaching the things of God and His Kingdom (Lk. 20.1-8). This was how they sought to control what the people heard and to preserve their own place and privileges as leaders in the community (Jn. 11.45-48). Unless they prepared, examined, and credentialed someone to preach and teach, he was not supposed to do so. The Jewish leaders had a firm grip on the credentialing process, and they were not about to share it with anyone else.

We have come to this place again in our own day. Jesus’ actual credentials for ministry were the same as Paul’s – a blameless life and true disciples walking in the paths of the Lord (cf. Matt. 11.19; 2 Cor. 3.1-6). What “credentials” a man for the work of ministry in America today? A seminary degree? The approval of those already credentialed? And is this route to ministry the only viable way? 

Certainly there is a need for preparation and testing as to a candidate’s readiness for the work. Even Jesus submitted to that (Lk. 2.52), as did the Apostle Paul (Gal. 2.1-3).

But a man is qualified to do the work of the Lord not because he has paid his academic dues or managed to pass some test of intellectual acumen foisted on him by others, but because he walks the path of holiness and love and is able to use the Word of God effectively to equip church members as saints and servants of the Lord.

And the evidence today is that the present template for pastoral training is not achieving this outcome as consistently as we would hope.

A need exists for other approaches to training which, like Jesus before the Pharisees, do not need to justify their activities beyond pointing to the fruit of lives and ministries.

Just because a man parades “Rev.” or “Dr.” before his name, indicating he is duly credentialed for the work of pastoral ministry, does not necessarily mean he is actually fulfilling that role. “Where’s the beef?” we should be demanding of our pastors: Where are the results, like Jesus and Paul, indicating that your credentials are anything more than just so many marks on a piece of paper?

And beyond that, we must look for new ways of preparing men for the work of ministry. The seminaries and Bible colleges – and most of those who earned their credentials there – won’t like it, but if there are ways of engendering the fruit of holiness and pastoral effectiveness that do not require the enormous investment of time and money to earn a “credential” for ministry, then good stewardship, and the desperation of our times, requires that we look for them.

Next steps: How would you know if a man was ministering in such a way as to faithful in all his calling? Talk with your pastor about this question.

Thinking of pastoral work yourself? You should take a course at The Ailbe Seminary, if for no other reason, to discover whether or not God has given you the aptitude and desire such important work requires.