The Apostle Paul provided a succinct, yet powerful, description of what elders/pastors are to be and to accomplish for the people of God for whom they are stewards over. He writes,
"Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may
present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he
powerfully works within me" (Colossians 1:28–29).
The centrality of the mission in those verses is Christ (the center of our preaching) and the aim of the mission is the people's conformity to Christ. We can identify the true elder from the hireling on this basis: false leaders will not have a disciplined focus on discipleship.
Paul's words are clear, and he is the human model pastors can imitate as Paul's letters to Timothy are expositions of his (Paul's) life and learning. Pastors would do well to study the life of the Apostle Paul to gauge their level of pastoral leadership. Thus, in this passage we see that Paul toiled (labored to and even in physical weariness) and struggled (battling to win as if in a contest). He did these things for one reason: the maturity of the Colossian Christians. He toiled and struggled to win which, for him, was their being conformed more and more to the image of Christ. They were the Lord's flock and Paul had to care for them in a way that honored their value as men and women who were not only re-made in the restored image of God but were also repurposed in their life for the glory of Christ. Paul passion and understanding of fulfilling his purpose did not center on him, but those he was called to serve. They need to be shaped by the word and discipleship to be mature – able to lead others in the same way.
Discipleship is an others' focused task. At its heart is obedience to the command and commission of Christ (Matthew 28:19-20) and it is a chief qualification of elders: they needed to “able to teach” (1 Timothy 3:2). This, however, takes time and patience (2 Timothy 4:2). Elders who selfishly view the people of God as their people will not have the burdened concern that the church look like Christ since Christ will not be their driving motivation for ministry. I am not speaking of merely establishing of a discipleship plan or model for the church. In many ways that is easy because it does not involve the demands of intimate influence. Pastors must be sure that we do not confuse the implementation of a discipleship structure with actual discipleship.
Neither Christ or Paul would affirm a structure as being satisfaction for life and life influence. Yes, the structure can create this influence for those within the body, but what about the pastor? He must model, in his life and passion, that which Christ modeled and, at the least what we saw in the life and leadership of Paul. However, pastors who are aloof and content with being Ninja Turtle-like and "living in the shadows" are not modeling the heart and life of a true shepherd. It is clear, based on the model of the church in America which is centered on growth and excess - that pastors are not able to disciple everyone. It would be impossible. A church of 4000 with 30 elders is still a daunting task! One might argue that the church growth movement in America is the spiritual answer to seductive pull of greed that secular organizations live by. Numbers are the metric of success, not maturity.
Paul's warning that the love of money is the root of all evil could be applied today in this phrase: “the love of influence is the root of all evil.” Money in our day equals influence and power in ways it never has before. Pastors are not immune to this seduction. We can be deceived, however, and recast it in spiritual ways, stating that we want our churches to grow so that the church can have more influence etc. Veiled in this could be a pastor's love and desire for his influence to be broader. When this happens, and we have seen it in so many ways, discipleship is not simply farmed out to others (all should disciple) and, in doing so, it becomes a non-essential of the pastor's qualification. Yet, Paul tells Timothy to "do the work of an evangelist" (2 Timothy 4:5).
Evangelism is not to be separated or viewed differently from discipleship. Jesus does not call us to evangelize in the Great Commission. He calls us to make disciples and yet we refer to this passage when we call the church to evangelism. That is not wrong, but it is not the full picture. Clearly evangelism is a task, Paul tells Timothy to keep doing it; but we should not separate them. This was solidified to me when my mission’s teacher in seminary made the following statement: "Evangelism is not complete until those you have evangelized are part of a local church and are actively growing in Christ." Even in the “Great Commission” we are taught to teach those nations who come to know Christ through our witness (Matthew 28:20).
Leading people to the Lord, therefore, demands – because it includes - leading those same people to maturity or, at best, keeping in touch with them and their development is location demands it. The point is clear: Pastors are called to do the work of evangelism and, when people come to receive the gift of salvation, by faith, the pastors are to walk with these individuals until they reach the level of maturity. I do not want to minimize the corporate gathering of the church and the central message that takes place on the Lord’s Day. I will say, however, that if we are all honest, one message a week is little to battle against the 1000 messages of the enemy 7 days a week!
Here is how I think it follows:
"When, through my obedience to evangelize, a person comes to know the Lord because He
opened their eyes to see Him I know that His death applies to them and that now I must toil and
struggle to bring them to maturity that they might stand as such before our Lord on the Day of
the Lord."
Pastors who do not smell like the sheep they lead are not worthy to lead them. The reason we are commanded to pay careful attention to them is so that we might personally pour into them such that they are encouraged and equipped to look like Jesus.