I was reflecting on this question yesterday. What, exactly, are people looking for from their pastor? As I reflected on it, I began to think a bit more about what a pastor is actually called to do. Why have a pastor at all? What function are they meant to fulfil? I suspect there is often a gap between what many of us want from our pastors and what, biblically, they are called to actually do.

Many want someone to make us feel good. Whether that is someone who preaches nice encouraging messages or somebody who meets with us and tells us nice things about ourselves. A pastor who comes along and preaches about sin, who makes us feel uncomfortable or who applies scripture in very pointed ways might not feel like the kind of bloke we particularly want.

Others want a good counsellor. And we really do mean counsellor. The pastor is viewed as a therapist, there to offload our mental difficulties and troubles to and who will help us think through the issues. Such people are looking for someone who will listen to their woes and prompt them on their journey of self-discovery and self-improvement, perhaps with some Bible verses thrown in to lend an air of spiritual authority to proceedings.

Others still are effectively looking for a church manager. Sure, the pastor may stand up at the front and preach the Word. But we are also looking for someone who will steer the ship, manage operations and ensure everything is administered well.

Some people are less concerned with managerial administration and want something more buccaneering. They still want somebody leader-like, but focus much more on entrepreneurial spirit, go-getting, self-starter types.

To be fair, any of these skills might well be helpful. They may all be things that a pastor (or anybody else) brings to the church and puts to good use for the glory of God. There’s certainly nothing inherently wrong with any of them. But it bears saying none of them are really demanded biblically of pastors nor do they really strike to the heart of what pastors are called to do.

Elders, fundamentally, are called to shepherd the church of God. Principally, they shepherd the church through the teaching of the Word. They may well offer biblical counsel, but this is not the same as counselling in the secular sense. Elders are to lead as servants, called principally to teach and apply the Word in order to equip the saints for works of ministry. Those we call pastors are usually more appropriately understood as full-time elders, set aside not to do all the work of eldership on their own, but to take on the additional responsibility of the larger part of teaching.

That isn’t to say preaching, on its own, exhausts the work of the pastorate. But it is to say, pastors are principally called to teach the Word and build up the church through the Word and equip the saints for works of ministry by the Word. Their role is fundamentally a Word-ministry. They are to set a godly example to the flock, to teach the Word faithfully, to offer counsel by the Word and protect the church through the Word. They are Word-people doing Word-ministry.

Which means sometimes your pastor might preach sermons that don’t make you feel so great (though, depending on the passage, there may be plenty of encouraging ones too). But if they are doing their job and faithfully teaching the Word, there will be some encouragement, some challenge, some focus on sin and some focus on glory amongst other things. Pastors are called to faithfully teach the Word, not to tickle our ears.

Similarly, it means that pastors will counsel you according to the Word. They may speak into your life outside the pulpit and ask searching questions about how it measures up to the Word. Again, it may be encouraging you to press on or it may be challenging you to change. But their counsel should be biblical. They are not counsellors, in the sense that they are not trained nor appointed to help you with your mental health issues. If you need that you need a therapist, a different kind of counsellor, or perhaps a psychiatrist. But pastors may speak biblical truth into your life. Their primary goal is to lead by the Word and to encourage you and equip you according to the Word so that you are able to do the works of ministry Jesus would have you do.

You may or may not “click” so well with your pastor on a personal level. Well, that’s okay. We don’t always click with everyone in the same way. You don’t really need to “click” with your pastor on a personal level really. What you want is a pastor who will faithfully teach you the Word, who will encourage you as you press on and challenge you when you stray. The best pastor you can get isn’t the one who makes you feel best or with whom you feel like you might be best friends (great as that is if you do happen to get it).

The pastor you want is the pastor who gives you the Word straight. Who preaches the whole counsel of God and doesn’t miss bits out. Who points you to the scriptures, irrespective of their personal preferences and opinions. Who isn’t scared to tell you what the scriptures say about you, even if they know you may not want to hear it but who is similarly able to encourage you with that same Word when you ought to be encouraged by it too. You want the pastor who will stand on God’s Word in season and out.

That isn’t to say this is the totality of what a pastor is. There are, of course, character matters to consider. There are eldership qualifications in scripture. There are context-specific things that might be worth looking for (if they are a pastor in France who can’t speak French, for example, you might wonder about his ability to do the job!) But primarily, you want a godly bloke who will teach you the scriptures straight and point you to Jesus, who is very much a person of the Word, who stands on the Word and points us to the Word whether he knows it will be well received or not. This is what pastors are primarily called to do.