Why Do I Need a Pastor?
May 14, 2025
May 14, 2025
Most people today don’t think they need a pastor.
We have access to an endless library of sermons from history’s greatest preachers, free theological education online, and worship music from every tribe and tongue. We can curate our own conferences, influencers, and therapists. It’s all too easy for churchgoers to assume that pastors are obsolete, local ones anyway.
The reality is, however, that despite all our assumed spiritual independence, Christians struggle without pastoring. In fact, some of our biggest shortcomings exist because we squander one of God’s greatest provisions for our souls—pastors. The Bible doesn’t present pastors as merely optional accessories to the Christian life. Rather, pastors are to have an important role in our lives. They equip us to live obedient lives before God.
In 1 Corinthians 9:7, Paul wrote, “Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat its fruit? Or who shepherds a flock and does not drink the milk from the flock?” Though Paul’s own apostleship is immediately in view, these metaphor-laden questions point to an underlying principle for pastoral ministry—Christians need pastors!
Paul describes pastors as soldiers because life is a battle (Eph. 6:12, 2 Cor. 10:3–6). Believers fight against the world’s persuasive influence, their own sinful desires, and the devil’s incessant strategies. No wonder war terminology regularly appears in our conversations: “It’s a fight just to get through the day.”
God knows we’re embattled in this world. That’s why he doesn’t leave us to fight alone. Instead, he gives us pastors.
Your pastor may not look like a warrior, but his job description is to battle on your behalf through his ministry of the Word and prayer. He knows that he has a responsibility for your care. He watches out for you because he will be held accountable by God himself (Heb. 13:17).
Life often feels barren, like an overgrown field filled with nothing but weeds. But where we see emptiness, God sees a harvest ripening fast.
Just as a farmer tills the soil, pastors teach God’s Word to cultivate spiritual growth. But unlike your favorite preacher on YouTube, your pastors are personally committed to your long-term walk with God. Good pastors patiently labor week in and week out, believing that God does amazing work in his people through their faithful preaching and praying. Like farmers, pastors oversee the long, slow process from seed to fruit, waiting for God to give the growth (1 Cor. 3:7). They remember how far God has brought us, and they are confident there is more that God will do for us and through us (Phil. 1:6).
Shepherds will tell you that even in the best conditions, sheep wander. You could have a sheep spa, Michelin-star-rated grass, king-size sheep beds, and still the sheep will be tempted to turn back. That’s why we sing, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.”
God knows we won’t get where he wants us to go alone—no matter how much it grates against our self-sufficiency. By warning, admonishing, and correcting, pastors keep us from dangers that we misidentify as dandelions. What’s more is that when push comes to shove, pastors are even called to lay down their lives for us in order to make sure we are safe.
Every saint would loudly confess, “I need Jesus.” And to that, our self-sufficient King of kings replies, “Amen. You also need pastors” (Eph. 4:11). After all, pastors are his idea. If Jesus is the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24), they’re a wise idea. Jesus intends to pastor his people through local church pastors. Every pastor serves under him, for him, and from him.
The best time to prepare your people for suffering, persecution, or cultural marginalization is before they face them.
Impatient pastors often love the idea of the church more than the people in the church.
God is with you, pastor, and he has spoken. Lean into his presence, and lead with his Word.
