Do Pastors Need To Do Counseling?

A good pastor and his wife are a treasure for any church.  If the pastor is seeking the Lord, you can see that passion for God begin to reflect in the church he oversees.  When the pastor is spiritually weak, distracted, or struggling those who are daily talking with the Lord will likely discern that.  The role of the pastor is to be the spiritual head of the church.  He is responsible for the spiritual condition of the church and making sure that he is encouraging that family of believers to go deeper with God.  The response to that call is the responsibility of the members.

The role of the pastor is to teach.  A pastor must know the Word of God (the Bible) in order to teach and preach it.  People who are acting as pastors but do not know the Word of God do not know God.  In Luke 10:25, a lawyer tried to test the Lord Jesus asking him what the greatest commandment is.  God (Jesus) turned that back at the lawyer as Jesus said in Luke 10:27 that the greatest commandment was to love God and secondly to love others.  That really summarizes what being a Christian is all about.  Having a passion for God first and foremost, naturally leads to having a passion for people.  This is exactly what the call of pastors is.  Pastors are teachers who love God, and because of that love, love people.  However, does that mean pastor’s need to sit and listen to problems and do counseling?

Absolutely not!  Not all teachers are pastors, but all pastors should be teacher.  A pastor may also be called a ‘bishop’ or minister as they are a servant of the Lord who looks after God’s people.  Pastor and bishop are interchangeable words. The pastor’s, or bishop’s, responsibility is to teach and preach the Word of God.  The pastor is not called to do counseling.  Jesus does not teach about people’s problems, He teaches about solutions.  Unless they specifically want to, pastors are not called to spend time listening to peoples’ troubles.  In the early church, we see in Acts 6:4 that the ministers declined to get involved in the social programs of the church but instead gave themselves continually to prayer and the ministry of the Word.

If you are a pastor, do not feel a burden to do counseling.  Don’t feel pressured to do social programs, events, or other community things if you are not directed.  Your calling is to preach the Word.  The hearer of the Word must choose whether to respond or not.  James 1:22 tells believers that we are not just to be hearers of the Word but we are to be doers.  Once someone hears the Word, they either receive or reject.  Some people just love to wallow in their sin despite knowing God has already told them to stop.

If you are not a pastor, support your bishop!  Encourage your pastor to focus on studying, meditating, and praying the Word of God.  Your church will never be the same with God’s people piloting.

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