In the traditional church model, Pastors can't actually do their jobs because the congregation, and frequently they themselves don't understand what their job is. It is believed that the pastor's job is to perform weddings and funerals, preach an engaging sermon on Sundays, manage the various programs and "ministries" of the church, and generally function as a CEO of the church answerable, on paper at least, to a church board or to the congregation if he does something that they do not like.
This is not what being a pastor is about. This is not their job. This is the job of deacons and church administrators tasked with keeping track of the "business." They are not there to act as figureheads for the will of the congregation, or the will of the elders or deacons.
What is the best description or analogy of a pastor's actual function? This may sound funny, but the best analogy would be a Jedi master to an apprentice, or apprentices in the sense of a Qui-Gon Jinn to an Obi-Wan Kenobi, or an Obi-Wan to an Anakin. The first job of a pastor is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Period. The first job of a pastor, the first function of a pastor, is to live as Jesus Christ taught and to walk as He walked. His job is to embody the manifestation of Jesus Christ within and through everything he says or does. His job is to know how to be a disciple, and to practice it well enough so that he can fulfill his second job, and that is to teach others how to be disciples. The master doesn't just lecture on the science or theory behind the practice, the master has practiced it well enough that he can model it for others. The master doesn't just expound on how to do a thing, he demonstrates it, shows it, and expects his apprentice to model what he does, and to do it again and again until they get it down well enough that he can move on.
This is what Jesus did with His disciples and apostles. He didn't just verbally teach, He demonstrated with every word and action. "If you've seen Me, you've seen the Father." And so for the pastor, the bar must be "if you've seen me, you've seen Jesus Christ."
Modern pastors in modern churches are expected to be entertainers and politicians within their churches, as well as keep up a kind of facade of holiness which is heavily dependent on what the congregants expect a pastor to appear as. They have to do this if they want to keep their jobs. They can't afford to make the wrong person in their congregations angry, or the wrong person among their clerical superiors depending on the denomination. They have to worry about keeping the church's finances flowing so they can keep being paid and keep the church's lights on. In short, they can't do their actual jobs because of the constraints of the traditional church model.
Some pastors try to find ways around this problem which is inherent to the model, some try to rise above it, many are drowned by it, but nearly every pastor knows exactly the problem of which I am speaking even if they've never been able to put it into words before.
In order for us, any of us, to truly function with the charism to which we were called we have to let go of the fear of being cast out by those congregations. We have to let go of the fear of what happens if we actually let go and cooperate with the Spirit of Christ in what we say and do. We have to be willing to actually be disciples of Jesus Christ and understand all that means and goes with it. We have to be the "master disciples" necessary to teach "apprentice disciples," because this is our function in the body. We have to submit to and cooperate with the Spirit of Christ, turning away from fear, anger, and all of those "dark side" emotions which lead us down the path of the Flesh and to our own destruction and the destruction of everyone around us. We have to step back and let His Spirit flow through us, speak through us, act through us, and touch everyone else around us through us. Otherwise, if those around us can't experience Jesus Christ through us, why should they listen? Why should they join our churches or congregations? If there is no real power flowing through us, what's the point? We're just more charlatan clerics trying to scrape by and hopefully do some kind of good while we do it.
This is the responsibility of a pastor.
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