The Pastor and Teacher – the Other Two Gifts Given to the Church 7-10-25

As I share the function of the pastor and teacher, please be mindful that all the five ministry offices are absolutely important and that one office is no better than the other; the are different when it comes to position. Adam was no better than Eve, they were different positionally. Adam could not give birth to children, no could Eve produce the sperm; they had a need for each other. If God had not given Adam a helper, the human race could not have populated. “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28).

Before sharing about the next (last) two offices, this is what I found in the Scofield Bible footnotes that I agree with, that connect in 1 Corinthians 12:8 -28. The Spirit is seen as enduing the members of the body of Christ with spiritual gifts, or enablement for specific service.

In Ephesians 4:11, Here certain spirit endowed men, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are themselves the gifts whom the glorified Christ bestows upon His body, the Church. In Corinthians that give some spiritual enablement for service. In Ephesians, the gifts are men [women] who have such enablement. The Lord in bestowing the gifted man determines providentially, or directly through the Spirit (Acts 11:22 – 26).

Pastor - the pastor and the teacher are the stable gifts in the church; they work hand in hand.

Although a pastor can teach, unless he has the grace of a teacher, his teaching is different from the teacher who is graced. The teacher receives special illumination; that’s why both pastor and teacher are serving in the same church body. even though we all can if the Spirit of God chooses to give it to us. The prophet is also important when he or she is not laboring outside of the church.

The pastor has the lead role (position) in the church. In other words, he shepherds God’s people, He is symbolic of Jesus is that the pastor is the ring finger indicating that he is married to the church. He should treat the church with tender, loving care, watching over her as a shepherd does his sheep, especially when the sheep are considered to be dumb.

The pastor should never take advantage of the flock; it is like shearing sheep in the winter, which dangerous because they need their coat to stay warm, or they would suffer from hypothermia. The shepherds guard their sheep. They watch over the flock. Therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28).

Teacher guards the truth- the pinky (little finger) is small but it has a major impact when it comes to the growth of the church. In a previous paragraph it was stated that the teacher gets special illumination; more than the rest of us because he has been graced (given that ability). The teacher can explain truths beyond the normal way of it being presented, which makes sense because that’s his call (office). When I said the teacher guards the truth, he is adamant about people learning and he puts forth every effort to make sure it’s the truth and nothing but the truth.

I also stated in the last message that one can only function in the call (office) that he or she has been graced to function in. That’s it is of utmost importance that each of us know what capacity we’ve been called to serve . Otherwise, no one benefits, and all that time and effort is wasted, and when we stand before Christ to receive rewards, where will your reward be?

His handmaiden, Betty A. Burnett ~ burnettministries.org