Do you think a pastor or minister must be well educated?
Every pastor who can should study the Bible in its original languages. That does not mean every pastor should become a language expert or feel guilty about one more thing in an already punishing schedule. What I mean is that, within the time and opportunities available, pastors should study the text of the Bible in its original languages
What are some of the most important things for a pastor-in-training to learn?
Answer
The Bible. A pastor’s first priority is to preach the Word (2 Tim. 4:2). A pastor-in-training’s first priority should be to study the Word.
Holiness. The primary qualifications for an elder are moral and spiritual (1 Tim. 3:2-7). A pastor is to shepherd his people by his own example (1 Pet. 5:3). Therefore a man pursuing the ministry must diligently seek after consistent, hard-fought holiness.
Humility. To shepherd God’s flock you must follow Jesus’ example in serving, rather than being served (Mk. 10:45). Humility must be a distinguishing mark of an under-shepherd of God’s sheep.
How to preach. Since preaching is the main work of a pastor, a pastor-in-training should seek every possible opportunity to preach. He should also solicit the criticism and advice of experienced pastors.
How to disciple. In order to be a pastor, a man should know how to personally instruct, encourage, counsel, comfort, and rebuke his fellow Christians. Not only that, but in order to even consider being a pastor he should have a track record of personally doing people spiritual good in these ways.
What the Bible says about the church. The apostle Paul says that when he came to Corinth, he laid a foundation like a skilled master builder (1 Cor. 3:10). In order to build wisely, a pastor must know what he’s building. Therefore a pastor-in-training must diligently study God’s own blueprints for the church which he’s given in his Word.
How to handle criticism, encouragement, and flattery. A pastor will receive all three. He needs to know how to humbly receive and profit from criticism, gratefully receive and profit from encouragement, and wisely deflect flattery.
Patience. Young men who are training for ministry don’t usually have an overabundance of patience. That’s a problem, because pastoral ministry requires it in spades. Pastors-in-training should pray for patience, cultivate patience, and learn from experienced pastors how to serve the same people day in and day out for decades.
You don’t need a degree to be a pastor. But technically, it depends on where you want to be a pastor. Every church has their own criteria to determine if someone is qualified to lead, and for some of them, a degree may be part of that.
In most cases, a degree isn’t an official requirement—it just helps. Churches want to hire people who have a solid grasp of the Bible, theology, and ministry. This can come from formal education, but it doesn’t have to. Still, a seminary degree like a master of divinity provides biblical, theological, and ministerial training, and having credentials gives churches a more objective way to evaluate your qualifications.
Ultimately, your ordination comes from the individual church, not a college, seminary, or body of government. And churches don’t just hand those out.
Back to the history we can get to know that pastors or ministers usually get well educated, so the context of this question also indicates the history change in Christianity.
Long in short, well educated will always be helpful with a humble heart, but well educated may easily let one man be proud, the most important thing I think, we need a humble pastor or minister first, if he or she is well educated that will be grateful, if I have to choose only one of them, I would choose humility rather than well educated.
They should be educated, but not necessary to wait until perfectly educated for mission.
A pastor or minister must be:
- Educated enough to read the Bible
- Saved by Jesus Christ, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and therefore able to understand the Bible.
- Be willing to teach the Bible.
Beyond that, I have zero requirements for the education of a pastor or minister.
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Yes, otherwise I am afraid they may mislead God’s sheep.