What is the primary task of ministry? According to Brad East, an associate professor of theology at Abilene Christian University, in an article: AI Has No Place in the Pulpit, the primary task of ministry, taken for granted by the author, and, I’m afraid, most pastors is this:

What are the primary tasks of ministry? The classic answer, laid out most simply by John Calvin but common across Christian tradition, is the service of Word and sacrament. A pastor is called by Christ

• to preach and teach the gospel,
• to baptize and administer the Lord’s Supper,
• to lead Christ’s body to worship him by his Spirit, and
• to shepherd Christ’s flock through times of plenty and times of lack. – Brad East, emphasis his, list bulleted for clarity

Who is our authority? John Calvin? Where does this list come from? Where in the Bible is the phrase “the service of the Word and sacrament”?

What did the Apostle Paul say the primary task of ministry was?

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. (Ephesians 4.11 – 13, NIV, emphasis mine)

Where in Calvin’s definition or Brad East’s list is equipping?

Timothy was a pastor of the church at Ephesus. Everyone would agree on that. And what did Paul tell him to do?

You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2.1, 2, NIV)

“…entrust [teaching] to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”

The scriptures are clear, but there is no hint in this entire long article that training and equipping others is one of the duties of a pastor. This article is about the model of pastors “soaking in the word” for many, many hours so they can preach an effective sermon. I don’t deny that an AI-produced sermon should not be an option for the pastor’s preparation. That’s the point of the article. But I do deny that this model of “ministry” is biblically complete. It may even be wrong. The only reference I can think of that talks about pastors “giving themselves to the ministry of the Word” is this one:

But we [the apostles] will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word. (Acts 6.4, ESV)

But did Peter and the others mean they would be studying 20 – 30 hours a week so they could preach a 30-minute sermon on Sunday? Hardly. Just five verses earlier we read:

And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus. (Acts 5.42, ESV)

I apologize for criticizing my brother Brad East, whom I don’t know. I’m sure he’s faithful and sincere. But the problem is that people I’ve talked with around the world lament a serious dearth of disciples. It’s been incorrectly attributed to Einstein that “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” Whoever said it, it’s true, but churches continue to run the same incomplete model of “the service of the word and sacrament,” neglecting the training and equipping piece, and wondering where the disciples and mature believers are.

He handed out gifts of apostle, prophet, evangelist, and pastor-teacher to train Christians in skilled servant work, working within Christ’s body, the church, until we’re all moving rhythmically and easily with each other, efficient and graceful in response to God’s Son, fully mature adults, fully developed within and without, fully alive like Christ. No prolonged infancies among us, please. We’ll not tolerate babes in the woods, small children who are an easy mark for impostors. God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. (Ephesians 4.11 – 15, MSG, emphasis mine)