Pastors?
Lately, I've been thinking about the position of a pastor in a church. I have a lot of respect for our pastor, and quite frankly, despite his faults, I rather like him and the associate pastors as well, so this article has nothing to do with my specific pastor relationship but I speak regarding ALL those in the role of a pastor.
Furthermore, this is a "correct me if I'm wrong" post - if you know of specific references or information that I'm forgetting, please let's discuss it!
Anyway, many local churches view the pastor as an individual of authority over the church. In some local churches, the pastor has such authority that he can dictate what happens in his parishoners' personal lives, and what the pastor says, goes. In other churches, it's more a role of respect than authority.
I've been thinking lately about what the Bible says about pastors. Do you want to know what I found? Nothing.
In the KJV (the version that most conservative Baptist churches cling to), the word "pastor" appears once. ONCE. The Greek word appears several times in the NT, and it's the word for "shepherd". Every reference is either referring to Jesus, or used in a parable by Jesus, in which He is still using the word in reference to himself. The only time the word is translated "pastor" is in Ephesians 4:11 - "He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. 11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:"
As you can see, that passage doesn't say an awful lot about the role of a pastor specifically.
This role of "pastor" that we have --- doesn't really come from the Bible.
When we look at the "local church leaders" in I Timothy and Titus, there are references to an overseer (called "bishop" in the KJV, and appears to be a mainly managerial role), deacons, and elders (the word literally is "old man"). There is no one leader over the church who also happens to have the spiritual gifts of teaching and exhortation (the closest I could find to being preaching).
I have long disagreed with the concept that the pastor is the only one in the local gathering who is doing all the work of the ministry. Since spiritual gifts were given to all members equally, all Christians should be considering themselves in ministry & utilizing their spiritual gifts.
I've also long disagreed with churches that don't have a multiplicity of leaders, although those are rarer and most churches do have deacons and elders in addition to pastors.
But it appears that we've taken this "overseer" role that is outlined in the Bible and made it into this "pastor" role. Where do we get this idea of a pastor being the leader of the church and being the preacher? Why do we elevate the gifts of teaching and/or exhortation and make that individual the leader over the local church?
The pastor is primarily expected to have the gift of administration (since he's the head honcho), mercy (since he does visitation), evangelism (since he's the only one who does that too), in addition to his teaching and exhortation roles which he utilizes weekly in the pulpit. I'm just not seeing such a character in the Bible.
What do you think of the role of Pastor? How have you come to your current thoughts & beliefs on it?
Furthermore, this is a "correct me if I'm wrong" post - if you know of specific references or information that I'm forgetting, please let's discuss it!
Anyway, many local churches view the pastor as an individual of authority over the church. In some local churches, the pastor has such authority that he can dictate what happens in his parishoners' personal lives, and what the pastor says, goes. In other churches, it's more a role of respect than authority.
I've been thinking lately about what the Bible says about pastors. Do you want to know what I found? Nothing.
In the KJV (the version that most conservative Baptist churches cling to), the word "pastor" appears once. ONCE. The Greek word appears several times in the NT, and it's the word for "shepherd". Every reference is either referring to Jesus, or used in a parable by Jesus, in which He is still using the word in reference to himself. The only time the word is translated "pastor" is in Ephesians 4:11 - "He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. 11And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; 12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:"
As you can see, that passage doesn't say an awful lot about the role of a pastor specifically.
This role of "pastor" that we have --- doesn't really come from the Bible.
When we look at the "local church leaders" in I Timothy and Titus, there are references to an overseer (called "bishop" in the KJV, and appears to be a mainly managerial role), deacons, and elders (the word literally is "old man"). There is no one leader over the church who also happens to have the spiritual gifts of teaching and exhortation (the closest I could find to being preaching).
I have long disagreed with the concept that the pastor is the only one in the local gathering who is doing all the work of the ministry. Since spiritual gifts were given to all members equally, all Christians should be considering themselves in ministry & utilizing their spiritual gifts.
I've also long disagreed with churches that don't have a multiplicity of leaders, although those are rarer and most churches do have deacons and elders in addition to pastors.
But it appears that we've taken this "overseer" role that is outlined in the Bible and made it into this "pastor" role. Where do we get this idea of a pastor being the leader of the church and being the preacher? Why do we elevate the gifts of teaching and/or exhortation and make that individual the leader over the local church?
The pastor is primarily expected to have the gift of administration (since he's the head honcho), mercy (since he does visitation), evangelism (since he's the only one who does that too), in addition to his teaching and exhortation roles which he utilizes weekly in the pulpit. I'm just not seeing such a character in the Bible.
What do you think of the role of Pastor? How have you come to your current thoughts & beliefs on it?