Part 2 - The Modern Pastor Isn't in the New Testament
I hate to say it - but it's true. The practice of having a head pastor of each church body does not find its roots in the New Testament scriptures. I hear the sacred cows mooing uneasily as I say this. Its not that I enjoy tipping sacred cows (I did once, but have grown up a little since then), but let's stand up for truth here and let the Bible speak for itself.
The English word "pastor" is used only 1 time in the New Testament. That right there should cause warning bells to go off in our heads - especially since that's a basic hermeneutical rule in most Christian circles - one obscure passage is not enough to create a Bible doctrine. Out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every word is established.
The English word "pastor" (used in Ephesians 4:11) is simply the Greek word for shepherd. This Greek word (poimen) is used many times in the NT, but in every other place it is translated "shepherd". Why the translators of the KJV and other modern versions of the Bible render this Greek word as "pastor" instead of what it is every other time - shepherd - is beyond me. Okay scratch that, it's not beyond me - Im pretty sure that the translators read their own traditions into the English translation - God rest their souls.
Eph. 4:11 - "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors (shepherds) and teachers..." First of all, the word here is coupled with teachers, and so the text suggests that shephereds and teachers are one and the same role. As in - a teacher is a shepherd, because they are feeding the sheep (1 Pet. 5:1). Paul simply threw the word "shepherds" in to further describe what a teacher really is in the body. Knowing that, I now realize that we had numerous able "shepherds" in the congregation of the church I grew up in...
But again, thats the only time the word "pastor" is used in the New Testament scriptures. In parallel passages like 1 Cor 12:28, where Paul is giving the same list of giftings to a different church, he doesnt even use the word "shepherd" but just says "teacher." So then if there were no pastors (as we have them today) in the early churches, who ran things? Aha - I'm so glad you asked!
There are many giftings listed by the apostles in their letters that were commonly at work in primitive Christian church, but I find only two offices. Elders (also called Bishops or presbyters) and Deacons (servants).
The word "elder" is "Presbuteros" in the Greek (literally - one advanced in life or age). The word Bishop is "Episkope" in the Greek (literally means 'overseer'). Both of these words refer to the same "office", but from two different angles. One focuses on the job of an elder (to oversee), and one focuses on the character of an elder (mature and responsible). In the NT, there was never just one elder in a church, it was always more than one (see Acts 14:23, 1 Tim 5:17, Tit 1:5, James 5:14, 1 Pet 5:1). See the NT guidelines of what qualifications an elder should have in 1 Tim 3 or Titus 1 (husband of one wife, can rule his own house well, not greedy for money, able to teach, etc). Wow, come to think of it, we had a LOT of people who met those simple guidelines in the congregation I grew up in...
We also have no record of the elders in each church being paid for that role. Wait, I shouldn't say that, I think I lost a few readers. Oh well, might as well be straight-forward. That's right, churches supported the itinerant apostolic workers among them (the travelling church planters), and supported the poor among them, but we have no record of each church's individual elders being paid for their oversight.
So back to our topic -- each church had "elders." In my church family today we just call these people spiritual moms and dads - they are more mature and responsible people who can help guide the group at key times and can feed the young ones. But they don't do all the work, and are not the heads of the church. Christ is the only head of the church, and everyone shares the responsibilities of ministry, because we are all priests to God under the New Covenant, and we have all been given different gifts to profit the whole group. No wonder Paul told the church in Corinth, "When you gather together, every one of you has a song, a teaching, a tongue, an interpretation, a revelation."
Anyway, the only other office we find mentioned in the New Testament was called a deacon, or servant. Servants were selected in some churches to oversee certain church events, like overseeing the distribution of food to the people in Acts 6. They also had the same simple character requirements as elders (1 Tim 3).
Those are the only two offices we find practiced in the primitive Christian churches of the New Testament. According to all the records we have, they had no solo pastors over each church.
So there you have it - take it for what its worth, chew on it, talk to Jesus about it, and consider the ramifications of it. I have little doubt that if churches today began to align themselves more closely with the patterns we find among the New Testament churches, they would be happier, healthier, and better equipped to fulfill the purpose of the body of Christ on this earth. I know that if the congregation I grew up among would have set its leadership up in this way, numerous troubles and crises could have been avoided. But hey -- its never too late to correct a mistake!
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