Pastor: Title, or Identity?

(this is a continuation of the topic 'On Shepherding and Discipleship')

"Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, 

who will feed you on knowledge and understanding.
(Jeremiah 3:15 NASB)

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
(Ephesians 4:11-13 NASB)

In the previous blog, 'Disciples: Born, or Made?' we recognized that a Christian is one who is born of God (John 1:12-13) and grows by means of the word of God (1 Peter 2:2) and the discipling of other believers (Matthew 28:19-20).  In that sense, a disciple is both born (initially) and made (continually), both a work of God, but using human agency.

We also recognized that there is a unique role God has given to some as pastors.  We see the realities both of the individual's desire and responsibility to grow as well as the interdependence He has created among believers by means of the spiritual gifts.  In other words, as God has made all of His children disciples, He has made some pastors / teachers.  In fact, these are gifts directly from Him.  Notice the use of the word 'give' in Jeremiah 3:15 and 'gave' In Ephesians 4:11.  In particular, we see in Ephesians that He did not give merely tasks for people to do, but rather He did something much deeper.  He spiritually made certain people to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers and gave them to the Church.  (By the way, I encourage further study of the spiritual gifts and what they mean regarding the identity of each believer - perhaps fodder for a future blog post!)

So - how do we identify such people, such gifts from God?  First, God tells us to evaluate such men regarding their qualification as elders (see 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9).  In this respect, the term 'elder' and 'pastor' have the same qualifications.  Certainly we would agree that the character qualities here are to be sought by all believers, and are foundational for spiritual leaders in particular.  But would we agree that all who possess such character qualities are made by God to be elders?  Not quite.  The distinguishing skill is 'able to teach' (from 1 Timothy 3:2) or, as Titus 1:9 puts it, 'able to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.'

The word 'elder' or 'overseer' refers to the office or title, one with authority regarding the spiritual welfare of believers in a local church.  The New Testament uses the terms 'pastor', elder' and 'shepherd' practically interchangeably.  We see the word 'shepherd' as a function / verb of the pastor in the New Testament which flows out of their God given identity (see John 21:16, Acts 20:28, 1 Peter 5:2).  Shepherding is a massive theme in the Scriptures, and at its core has 3 primary functions:

•  Feeding (see Jeremiah 3:15, Titus 1:9, 1 Timothy 4:12-16))
•  Protecting (Titus 1:9, Acts 20:28-30, 2 Timothy 4:1-5)
•  Guiding (1 Peter 5:1-4)

For a more thorough treatment of the biblical theme of shepherding, I highly recommend While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks  by Dr. Timothy Laniak.  It is a rich journey through the Scriptures in its ancient Near East context, and I found it to be of benefit to me in appreciating my Chief Shepherd, and in evaluating leadership biblically, both my own and those I seek as spiritual leaders in my own life.

In all of this, the first thing we recognize here is that, as believers, we are under the perfect care of God, our Chief Shepherd (Psalm 23, 1 Peter 2:25, 5:4).  His care of His children is overwhelming, pervasive, and perfect. 

The second thing we recognize is that God has graciously provided undershepherds - elders/overseers/pastors - to be stewards of the care of His people.  Do you believe this?  Our experiences with spiritual leadership may make this statement hard to believe - or at least hard to see - at times. 

To help, let me ask similar questions as those I asked regarding discipleship in my previous blog entry:

•  Are you a shepherd?
•  Are those who are your elders / pastors truly shepherds?  (Look at Hebrews 13:17.  Do your shepherds give you occasion to 'obey' and 'submit' to them in the Lord, clear that they are accountable to God for the state of your soul?)

Think about what God has told us in His word about these things.  Does a shepherd ask the sheep, 'Where would you like to go today?'  No!  Shepherds shepherd.  Leaders lead.  They don't have to be told to do it, coaxed to do it, forced to do it - no, it comes from within them as God has gifted them by His Spirit.  They can't help themselves!

A friend asked me recently what it was like to have a pastor who was younger than me.  (This is a recent phenomenon for me at the age of 46!)  I told them that, honestly, I didn't even think about it.  My pastor so obviously is a pastor, one who continually feeds, protects, and guides his people; he can't help himself.  He is so much more than a man who got a seminary degree, has the title 'pastor', but has no idea how to shepherd - which I have seen much of in my adult life.

Thankfully, when I look at Hebrews 13:17, I have much opportunity to obey and submit to my pastor in the Lord, to our mutual blessing and joy!

Pastor: more than a title, a God-given identity.

May you trust in and seek God's perfect provision in your life.


So far we have discussed two fundamentals of a healthy church: hungry sheep and feeding shepherds.

Next time, Lord willing,  I anticipate we will spend a little time defining our terms, solidifying our understanding of the definitions and means of spiritual growth that He has given to us.