05.17.07

Pastor is a Verb

Posted in Church Life, Ministry at 2:30 pm by Anthony

I’ve never been very comfortable with the title “pastor.” The biggest reason is that we just didn’t use it in my Church of Christ upbringing. Another reason was that in Africa it tended to be a title that could only be worn by those who had a certain level of theological education, and was often worn with a certain amount of pride and arrogance. And then there’s the idea that the biblical usage is interchangable with elders and overseers, whereas today it’s usually reserved for a credentialed and salaried church employee. The idea of a “Senior Pastor” or “Associate (junior?) Pastor” just doesn’t seem to fit the biblical usage.

I spent some time yesterday and today looking more closely at the biblical use and it occured to me that, with the exception of Ephesians 4:11, the noun pastor does not appear in the New Testament as a title for anyone. In the Ephesians passage, it’s part of what would be better rendered a hyphenated “pastor-teacher,” or “shepherd-teacher.” As Lynn Anderson says in They Smell Like Sheep, “These leaders ’shepherd by teaching’ or, conversely, ‘teach by shepherding’” (p. 83).

With the exception of this occurence, however, the word pastor, as applied to church leadership in the New Testament, is a verb. In both Acts 20:28 and in 1 Peter 5:2, ”Be shepherds,” as in the NIV, or “(to) shepherd” as in the NASB, is one word in the original text. The KJV translates it as the verb “feed,” and that is certainly involved, but to shepherd or to pastor involves more t han dumping food out. It implies tending, nurturing, treating wounds, rescuing, caring for, and leading, as well as feeding.

Pastor is something to do, and not primarily a title to be worn. Those who do it best will probably never wear the title. And to them, titles are more scorned than sought after. Last night in our class on shepherding I asked those in the class to write down the names of three people that they could go to in a spiritual crisis. I didn’t ask anyone to reveal names, but Sister Tincy, our very sweet octogenarian, wanted to honor those who shepherd her by naming them, and they were all sisters in the church who she could always count on. There wasn’t an “office holder” among them.

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5 Comments »

not-so-deep Denise said,

May 18, 2007 at 10:34 am

About 2 years ago we were getting new elders and that was the question asked, “Who would you call if you were in trouble?” I had no men in my mind. I did have several women (one of whom is an elder’s wife) - but shouldn’t it be this way for women? Shouldn’t other women be who we turn to in times of crisis? Maybe other couples? I think women will develop relationships with other women first and, maybe, that woman’s husband.

Now, I know a few men I would call. I’m friends with all their wives.
Dee Andrews said,

May 18, 2007 at 8:27 pm

This is a very good and very enlightening post, Anthony. Thanks.

I’m a woman who has always gravitated much more to men than to other women, so I don’t know that I would go to another woman first. But then, that’s just me.

Either way, your post sheds a lot of light on the subject.

Dee
Sandi H. said,

May 22, 2007 at 4:23 pm

Very interesting, Anthony. I did a spiritual gift study at a local Bible study — “Networking” which is written by Bill Hybels and others (if I remember correctly) from Willow Creek. Shepherding was actually listed in the study as a spiritual gift — one that men or women might have, and I kinda internally bucked against it, probably because of my church of Christ background (thinking that shepherding was just for elders). But what you write here makes sense — the men who are the elders at my church are not necessarily who I would first turn to in a spiritual crisis — not because they aren’t compassionate, wise men, but because God has placed others in my life who know me better on a spiritual level (I think, specifically, of people like Togo teammates — both men and women, actually etc.).

This is definitely interesting and makes me want to study “shepherding” more — I would love to read more if you have more thoughts.
Anthony said,

May 22, 2007 at 4:55 pm

Sandi,
Thanks for your comment. Lynn Anderson’s book that I referenced in the post is very good; he has also come out with a second volume that I haven’t read yet.
Matt Dabbs said,

August 1, 2007 at 8:58 am

Very well put. Something that needs to be discussed way more often.

Clay Pot Journal

05.17.07

Pastor is a Verb

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