A Church and Their Pastor Part One - The Pastor's Role

When many people hear the word “pastor,” they think of a kind, gentle, smiling face—always understanding, always patient, always encouraging. They think of a soft, reassuring presence in times of grief and crisis, a bastion of faith, spirituality, and biblical knowledge. They think of someone who, if they experience typical human struggles with temptation, depression, anxiety, greed, or anger, are relatively unphased by them and always emerge victorious. They picture someone who is a counselor, preacher, teacher, pray-er, worshiper—equal parts scholar, empath, monk, social activist, and (more recently) YouTuber. The problem with this picture is that not only is it unrealistic, it is also not biblical. So what do the Scriptures teach about the role of a pastor.

Unfortunately, if you search for the word “pastor” in the Bible, you will not find many passages—in fact, only one! The reason for this is simple: the term the New Testament writers used to refer to the leader of a church was not “pastor,” but “elder” (or sometimes “overseer”). We read in Luke’s account of the early Christian movement: “Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for [the new disciples] in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust” (Acts 14:23). Elders were simply leaders entrusted with responsibility over a particular congregation. There may have been one or several elders in a particular church, but one was usually chosen as the point person (what we might call the “lead” or “senior” pastor today).

The term “elder” (presbyter in Greek) was borrowed from Judaism, where it referred to communal and spiritual leaders who were respected and followed because of their wisdom, experience, and spiritual maturity—not necessarily their position or education. In the same way, elders in the church were chosen not because of a particular gift or skill set, but because of their solid Christian character. If you look at the requirements for elders in Titus 1:5-9, you will see that most of what is laid out could apply to all Christians: excellent moral character, Christ-like relationships, a firm belief in the gospel, etc. A leader in the early church was expected to be a “lead disciple”—not perfect, but a few steps ahead on the journey of following Jesus.

What Do Elders Do?

So what exactly did an elder/leader in the early church do? Ephesians 4:11-12 (which contains the above-mentioned solitary occurrence of the word pastor) is a good place to start. “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” (Ephesians 4:11-12). Although the word elder doesn’t appear, and “pastor” is one of five different gifts mentioned, clearly this passage refers to leaders in the church, and so offers some helpful insights:

First, Paul calls the church “the body of Christ,” a metaphor he employs throughout his letters to describe an organic, interconnected, interdependent group of people, each with something unique and essential to contribute to the whole (see 1 Corinthians 12). Besides the normal differences of personality and temperament, the New Testament describes a number of “spiritual gifts.” Each disciple of Jesus has unique ways that the Holy Spirit works through them consistently—from seemingly ordinary gifts of serving, administration, and encouragement, to more peculiar gifts of miracles, healing, and prophecy. 

The second thing to note is that particular spiritual gifts are mentioned that seem to predispose people to leadership positions. In this passage Paul mentions five: apostleship, prophecy, evangelism, pastoring, and teaching. There is not time to define each term or consider whether this is a complete list. However, we can note that “eldering” is not mentioned as a spiritual gift—here, or elsewhere. That is because “elder” is not a gift but a role. People with very different personalities and spiritual gifts are called to fulfill leadership roles in the church according to their unique design. What this means is that the person you call “pastor” (who is actually an “elder” by biblical terms) may actually not have the gift of pastoring at all. Rather, they lead according to their own gifts—perhaps as an evangelist or prophet.

The third important takeaway from this passage concerns the purpose of leaders within the church. Too often we assume that “ministry” is something a pastor does. But according to Paul, ministry is something that leaders in the church facilitate. They are given by Jesus to “equip his people for works of service”—with the Greek word for “service” being the same one used for “ministry.” Even more important than using their own gifts, the main job of a pastor/elder/leader in the church is to equip, train, and release the people in the church to use their own gifts in their shared mission. Unfortunately, too often churches expect their pastors to have all (or most of) the spiritual gifts, and to do all (or most of) the work of the church. These misguided expectations have kept many churches and pastors unhealthy and ineffective. 

An Analogy

The following analogy can be helpful in understanding the role of a pastor/elder. Imagine the church is like an orchestra that comes together to play the music of the Kingdom of God. Jesus is the composer, who wrote the Kingdom music that has been played for two thousand years; the Bible is the score (or collection of scores) by which the music has been handed down through the centuries; and each member of the church is an instrumentalist with a unique and essential part to play. While there are occasions for a brief solo, and instrumentalists can play some melodies and parts on their own, only in the context of the whole orchestra, playing together as one unit, does the full beauty of the Kingdom music come through. 

The audience the church plays for is the world around us. We may enjoy coming together to play music, we may be moved to tears by its beauty, but the primary reason the orchestra exists is to present the composer’s music to a new audience, who may have never heard or appreciated it. The church’s job is to help the people around us fall in love with Jesus’ music, with the ultimate goal that they would become part of the orchestra. 

What, then, is the role of the pastor/elder in this analogy? They are the conductor, the leader who helps the orchestra play in tune and in time. The conductor, more than anyone else, focuses on the music as a whole, ensuring that each instrumentalist knows their part, and that all come together to create beautiful and unified music. The conductor studies the score, chooses the pieces, and challenges the members to grow and learn. 

Could an orchestra function without a conductor? Of course. Everyone has the score. Everyone plays an instrument. They could play familiar pieces simply by following each other. But with a conductor—with someone standing in front of them all, acting as a point person, keeping time, and directing the big picture—the orchestra thrives. In the same way, while full-time, paid pastors are not necessary for churches, they can be very beneficial.

However, consider the opposite question: Can a conductor function without an orchestra? Absolutely not. The very title “conductor” implies he or she has people to “conduct.” Without instrumentalists, the conductor becomes at best, a soloist; at worst, a lunatic waving his hands to a silent and empty stage! In the same way, churches are absolutely necessary for pastors (elders) to do their job. And by “churches” I do not mean groups of people who gather to hear the pastor speak each Sunday, but groups of disciples who are committed to Jesus and his mission, who pool their time, money, and emotional resources to accomplish it, and who are committed to each other quite apart from whatever pastor/elder/conductor happens to be leading at that time. Too often, though, Christians fail to understand what it means to be the church.

Consider this scenario: A new conductor is hired to oversee an orchestra. He arrives to lead his first rehearsal, excited to see the potential in these musicians. But when he walks into the auditorium, all of the chairs on stage are empty. He looks around, wondering where everyone is, and he hears a voice calling from the house seats: “Don’t worry, we’re all here. We’re just kind of tired of playing the music. We heard you’re a great violinist, and we thought maybe you could just play us some songs while we just sit here and enjoy the music.”

Perhaps it’s true—he is a world class violinist, fully capable of entertaining a crowd with his skill. In fact, this is one of the reasons he was hired, because not only can he take occasional solos, but he can use his expertise in this area to develop other violinists—the whole string section, in fact! But his primary job is not to use his own gifts and talents, but to help others bring theirs together in the service of the music the composer meant to be played by a unified, multi-faceted orchestra—not a bunch of soloists.

In the same way, a pastor/elder may have incredible gifts they can use together with the other members of the body of Christ. But his/her main job is not to highlight or solo their own giftedness, but to release and mobilize the giftedness of others. A conductor needs an orchestra, not an audience; and a pastor needs a group of people who are willing to work with him to continue the mission of Jesus.

Summary

An elder (what we call a pastor, priest, or minister) is someone who fulfills a leadership role in the church according to their own gifts and personality, and whose main purpose is to equip and release the people of the church to use their diverse and essential gifts to continue Christ’s mission in the world together. The next post will consider the responsibility of the orchestra/church members to their conductor/pastor.