Biblically the church office of pastor and elder are the same. Pastors are elders and elders are pastors. And the Biblical instuction is that each local church should have a plurality of pastors.
The decision of churches as to who shall be their pastors is one of, if not the most important decision they can make. Churches should understand biblical eldership and practice it with joy, especially within the context of biblical congregationalism.
Alexander Strauch notes: Biblical eldership is dependent on men who seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33), men who have presented themselves as living and holy sacrifices to God and view themselves as slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 12:1-2), men who love Jesus Christ above all else, men who willingly sacrifice self for the sake of others, men who seek to love as Christ loved, men who are self-disciplined and self-sacrificing, and men who have taken up the cross and are willing to suffer for Christ.
The Scriptures use the imagery of shepherding to describe the work of pastors. As keepers of sheep, pastors are to protect, feed, lead and provide for the flock. Let’s consider these four jobs of pastors:
Protecting the Flock: A major part of the New Testament elders’ work is to protect the local church from false teachers. As Paul was leaving Asia Minor, he summons the elders of the church in Ephesus for a farewell exhortation. Paul told the pastors to shepherd the church by protecting her from savage wolves that will attack the church from without and within, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. See Acts 20:17-31.
According to Paul’s required qualifications for eldership, a prospective elder must have enough knowledge of the Bible to be able to refute false teachers. He left Titus in Crete to appoint a plurality of pastors in each church. He instructed Titus that these men must be able to hold fast the faithful word and must be able to refute those who contradict sound doctrine. See Titus 1:5-9.
Feeding the Flock: All New Testament elders were required to be “able to teach” (1 Timothy 3:2). Listing elder qualifications in his letter to Titus, Paul states, “[The elder must hold] fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict” (Titus 1:9).
In an extremely significant passage on elders, Paul recognizes the amount of time that such teaching requires of pastors, time in study, preparation. Paul instructed congregations to financially support the elders within their church who work hard at preaching and teaching. See 1 Timothy 5:17-18.
Leading the Flock: In Titus 1:7, Paul insists that a prospective elder be morally and spiritually above reproach because he will be “God’s steward.” A steward is a “household manager,” someone with official responsibility over the master’s servants, property, and even finances. Elders are stewards of God’s household, the local church.
Elders are also called “overseers,” which signifies that they supervise and manage the church. Peter uses the verb form of overseer when he exhorts the elders: “Therefore, I exhort the elders among you . . . shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight” (1 Peter 5:1-2). To the church in Ephesus, Paul writes, “Let the elders who rule [lead, direct, manage] well be considered worthy of double honor” (1 Timothy 5:17). Elders, then, are to lead, direct, govern, manage, and otherwise care for the flock of God.
Providing for the Flock: Pastors bear the responsibility for meeting the practical, diverse needs of the flock. For example, James instructs members of the flock to call for the elders of the church to pray for them and counsel them through spiritual crises and sickness (James 5:14). Paul exhorts the Ephesian elders to care for the weak and needy of the flock: “In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ ” (Acts 20:35).
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Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.
Jason,
Good post. Your writings have been very helpful.
I have one question though and it is in regards to defining the pastor or elder as an "office." In 1st Tim the greek word is not for office but "work." So I am wondering why do we refer to it as an office like an elected official when Paul clearly says it is a work?
Other than that, your writing on the elder is spot on!
Also I lived a couple of years in Murrietta. Beautiful place.
Thanks,
Phillip
Phillip,
Thanks for the comment and question. What church did you go to in Murrieta?
Concerning your question: I agree that being an elder is a "work" but it is a "work" that only those whom are qualified can do. Therefore it is an "official work" or as some call it "a church office." The term "office" therefore refers to the "official" nature of that particular work within the church.