Overview of the Office of Pastor-Teacher in the Church, and How Church Polity Needs to be Flexible

Summary

This lesson goes over the responsibilities pastor-teachers have in the Church – all of which revolve entirely around the Word of God. Different teachers can exercise this same gifting in different ways, all while individually following the paths God has laid out before them. For this reason, flexibility in church polity (that is, local church organization and governance) is very much a feature not a bug, despite what groups that emphasize ritual might say to the contrary.

Content

Q: What exactly is the role of an “elder” or “pastor” in the Church?

I have been looking into the Church office known as “elder” or “pastor.”

As best I can tell, several different words in the Greek are used interchangeably in scripture to refer to this office:

It seems to me that while all these words refer to the same office in the Church, not every person filling the office needs to “wear all the hats.”

That is, there may be a division of labor wherein one person focuses on complicated teaching, one focuses on overseeing a church’s fiscal policy, a third focuses on “people stuff,” and so on.

Is this correct?

On the responsibilities of teachers in the Church

Yes, this line of thought (namely, that people all individually fulfilling the office of pastor-teacher can have their gifts – and the responsibilities going along with them – manifest in different ways) is essentially correct, although see below for some specifics and caveats.

These titles are largely interchangeable

In the “qualification lists” for elders (see 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:6-9), some of these Greek words you’ve pointed out are used interchangeably. Even the ones that aren’t equated directly like this must refer to the same office: people in the Church with authority, the ones running things. (Contrast deacons, who also directly serve the Church, but in a capacity without authority. That is the essential difference between pastor-teachers and deacons – authority).

This office centers on the teaching of the Word of God

One particularly important thing to note is that these folks must be “able to teach” (1 Timothy 3:2). To emphasize this crucial point, myself and others often refer to the group of people under discussion here as “pastor-teachers.”

Using this less-common label instead of more conventional ones (like “pastor” and “elder”) can be advantageous since these more conventional ones – at least depending upon who is using them – have much problematic connotational baggage that has been built up over the years (centuries, even).

For example, some people tend to view “pastors” with blinders on – the people who conduct marriages and funerals, the people who visit the sick in the hospital, and unfortunately – much, much more commonly than we would wish, though not universally the case – the people whose “teaching” consists of nothing more than the delivering of motivational speeches like clockwork on Sunday mornings, sprinkled liberally with anecdotes, pop-psychology, and rhetorical flourish (but shockingly little scripture and exegesis). The problem with all this is that these expectations can in reality have little to do with the Church office as it is outlined in scripture, inasmuch as these folks actually ought to be nearly 100% focused upon studying and teaching the Word of God, rather than having their attention constantly stolen away by other things (compare Acts 6:2-4). If the Church dumps all the work the body of Christ ought to be about onto the shoulders of these men alone, how can they possibly do their real jobs properly? Where did we pick up the idea that so many obligations fall to them, but somehow not to us? This ought not be so.

Anyhow, elders/overseers/shepherds/teachers/stewards have a whole host of responsibilities that can vary from individual to individual – but everything revolves around the Word of God:

  • Elders dispense wisdom based on their advanced knowledge of the Word of God. (Age has little to do with it – see 1 Timothy 4:12. It is spiritual maturity that is important).
  • Overseers steer the Church, making decisions and determinations based on their detailed understanding of the Word of God.
  • Shepherds lead and pasture their flocks in the truth of the Word of God.
  • Teachers explain and expound upon the meaning of the Word of God.
  • Stewards manage and organize the resources necessary to support the teaching of the Word of God.

Failing to appreciate this point largely turns pastors into masters of ceremonies rather than teachers and explainers of the Bible, which is the whole point of their office in the Body of Christ. Each of the various facets of the office relate to the Word of God in a slightly different way, but they all relate to it.

Cautionary note

You should not give ear to any individuals who claim any of these labels without also clearly demonstrating an accompanying focus on the Word of God. Would you place your physical welfare in the hands of a surgeon who only paid lip service to medical and surgical knowledge? Then why would you put place your spiritual welfare in the hands of self-professed pastors who only pay lip service to the Word of God?

You will know them by their fruits (compare Matthew 7:15-20). It matters not what other people think of self-professed teachers, by the way. A large group of people praising someone’s so-called teaching means nothing if it does not in fact cut straight the Word of Truth (compare 2 Timothy 2:15). False teachers will always be popular because there will always be those that are not actually interested in making the sacrifices the truth demands of us, instead preferring to listen to the nice-sounding lies.

Individuals can mix and match responsibilities in practice

Above, I emphasized that teaching the Word of God is the core commonality that all “modalities” of the office have in common. However, the exact specifics of different pastor-teachers’ ministries will vary. Compare 1 Corinthians 12:4-6.

Quote

That is, there may be a division of labor wherein one person focuses on complicated teaching, one focuses on overseeing a church’s fiscal policy, a third focuses on “people stuff,” and so on.

Based on the above understanding, I can get behind this statement as long as all the people in question are engaging in their respective responsibilities by focusing on the Word of God, as is proper.

All these things are not mutually exclusive, by the way. That is, manifestations of the different emphases can and often do resemble “cocktails” more than discrete categorizations.

Thus, flexibility is critical

If not all pastor-teachers will do things exactly the same way due to having slightly different sets of talents, callings, and ministries, it should be sort of obvious that Church structure and polity must be flexible.

In fact, the New Testament is actually quite vague on specifics of church polity. Why? Because while the end-goal (spiritual growth and edification of the Body of Christ) never changes, all the circumstances that go into realizing that end goal can vary wildly across times, places, cultures, and so forth.

For example, the specifics before the common man was literate were obviously different than after widespread literacy and ubiquitous availability of the Bible in everyday languages (like English and German) rather than Latin. In the same way, the internet is once again reshaping the way in which truth can be communicated, and thus the way in which churches can be organized.

Cautionary note

This idea here of variation and flexibility across circumstances (times, places, cultures, etc.) is one of the reasons why groups that make a huge deal out of specific rituals (e.g., Catholics, Orthodox folks, certain groups of ritual-heavy Protestants) are dangerous. That is to say, they try to stamp out individual variation within groups of believers around the world, and try to enforce a standard practice that is simply not there in the Bible. (Even though they will no doubt assert that it is there in the Bible, or say that their tradition and/or central authority mandating such practice is equal with scripture anyhow, so we need to do it anyway, even if the Bible doesn’t talk about it).

They may insist that this is because “the gospel does not change according to our cultural preferences.” Fair enough. I agree – the truth is the truth, and we’d best respect that. But that argument is actually a false equivalency, for extremely specific ritual practice is not equivalent to the gospel.

Practitioners from these groups will no doubt protest that I am being unfair and only knocking down a straw man. That, for example, their hyper-ritualized form of communion is actually what scripture teaches about the matter (and that every other practice other than their very specific one is “wrong”). And therefore, that you can’t call a group of poor laborers in a slum huddled around praying over a pot of soup “communion” because there is no official priest with orders from Rome (or wherever else) waving his hands and converting things into the literal flesh and blood of Christ.

I submit that this is nonsense. Access to God is not gatekept by mere human authority that presumes to tell others what to do… but instead we are bound by what scripture actually says, and by that alone. As long as the truth is taught as it ought to be and the little else that the Bible actually does say on the matter of local church polity is truly fulfilled – such as assemblies being conducted “decently, and in good order” (compare 1 Corinthians 14:40) – then that is all that we ought to say on the matter.

Despite this fact, many modern churches squabble about church polity all the time

One telling symptom of decay presently apparent in the Church visible is the willingness people have to fight about and divide over matters of church polity that are intentionally left vague in scripture. The irony would be amusing were it not so chilling as a symptom of Laodicean lukewarmness.

In this way, some people will wage bloody battles down to the last man on issues of church polity that scripture says nothing about, while completely neglecting to properly study and teach the Word of God, which is the only thing that actually matters.

That this is not the case for absolutely all modern churches in no way diminishes the point that it is the case for a large number, truly.