The Calling of a Pastor
Our title immediately begs a
question: “What is a Pastor?” Out of that naturally arises another question—“Is
there any justification for the title?”
It has to be said that the term “pastor” in these days is very provocative,
especially so in some quarters. Personally, I think this is sad, and not because
of any desire on my part to want to hang on to it. There is, I believe, a lot of
misunderstanding over the term—and also I know that I have been misunderstood in
connection with it. It is true to say that some people get very “het up” about
it, and become very emotional. To me, it is no issue. But the important thing
for us to do is to look at the Scriptures on the subject. The reason that we do
that, of course, is because we believe that the Scriptures are our sole
authority in all matters of faith and order in the life of the church, and in
every area of our Christian living.
So what of this term “pastor”? Is there any justification for it? Well, if we
were familiar with the Authorised Version of the Scriptures we would know that
it is used just once. “As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to
follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which
came out of my lips was right before thee” (Jeremiah 17:16 AV). Who is
speaking? It is God’s servant Jeremiah. He is giving a threefold vindication of
His ministry. The reason for this is that he has never found it easy to be God’s
servant—and he did not even want to be in the first place. Nothing has happened
since to make him feel any better about it. But God had called him, and has
given him a specific task in a prophetic ministry. Jeremiah’s prophecies were
not welcomed, just as he knew they would not be. He felt that he stood between
two stools—on one hand, desperately wanting to represent the people to God, and,
on the other hand, attempting to represent God to these unwilling people. Even
those who mocked him, taunted him over it. “Indeed they say to me, ‘Where is
the word of the Lord? Let it come now!’” (Jeremiah 17:15). So Jeremiah comes
before the Lord, and pleads for His help. In the process Jeremiah assesses his
own ministry. (1) He has not refused to follow God’s will; (2) he has not hoped
for their doom; and (3) all that he has said was all fully known to God—he was
only saying what God had given Him to say. He has described his role before God
as being “a pastor”.
Of course you will object that a justification of the use of the term that is
based on this verse alone, and in the Authorised Version is a bit of a flimsy.
It is a very weak foundation. And I wholeheartedly agree.
But we need to ask the question what does this term “pastor” mean? It is derived
from the Latin and when translated into English means “shepherd”—and it comes
from a root meaning “to feed”. Then, suddenly all becomes clear. For we can now
look up this word in Scripture and discover there are now numerous references—52
in the New King James Version; 59 in the New International Version; 40 in the
Authorised Version. Not all of those are relevant to the subject in hand, but a
surprising number of the references add something to the overall picture.
The representation of sheep and shepherd was very familiar to the Old Testament
people of God. The first reference is to the fact that shepherds were an
abomination to the Egyptians! (Genesis 46:34). Perhaps that should be some
encouragement to pastors—that such a precedence was set! Pastors are sadly often
treated with deep suspicion, and even held in great contempt by the world—but
that attitude can sadly creep into church life.
The second recorded reference is made in relation to God Himself. It was made by
the patriarch Jacob, as he gave his final blessing on his sons before he died.
Speaking to his son Joseph he observes that though he was treated badly, God was
with him. He was kept “by the hands of the Mighty God of Jacob (from there is
the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel)” (Genesis 49:24). If Jacob is explaining
the character of Almighty God in adding the description of “Shepherd”, as well
as “Stone”, why was such an allusion made? Because this God, their God, was seen
to be the One who feeds, directs, and protects His people. He is also the firm
foundation of their trust and on whom they build their lives, as the “Stone of
Israel”.
I am not even going to attempt to look at all the references to shepherds, but I
have to say that the next few are of particular interest. Take, for example,
Numbers 27:17, where God spoke to Moses about appointing Joshua as the next
leader of the nation—of such a leader God said, Let him be as one “who may go
out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in,
that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd”.
Put that together with the next reference of 1 Kings 22:17. The speaker here is
Micaiah, the man of God in the time of King Jehoshaphat. “Then he said, ‘I
saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And
the Lord said, ‘These have no master. Let each return to his house in peace.’”
The picture is clearly emerging that it is in the purposes of God that His
people have a leader to whom they look for help and guidance, who will stand
before the Lord for them and direct them into His ways, and with whom he is to
share the Word of the Lord—a shepherd.
The next reference we come to, interestingly enough, is Psalm 23, which squarely
puts the emphasis of Shepherd on God Himself: “The LORD is my Shepherd. I
shall lack nothing. He leads me… He restores me” (Psalm 23:1,2,3).
In the prophecy of Isaiah it is God again who is spoken of as the Shepherd of
His people: “He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs
with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with
young” (Isaiah 40:11).
Then in Isaiah 44:28 the emphasis changes back from God Himself to a man whom
God appoints. But the staggering thing there is that the “Shepherd” so described
is King Cyrus, the powerful Persian King, who releases Jewish captives at the
end of their Babylonian captivity. Thus it is God “Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is
My shepherd, and he shall perform all My pleasure, even saying to Jerusalem,
“You shall be built,” and to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.”’”.
Then, through the prophet Jeremiah, we begin to see a picture emerging of those
who are supposed to be leaders of God’s people, but who are leading them astray.
They are called shepherds—but there is an indictment against them, in that they
are not doing their job properly. They maintain themselves to be the servants
and mouthpiece of God to His people, but they fail to live up to their claim.
Thus God says, “For who is like Me? Who will arraign Me? And who is that
shepherd Who will withstand Me?” (Jeremiah 49:19; 50:44).
As we move on into the prophecy of Ezekiel, especially chapter 34, we have this
stated even more clearly. God has sovereignly appointed those who ought to be
leaders of His people, but they are not taking their responsibility seriously.
“So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food
for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered” (Ezekiel 34:5). So
they have failed: “‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely because My flock
became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because
there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the
shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock’” (Ezekiel 34:8). How was
the Lord going to deal with the situation? “As a shepherd seeks out his flock
on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and
deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark
day” (Ezekiel 34:12). And so He takes the situation in hand, and promises,
“I will establish one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them—My servant
David. He shall feed them and be their shepherd” Ezekiel 34:23. This theme
is taken up and emphasised again by the prophet Zechariah (10:2; 11:15-17;
13:7). Many years later the Lord Jesus begins His ministry—and we are
given an insight into His own heart as He faces the challenge of sharing the
Gospel. “When He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them,
because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd”
(Matthew 9:36).
But Jesus has called out twelve men to be His disciples. Twelve men whom He
grooms and teaches, sharing with them the things of God in a way that He cannot
do generally to the clamouring populous. He appoints His twelve disciples, with
the intention that they continue His ministry when He is gone back into Heaven
(even though one of them will prove to be a traitor). He teaches them that
“he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. … I am the good
shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. … I am the good
shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. … Other sheep I have
which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice;
and there will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:2,11,14,16). The Lord
Jesus goes on to tell them, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and
appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should
remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you”
(John 15:16). He tells them that they will have the guidance of the Holy
Spirit—a Holy Spirit anointing them to do the job that He is calling them to.
“When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for
He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and
He will tell you things to come” (John 16:13).
We see how Jesus diligently trains His disciples to understand and cope with
different situations. Then, after His marvellous atoning sacrifice for sin, He
rose again from the dead, and continued His training of those same disciples
(now minus one). They have now passed through extremely trying and harrowing
experiences—and they have discovered much more about themselves, as well as
about the precious Saviour.
But before He finally leaves them, He gives them further specific instruction.
He has called them, set them apart, taught them, prepared them, and He now
commissions them. “And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said
to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained”
(John 20:22-23). He tells them what they should now expect, and how they should
conduct themselves. He made sure that they understood the Scriptures, and taught
them that all they were doing was to be based on that Scriptural foundation.
“And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the
Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise
of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued
with power from on high’” (Luke 24:45-49). We also have that most amazing
scene with His disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. He, the risen Lord,
specifically met with His disciples before He left them. In particular He
singled out Peter. Beloved Peter, who had meaningfully and determinedly promised
to stick by the Lord no matter what happened, but who, under the pressure of the
circumstance, had denied Him three times. Peter found it difficult to understand
that the Lord had not totally rejected Him. So the Lord comes and assures Him of
His love for him, and gives Peter back his confidence, while at the same time
instructing him with respect to the future, as the leader of His disciples.
“So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of
Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know
that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.’ … ‘Tend My sheep.’ … ‘Feed My
sheep” (John 21:15,16,17). Peter is to be a shepherd, to act as a
shepherd—to be the representative of the Good Shepherd to those whom He calls to
be His sheep.
The final commission that the disciples are given is, in the words of Jesus
Himself, that “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end
of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18-20). Make disciples, baptise them, teaching
them all that Jesus has commanded.
It is not really surprising that
we find Peter writing of the Lord Jesus Christ as our Shepherd. “For you were
like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of
your souls” (1 Peter 2:25). Jesus is the Chief Shepherd, to whom he, as a
leader of God’s people in particular, is answerable—as well as all of us who
believe in Him, and entrust our lives to Him.
Finally we find that it is Peter who exhorts those whom God has given a
particular call to serve Him. He instructs and encourages them to teach and
build up the people of God, encouraging them in these terms. “Shepherd the
flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but
willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those
entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2,3). And
then, having thus exhorted them, Peter points these under-shepherds to consider
the reward that will be theirs for their obedience and faithfulness: “and
when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does
not fade away” (1 Peter 5:4).
So we may conclude that the term “Shepherd” is indeed a Biblical one—and it goes
a long way to describing the work of those whom God appoints as leaders of His
people. Paul does not use the term—he concentrates on the idea of “Elder”
as we observe in his letters to Timothy and Titus—whom he addresses as elders—as
well as in other letters where he speaks of the role of elders to the churches
over whom they are appointed. Again the term “elder” is very much an Old
Testament term, of which there are some 208 references in Scripture. But the
references to elder are more complicated, because there are differing roles of
different elders. The particular reference that parallels Peter’s allusion to
shepherd is that of the “elders who rule” (1 Timothy 5:17), or rather,
the “elders who stand before” the people in the capacity of teaching, guiding
and building them up.
We also may perhaps deduce from Revelation chapters 2-3 that the “angels”
mentioned there, being responsible for the seven churches, may well be the
elders or pastors of those churches. The word “angel” is a little
misleading—they should perhaps rather be called “messengers”. For pastors are
God’s messengers, bringing God’s message of salvation to the people.
Thus the concept of a local church having a man who is called of God in order to
teach, encourage, baptise and nurture believers is certainly Biblical. What we
call such a person, or persons, is a matter of consensus. The term “pastor” has
been abused by some. It is considered to be a term behind which some men hide,
claiming themselves to be a special category—a cut above others—and that
attitude cannot be condoned. However, the term pastor is a reference of
endearment to some, recognising the special privilege and unique relationship
that an individual believer can have with someone who is genuinely interested in
their soul, as well as their lives in general. So it is a word that is sometimes
used in love—but it also used as a weapon by others, who seem to feel that it
puts such a person on a different level to themselves. It is sad when this is
the case, because it is based on a misunderstanding and error. There is nothing
wrong in simply using the term as a description of an “office”, or if you like
it better, a responsibility before God. It is possible that such a person may be
called by their first name, but their calling must be recognised and respected.
The role of the shepherd, or pastor, in the church has Biblical precedence. It
is a calling to be recognised, respected and honoured—not because of the person,
but because of the calling. We have to recognise that when a man is called by
God and set aside for His ministry—to serve the Lord Jesus among His
churches—that it is for our benefit, for our spiritual good, and not something
to be treated with contempt or dishonoured in any way. God calls His shepherds,
and they have a great responsibility, for they are answerable for all they do to
the Great Shepherd Himself. And Paul says to such men, “Take heed to yourself
and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both
yourself and those who hear you ” (1 Timothy 4:16).
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