The Church and Its Pastor
I Peter 5:1-5
I am going to speak on a subject I honestly have avoided over the past eight years.
I mean that, too.
I have a set of notes I put together on the subject of the church that I taught through at Friendship Baptist before I came here.
I have reused and updated portions of those notes occasionally.
According to the saved dates on most of the files, I used many of them on Wednesday evenings in 2019.
If I remember correctly, I used some of the material to record Sunday School lessons during COVID.
Two of the lessons on the Bride of Christ I reformatted and used in 2021.
But the third lesson in that series I have never revisited.
The reason is because it about the leadership in the church, and I go through the Scriptural offices of Pastor and Deacon, their roles and responsibilities.
As a fairly new pastor, I just did not feel comfortable teaching on the subject.
I did not want people to think I was lording over anyone or pulling some sort of power grab.
I have heard my dad and others cover this topic and do it well.
There are many times that I am thankful that he or Jake or Ryan or whoever else address something like this.
Sometimes it needs to come from someone else’s mouth and not the pastor’s.
But this is the topic that the Lord has laid on my heart to cover today.
To avoid it would be for me to go against His leading, and I know better than to do that.
I have chosen our text this morning because of a remarkable feature it possesses.
The only other passage that does this is Acts 20:17-28.
It is not readily apparent, but I hope you will appreciate it by the end of this sermon.
Peter is writing to the leaders of local churches.
That is important.
I am a Baptist, and the more I study out what the Bible says about the church the more extremely Baptist I am becoming.
My study of the Scripture has convinced me that the emphasis of New Testament doctrine and practice revolves around the local assemblies of believers.
That is what the Greek word that is used in Scripture literally means.
ECCLESIA – “CALLED OUT ASSEMBLY”
We start in the books of Acts with one such local assembly at Jerusalem.
Then after the persecution of Saul forced the believers to flee and seek refuge elsewhere, we find in Acts 9:31 that there are “churches” not a single “church”.
Some critics say that it should be a singular church there.
I have studied it out, out of 116 appearances of the work ecclesia in Greek this would be the only one where it did not mean a singular, locally assembled body.
The problem lies in relying on old Greek manuscripts that are simply old but not very reliable.
Every local church body should be organized and have leadership.
Christ is the supreme head of each church .
Eph_1:22 …[God] gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
You see this also in Ephesian 4:15 and 5:23.
The Holy Spirit is what we may call the Superintendent of each church.
There are numerous references we could look at here that I will omit for time.
Let it suffice that the Spirit guides, directs, calls, equips and more in the church.
Below the headship of Christ and the administration of the Spirit we have the human leadership.
The Bible lays out a simple model that versatile and adaptable.
We have two Biblical offices found in Scripture.
That does not mean there cannot be more if necessary
Sorry, Garry, you are still not getting out of being treasurer…
There are Apostles in the New Testament, but we do not see that title or role passed on to the next generation.
We do find these two: Pastor and Deacon.
I want to focus today on what the Bible lays out as a guide for the role of pastor.
It is humbling to do so.
It is a high calling of God that should not be entered into lightly.
I personally hold the office is so sacred that it should scare anyone in their right mind away from it.
It is not just something you DO but something you must BE.
Go read the qualifications that Paul lays out in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1.
I combined the list and found 23 bullet points.
It is an awfully high standard that is set.
It is a daunting list that excludes many from the ministry.
I am not going to go through them here.
I am going to look a bit more practically about what a pastor should do and what the relationship should be between himself and his church.
To do so, I want to being by looking at some different words that are used to describe the role of the pastor.
The reason I picked I Peter 5 as a text is that the three major ones are here.
Over time these three terms coalesced into simply “pastor”.
I. Elder
1Pe 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort,
The Greek word here is presbuteros and it most literally means someone that is older or more senior.
It can be sort of generic word for leader, and it is used numerous times in reference to leaders of the Jewish religion.
It is a common word used for pastors, for example in Acts 20:17 Paul calls for the “elders of the church” at Ephesus to meet him at Miletus.
The idea of this term is that a pastor should be mature, grounded, experienced, and tested in his leadership.
Paul wrote in I Timothy 3:6 that a pastor should be:
“Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.”
This is not simply about age – I know plenty of people who have spent a lot of time on this earth but learned little from it.
Timothy is a great example of this not being simply about age.
He was a younger man that was entrusted by Paul to help the church at Ephesus.
Paul warned him:
1Ti 4:12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
So then, the Pastor/Elder/Presbyter is one who responsibly and maturely leads a church.
Training aids with this.
Life experiences aids with this.
Ministry experience aids with this.
But truly this is the work of the Spirit in a man, leading him to be wiser than his years and grounded beyond his maturity.
II. Shepherd/Pastor
1Pe 5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you,…
The Greek root word here is poimen, which means a shepherd, someone who cares for a flock of sheep.
It is used for both actual shepherds and church leaders.
This word is translated as “pastor” in Ephesians 4:
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
The verb form is found not only in I Peter 5 but also in Acts 20:
Act 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
This word carries with it all that a shepherd supplies for his flock.
He grazes them to the best pastures.
He guards them from harm.
He guides them as they move.
He gives them the care they need.
It is a profound duty of care that is entrusted to a pastor, to shepherd the flock that the Great Shepherd entrusts to his care.
It involves care from birth to death.
It requires diligence and vigilance.
It is selfless work – the shepherd is not judged by his own state but rather the state of his flock.
It is tender when it must be, it is harsh when it must be.
But in the end it is all about the care of God’s people and helping guide them to be the best they can be for their Lord.
III. Bishop/Overseer
I Peter 5:2 – …taking the oversight thereof,…
The root word here is episkopeō, which means to oversee or look diligently after.
The noun form is used over in Acts 20:28
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,
This is the word Paul used when writing to both Tinothy and Titus about the requirements of a pastor.
This word tells us that the pastor has the role of overseeing, managing, and guarding his church.
I think in many ways this points to the pastor’s executive role.
This is not to be done as a tyrant, but as a servant.
We have here the example of our Lord, who said in Matthew 20:28
Mat 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
A pastor, the under-shepherd, should follow the example of the Great Shepherd and seek to serve and not to be served.
Here is where I would point to the pastor’s executive role of oversight over the church’s faculty, finances, and facilities.
It also shows the responsibility of watch-care over the doctrines and practices of the church.
It should be founded on the truth of Scripture, led by the Spirit, and acted upon in love.
Those three are the primary terms used to name or describe the pastor of a church.
I hope that I made it clear that each of these are interchangeable names for the same office of pastor.
I hope that you see the outline of a true pastor as laid out by Scripture.
Quickly now, I want to wrap things up with a couple of lists.
The first is a list of the Biblical duties of a pastor to his church:
To be an example
…being ensamples to the flock. – I Peter 5:3
To rule/govern/maintain
Let the elders that rule well… – I Timothy 5:17
To guard right doctrine and practice
Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. – Titus 1:9
To perfect/mature/complete the saints
For the perfecting of the saints… – Ephesian 4:12
To edify/build up the body of Christ
….for the edifying of the body of Christ: – Ephesians 4:12
To preach the word
Preach the word;…- II Timothy 4:2
The second is a list of the Biblical duties of a church to their pastor.
Respect and love them
1Th 5:12 And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
1Th 5:13 And to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. …
Follow their teaching
Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Follow their example
Heb 13:7 Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.
Submit to their oversight
Heb 13:17 Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.
Pray for them
Eph 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Eph 6:19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,
Provide for their physical needs
1Ti 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.
1Ti 5:18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.
CONCLUSION
The church needs a pastor
It is God’s design – Ephesians 4 says they are a “gift” to the church.
You need a pastor – not a tv preacher or someone you watch online.
If not now, one day you will.
More importantly, you need Christ!