Traditionally, we call the man who is employed by the church and does the bulk of the preaching and visiting the ‘pastor’ of the church. We will stick with that usage for brevity.
No distinction
At one level the New Testament makes no distinction between the pastor and the other elders. All elders are called to shepherd the flock (Acts 20:28; 1 Pet 5:2). The word ‘shepherd’ is the root from which we get the term pastor, so we could say that all elders are ‘pastors’. Further, the qualifications for appointment as an elder, given in 1 Timothy 3.1-7 and Titus 1.5-9, are fundamentally the same as those that ought to be applied when the church chooses a pastor. Together, these men have responsibility to ‘Keep watch over…all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers’ (Acts 20:28).
The elders are to ‘direct the affairs of the church’ (1 Tim 5:17), and there is no indication in Scripture of any other office in the local congregation above that of elder that has, in itself, more authority. The elders are a team of leaders, to whom, as they teach and try to exemplify in behaviour the word of God, the church is called to submit (Heb 13:17). Just as the elders are called to be servants without ‘lording it’ over the church (1 Pet 5:3), so no leader is to ‘lord it’ over the rest of the team (3 Jn 9). This is a council of equals when it comes to authority. This must be the case because the real authority in the church is not the elders themselves but Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd of the sheep (Heb 13:20; 1 Pet 2:25), who rules and leads his flock through the Scriptures, the word of God (cf. Jn 10:3-5).
This plurality of elders provides many benefits for both the church and the leadership. It makes an eldership more…
- Available: One man cannot be constantly on call. He will have other legitimate responsibilities in his life – perhaps his immediate family or elderly parents. But a group of men can both share the load and be free to respond to needs in the church at different times.
- Accomplished: Individuals have different strengths and weaknesses, insights and blind-spots. Some are gifted in one area but not in another (Rom 12:6-8). But together the elders make up for one another’s deficiencies and so are more balanced and accomplished all-round.
- Accountable: One man can fall into sin or error, or become headstrong and wilful in his leadership. But in a group of equals this tendency can be challenged and checked. (Ultimately an eldership itself is accountable to the church meeting which appointed them as elders).
So, the main thrust of the NT on the matter of elders is on a group of men, chosen by God and the church, of equal authority. And yet, if we leave what Scripture says at that point, we will not have done justice to the subject. There are nuances in the Bible’s teaching on this subject of which we must take note.
Honour
To Timothy, the apostle Paul writes, ‘The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honour, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching’ (1 Tim 5:17).
There is a gradation of three things here. There is ‘honour’ (implicit), ‘double honour’ and then there is the word ‘especially’. First, by implication all elders should be honoured and respected (1 Thess 5:12). Secondly, those who do the work of overseeing the church well are to be given ‘double honour’. In view of the next verse, which speaks about remuneration for the work, double honour primarily has reference to a church employing or financially supporting certain elders. Yet Paul speaks of this in terms of honour. So, this would also imply that what he has in mind includes also a certain extra respect. Thirdly, Paul then goes on to say that this double honour particularly applies to those ‘whose work is preaching and teaching’ – in other words to the pastor.
There is no difference in authority, but there is in honour – regard, esteem, deference.[1] These men often have a degree of spiritual wisdom in God’s word beyond that of others. For Paul, this extra respect for the man we call ‘the pastor’ is because of his work of preaching and teaching. It is linked to the foundational nature of the word of God for a church. The pastor immerses himself in Scripture and ministers it as his life’s calling. Without the Scriptures being preached the church is nothing. The Bible is the treasure of the church. It is through the word of God that we are born again (1 Pet 1:23), and the church, therefore, comes into being. It is by Scripture that the church is kept from error and God’s people are fed and encouraged spiritually (Titus 1:9). Therefore, the man or men who God has set aside particularly to handle his word are especially important to a church and deserve to be given extra respect.
All elders should have an ability to teach (1 Tim 3:2), but the pastor is a man called and gifted by God specially for public ministry. When other leaders think that ‘any of us could do the pastor’s job’ a leadership team runs into trouble.[2] To undermine the man chosen to regularly bring the word of God is tantamount to undermining the word of God itself. That is why, for example, Paul is so keen that no-one should look down on the young preacher Timothy (1 Tim 4:12), for he commands God’s precepts and teaches God’s gospel to the church (1 Tim 4:11).
This is not to say that a pastor is never to be challenged, even if he goes astray. Through Scripture, the elders have equal authority and can and must do this if necessary. However, a pastor should normally be given extra respect because of his vital work. There needs to be a recognition of everyone’s gifts. But the giftedness and calling of a pastor in bringing the word of God is among ‘the greater gifts’ (1 Cor 12:31)
Practical reasons
That the elders and the ‘pastor’ are to be considered the same but different in this way is not without its reasons.
First, in the culture of today’s evangelical churches, the pastor is usually a man who has left his home and livelihood and has relocated to give himself full-time to the work of God. Often, he is paid less money than his previous employment and less than other elders earn in their secular jobs. Surely, he deserves the ‘extra respect’ of his fellow elders and congregation. While other elders have their jobs and incomes, the pastor has put himself and his family out on a limb, in a way the others have not. That sacrifice will be honoured and recognised by any Christian who has the mind of Christ and by any spiritually mature leadership team. Pastoral ministry is sacrificial in a way usually that other leadership positions are not.
Secondly, the pastor / preacher, in the pulpit Sunday by Sunday, becomes the spokesman of God and the public face of the church in a way that other leaders are not. This may give him a certain profile, but it also makes him vulnerable and a particular target for malcontents and for the devil himself. Interestingly, the verses in 1 Timothy which speak about ‘double honour’ for certain elders are followed by verses dealing with accusations made against elders:‘Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that others may take warning’ (1 Tim 5:20-21).
In his sermons on 1 Timothy, John Calvin wisely comments that it is against preachers of God’s word that malicious accusations are most likely to be made.
Ministers as we know are more likely to be slandered and vilified than other people. Who is behind all this if not Satan, who cooks up every kind of mischief in his shop? The best way of making us tire of God’s word is to find fault with his ministers. ‘Have you heard the latest? First one thing, then another!’ When rumours begin to fly and when they are believed, they put people off the word of God which loses the authority and respect it ought to have for us.[3]
The devil understands how vital God’s word is to a church and this is one of his prime tactics for undermining it.
Because the man who preaches the word of God to the people often challenges their sins and must teach the uncomfortable truths as well as the comforting ones, he is more exposed and vulnerable to the devil’s attacks. Therefore, both the church and other leaders should honour him for being willing to take on such an exposed position, and should have a basic attitude of support for him. Pastors and elders are the same, but different. This needs to be recognised if a church is to run well.[4]
[1] We see this kind of principle, for example, among the apostles with the emergence of Peter as ‘first among equals’. He often takes the lead, both in the Gospels and the Acts. But that he was not regarded as a cut above the other apostles is shown by the fact that Paul felt able to challenge him publicly at Antioch because he was not behaving in line with the gospel (Gal 2:11).
[2] On a lesser scale, but nevertheless serious, it parallels the challenge of Miriam and Aaron to Moses with which the Lord was not pleased: ‘Has the LORD spoken only through Moses…Hasn’t he also spoken through us?’ (Num 12:2). Korah’s rebellion against Moses and Aaron had a similar spirit behind it, ‘The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the LORD is with them. Why then do you set yourselves above the LORD’s assembly?’ (Num 16:3).
[3] John Calvin, Sermons on 1 Timothy (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2018), 644-645.
[4] This blog is a chapter from a new booklet, Pastors and Elders: A Key Relationship, which should be available soon through Pastors’ Academy.
