I have been contemplating what the office of pastor entails for several years and have felt that now is the time to place it in writing. It includes all of the scripture that is given below, plus Psalm 23. (list of scriptures used) Through out this little study please remember that in addition to being a pastor, a pastor is also a sheep or lamb himself.
This opening verse is probably one of the most well known scriptures and is heard often at funerals. What most people do not realize is that David was alive when he penned these words and his message was how God was taking care of him as a living person. The message is to the living and not to the dead. In that respect this is an apt description of the work of a pastor/shepherd/teacher.
Sheep need several things and they need them in abundance. They need clean water and hopefull it is not running fast, because they will try to drink of fast moving water, but since they are not real steady on the foot, they can fall in and drown. They need pasture to feed in, but they need to be protected from their own indulgence. They will eat until they drop and then the feed will produce gas, which in turn will cause them to bloat and roll onto their backs. At this point the suffocate and die. They can only be moved to greener pastures either in the very early morning or in the evening.
They have several diseases that can either kill them outright or take some time to kill them. There are diseases that can spread like wild fire and kill the whole flock. There are enemies that will kill the sheep, such as wolves or coyotes. There are those who will steal the sheep away for their own uses.
This all applie’s in one way or another to God’s flock. We also have enemies and a host of issues that the pastor/teacher needs to be on the lookout for. Surprisingly they are exactly the same kinds of things that sheep need. Notice what the shepherd does for us these are spiritual things for the most part and where those spiritual things meet the real world our Lord Jesus meets our wants in way and time
Psalm 23:1-6
(1) The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He finds our place to be feed spiritually, the shepherd is responsible to find the best of pasture to feed us. He feeds us with the Word of God so that we learn to be content with HIM. He finds safe places for us to drink deeply of the water that comes from the Lord Jesus gives read what our Savior told to the women at the well in Samaria: John 4:14
(14) But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
(2) He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
When we fall by the way side or stumble He is there to pick us up and restore us. These days we find that as often as not the church instead of reaching out to reconcile reaches out to condemn. The Lord Jesus will lead us into the right paths, the ones that are safe for us spiritually. This is why He is called the Lord our Righteousness, because he is the one who is perfectly good.
(3) He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Daily in this world we are living in the shadow of death. It is there all around us, just turn on the radio or TV and you will hear about some one dying. However, believers are in Christ and have nothing to fear of death or even its shadow. With Christ as our guide we can feel the tap on our shoulder from God’s Word that says do not go that way. We can find comfort in the Lord Jesus’ discipline.
(4) Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
We can feast on the table of God’s Word even when we are in the presence of our enemies, because we can hide the Word of God in our hearts Psalm 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” We have the empowerment of the presence of the Holy Spirit who indwells us and it is that presence that makes it possible for us to feast on God’s word in the presents of those who wish us harm.
In fact His presence in our life can be so abundant that it over flows into our daily lives for our enemies to see.
(5) Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
The goodness and mercy of God follows us as believers every day of our lives even when it seems like he has left us. This is much like it is in “The Footsteps in the Sand” when the going gets rough, it is these times that he is actually there carrying us. There are times when dwelling in God’s house is a retreat from a world and situations that will do us harm. I am in His presence both in prayer and in His word.
(6) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
What does this have to do with the pastor/shepherd? It has everything to do with the pastor/shepherd, because the pastor is to be a shepherd to us. The 23rd psalm is really a good description of the relationship between us as believers (sheep), The Lord Jesus as the Chief Shepherd and Pastors as under shepherds. We see decline among pastors today as meeting the requirements that God has set for a pastor.
My premise is that the Lord Jesus spelled out very specifically the work of a pastor in John 10 and 21. The Lord Jesus exemplified what we are to be as pastors, since he is The Good Shepherd, The Great Shepherd and as well as being The Chief Shepherd. One of the gifts given to the church is that of a pastor as an office and that office is filled by an elder.
Titus 1:7-9 and 2 Timothy 3:1-7 spell out the requirements for being an elder (bishop) and we know from Acts 20 that an elder is a pastor. So these qualities or characteristics are for an elder as pastor of a local church. Therefore the requirements in Titus and 2 Timothy are those for a pastor. We also through these verses see that in addition to teaching his flock he is also charged with the spiritual oversight of his flock.
Paul links elders, pastor and overseers with the same office. In Acts 20:17 the Apostle Paul says that he had determined to come by Ephesus for the sole purpose of doing what he talks about:
Act 20:17
(17) “And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.”
Later in this same chapter he gives instruction to the elders he was talking about in the :17th verse. Look at what he tells them in
Act 20:28
(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.
Paul made it well known to these church leaders also called elders/pastors/teachers that they were to take their work seriously this word “heed” means pay attention to, be cautious about, apply oneself to, adhere to, attend, beware or have regard to what? The answer is that they are to oversee and feed the flock.
The word overseer used here in acts is the same root word used in I Timothy 3:1 translated in the KJV as bishop. This word speaks more to the elder’s position in the church as over looking the work of the church. The other side of this is in the second function of the elder, which is to feed the flock.
The word we use Pastor comes from the word used for flock in Acts 20:28 and is related to the word used for “to feed”. The meaning hear was to do more then just the physical spooning food into a babies mouth, but to the whole act of tending to the flock. A pastor should be leading the flock into the green pastures of God’s Word. Caring for all the needs of the congregation including the infants (physical and spiritual), working adults, seniors, elderly, teens, children, it gives no room for alienating anyone in the congregation. This aspect of tending the flock is lost on most ministers today.
Now we use this back ground from Acts 20:17-38 to help us understand the other uses of these three words, oversee, pastor and elder.
The word elder used here in Acts is the same word that is also used in 1Pe 5:1
(1) The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
Act 20:28
(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.
The word used in Ephesians 4:11 for pastor is the same word used in Acts 20:28 for to feed. The only difference being between a verb and a noun, but it is the same word. By comparing these words we come to the conclusion that a pastor is a shepherd.
Paul links elders and pastors as being one in the same, because the elders he called together in the book of Acts 20 were pastors and we know this from Eph 4:8-14
(8) Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
(9) (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
(10) He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
(11) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
(12) For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
(13) Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
(14) That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
I Peter 5:1 uses the word presbuterous the word means an elder and isused other places in reference to the Sanhedrin. It is some times translated presbyter. it means an older man, senior or Christian elder. It spells out how that the pastor/elder was to take care of the flock which the chief shepherd has placed in his hands.
Finally, my main point here is that the pastor functions as a shepherd, because that is what the word pastor means. It also means that he has to do all the things that a shepherd does with his sheep, feed, water, nourish, doctor, protect. This last item to me is where many pastors today fail, that is to protect the flock that the Lord Jesus has given to him to care for.
The main reason for this article is that the Whole Counsel of God is taught in these verses in regard to a pastor’s work (Acts 20:27 I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.) This particular phrase ‘all the counsel of God’ leads us to call it the whole counsel of God.
John 10:1-16
(1) “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.”
This is a stern warning to the apostles to be on the look out for those who would do harm to God’s flock. He says to be on the watch, because there are those who are thiefs and robbers that will enter into the lives of God’s flock. He says of these that they did not enter into the church by the door, but found another way into the sheepfold. Here he is talking about supposed Christian pastors, which found there way into the sheepfold without coming in through the door. According to verse 7 the Lord Jesus is the door to the sheepfold. It is impossible to become a Christian in any other fashion, then through the Lord Jesus. This passage follows naturally from the previous chapters and the confrontation that the Lord had with the Pharisees. He considered them as thieves and robbers of the sheepfold of Israel. They considered themselves the shepherds of Israel. However, they had entered the sheepfold of Israel in another manner then the door.
(2) “But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”
The one who enters through the door instead of in some other way is the shepherd of the sheep. A real pastor is himself a sheep and he must have also entered the same way that the rest of the sheep got there. In biblical times they would find an enclosure that had only one way into the fold and it is there that the shepherd would place themselves. The true door is Jesus and the true shepherd is one that has also come through the same door, who is the Blessed Lord Jesus.
(3) “To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.”
The shepherd would leave his sheep in the care of an under shepherd for the night. When he returned in the morning the under shepherd would open only for him. The sheep knew the voice of the shepherd not the porter. The sheep hear the voice of their shepherd and he calls them by name. The shepherd would then lead his sheep out to the fields in the early morning hours to graze. Our shepherd in heaven knows us by name and he leads us to still water to drink. He finds safe places for us to nourish. Like David of old if an enemy threatens the safety of the flock the shepherd is there to protect.
(4) “And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.”
The shepherd goes before the sheep much like the Lord Jesus going before us; He has been down the trails and roads that we traverse in life. He knows the hidden and unhidden dangers and the safe places. The difference between a sheep or goat and a wolf is that the sheep know the voice of Him. Yes we do know the voice of Him and another we will not follow.
(5) “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”
Sheep will not follow a stranger, but will run from him. If the stranger appears to be one of them as in a wolf in sheep’s clothing, then they can be fooled, but they cannot fool the Chief Shepherd. Israel was the sheepfold of God in the Old Testament hence the illusion here to the sheep. The leaders of Israel in Jesus day were supposed to be shepherding God’s flock, but they had laid waste to the flock. It is to this that the Lord Jesus was speaking. They do not know the voice of strangers, because the real sheep will only respond to the shepherd.
(6) “This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them.”
His disciples at the point of time in which this had occurred had not yet made the connection between the religious leaders of the day being thiefs and robbers. In fact they probably had yet to make the connection between themselves as sheep and the Lord as their shepherd. It really does not mater, because he was still their shepherd and was going to protect them just as he said in His High priestly prayer of John 17 “While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.” John 17:12
(7) “Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep.”
Since they seemed unable to understand what he had said up to this point the Lord Jesus made sure they got the message. He says, “I I am the door of the sheep”.
(8) “All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them.”
I believe that this was in reference to the Pharisees and Sadducees, because they were robbing the flock of God. The sheep were not listening to the religious leaders of that day, because they can only hear the voice of the Lord Jesus. This is good news for today, because amid all the voices that are speaking to us, we can only hear the voice of our Great Shepherd.
(9) “I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”
The Lord Jesus is the only way into salvation. When one of God’s sheep have become convinced that the load of sin is too great and they come to the door (Jesus) then they can enter by Him. Salvation is only found by that one single door and there is not another door available. We can find pasture to feed in and ample still clear water to nourish us spiritually, but it can only be found by coming through the Lord Jesus.
(10) “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
The thieves and robbers spoken of here are only interested in what they can steal, kill or destroy of God’s flock. Jesus has given us life and that in abundance. It can not get any better then the abundance that he gives to His flock. Today that flock is believers covenanted together in churches; Jesus has given us an abundance of eternal life. There are still thieves and robbers out there who would pillage God’s flock.
(11) “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.”
Here is the real meat of this portion of God’s Word. Jesus is the good shepherd and he has given his life for the sheep. Since he has given us his life, we now posess eternal life. We belong to Him, because he is our Shepherd. He is the one who cares for us.
(12) “But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.”
Under shepherds are just those hired to help in the absents of the shepherd. They have no personal stake in the safety of the flock and so when they see the wolf coming they will run. Then the wolf has nothing to stop him and he will skater and kill sheep for his own pleasure and dine on the sheep. Our pastors today you do not dare run from the flock, when they need you the most. When we see things happening around us that can harm the flock, it is not time to run, but it is time to protect the flock God has given you to shepherd.
(13) The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep.
(14) I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
(15) As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep.
(16) And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.
1Pe 5:1-14
(1) The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
(2) Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
(3) Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
(4) And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
(5) Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.
(6) Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:
(7) Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
(8) Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
(9) Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
(10) But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
(11) To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
(12) By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand.
(13) The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.
(14) Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
John 21:15-19
(15) So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
(16) He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
(17) He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
(18) Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.
(19) This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, Follow me.
Tit 1:5-14
(5) For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:
(6) If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
(7) For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;
(8) But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;
(9) 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.
(10) For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
(11) Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.
(12) One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.
(13) This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
(14) Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
1Ti 3:1-7
(1) This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
(2) A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
(3) Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;
(4) One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity;
(5) (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)
(6) Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.
(7) Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.
John 21:15-19
Acts 20:1–38
Psalm 23
John 10
Ephesians 4:11–12
I Timothy 3:1–7
Titus 1:5–8
I Peter 5:1–6
II Peter 2:1
Revelation 2 and 3
