So you’re a pastor. You might be interested to know that the Schleitheim Confession, an early Anabaptist creed, specified that the first duty of the pastoral office “shall be to read.” The Anabaptists were right. Nearly everything a pastor does in shepherding the flock—preaching, instructing, encouraging, admonishing, counseling—depends upon his growth through reading. That remains… Continue Reading
Last week, I wrote of several ways in which Paul evidenced his love for the very difficult congregation of Corinth. Now, I will add one more item to that list and suggest one very practical application of pastoral love. In Paul’s great excursus on Christian ministry in 2 Corinthians 2-7, he employs several metaphors that… Continue Reading
With only the possible exception of Galatians, 2 Corinthians is the most personally revealing letter that Paul wrote to a church. While good men differ on the precise timeline of events and correspondence that led to the writing of 2 Corinthians, I understand it to be the fourth letter from Paul to Corinth. And in the… Continue Reading
Through His authoritative apostles, Christ revealed how He wished His churches to operate. They were to be led by pastors (the name is interchangeable with bishops and elders) who would exercise their leadership primarily through their example and their teaching. Under the leadership of these pastor-bishop-elders, the congregations or assemblies (i.e., the churches themselves) would… Continue Reading
The clear prescription of the New Testament is that pastors are teachers of churches. To put it more precisely, pastors are the teachers of their churches. Granted, in some sense all believers are supposed to teach, edify, and admonish one another. Nevertheless, the actual burden for the instruction of the flock rests upon pastors. The… Continue Reading
Pastors who want to lead biblically find themselves caught in a bit of a paradox. One side of the paradox is that biblical pastors must be gentle. As servants of the Lord, they must not strive: they must not be verbal pugilists or quarrelsome individuals (2 Tim. 2:24). They can be disqualified from office if… Continue Reading
The role of pastor has been recast during the past generation. Some churches envision their pastors as corporate CEOs. Others view their pastors as impresarios. New Testament pastoral ministry, however, does not consist in organizational direction or in stage management. The pastor’s leadership is essentially spiritual leadership. What is spiritual leadership? One might define spiritual… Continue Reading
Do the titles elder, overseer, and shepherd refer to one and the same office? The answer is yes, and a brief survey of a few NT passages will provide ample evidence for such a conclusion. The basic thesis of this article is that the overlap of terminology from one title to the next in a number of texts clearly shows… Continue Reading