A gracEmail reader writes, "Why do Churches of Christ not call their preachers 'pastor'? We're about the only Christian group which doesn't use that term. I occasionally hear it applied to elders, but I've not seen them do much real pastoring."
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Churches of Christ have traditionally taught that the positions of "pastors" and "elders" are the same in the New Testament. Because their preachers have not usually been elders, these churches have refrained from calling the preacher "pastor." Interestingly, in the early days of the Stone-Campbell "restoration movement," churches usually did not have full-time preachers. "Evangelists" traveled from church to church, and many were called "Elder (So-and-so)." Some old biographies have such a title: "The Life of Elder Jacob Creath," etc. I can't prove the connection, but it wouldn't surprise me if the Mormon practice of calling door-to-door evangelists "elder" came from the Churches of Christ pioneers since Sidney Rigdon, one of Joseph Smith's cohorts, was a renegade Campbellite.
Even until the 1940's, most Churches of Christ (at least in the American South) resisted hiring someone to give sermons every Sunday in a local congregation, a practice regularly denounced as "the pastor system." This objection was not without scriptural basis since the New Testament authors do not seem to have been aware of a salaried preacher who was neither an itinerant evangelist nor an elder. As Churches of Christ became more wealthy and stylish following World War II, they also abandoned their old ways in this regard and numerous others. For many years now almost all Churches of Christ who could afford a fulltime local preacher have hired one -- and quite a number of those preachers have privately searched in vain for their professional counterpart under any biblical description.
Because the New Testament does provide for mature believers who are knowledgeable and experienced to pastor (shepherd) each local church (flock), one might conclude that in an ideal world the church's regular teaching would come from one or more of them (Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 2:2-5; 1 Pet. 5:1-3). The Presbyterians, whose name reflects their rule by elders ("presbyters") divide elders into two groups -- ruling elders and teaching elders -- with "the pastor" as the primary teaching elder. The Anglican "priest" also stands for the biblical "presbyter" or "elder" -- and the English word "priest" itself evolved from the Greek word "PR(i)ESbyTer." That is somewhat ironic for those of us in Churches of Christ, since we have claimed to be more biblical than others although we appointed elders who frequently did not pastor, then hired a shepherd who was not an elder. (Some elders do "pastor," of course, and this is no criticism of them. And preachers in some Churches of Christ are designated among the elders, which is altogether appropriate.)
A gracEmail reader writes, "Why do Churches of Christ not call their preachers 'pastor'? We're about the only Christian group which doesn't use that term. I occasionally hear it applied to elders, but I've not seen them do much real pastoring."
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A "pastor" is a spiritual "shepherd." In the Bible, spiritual shepherding basically means leading (by example) and feeding (by teaching). We see general descriptions of such persons in 1 Tim. 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9 and Titus 2:2-5. Because most preachers of any maturity fit these descriptions, one wonders why they ought not be designated and recognized among the pastors and solve this peculiar problem involving titles. Such a move would also provide a biblical job description to serve as a goal and create a clearer measure of accountability. The usual response against this proposal is that it would give the preacher too much power. However, that answer reveals a much deeper problem and betrays unscriptural perceptions of the church itself as well as of Christian leadership, giftedness and service (Matt. 20:25-28; 1 Pet. 5:1-4).
One can hardly object to putting such a person on the congregation's payroll. It is certainly appropriate, when expedient, for a church to support Christian workers financially, including those who preach, lead or otherwise serve (1 Cor. 9:14; Gal. 6:6; 1 Tim. 5:9-10, 17-18). Men and women who forego other livelihoods to devote themselves to genuine Kingdom ministry deserve to be supported generously and without grudging.
The most important point to remember about Christian leadership is that we all should follow Jesus Christ -- and only follow other people who themselves are doing that. The various New Testament terms for church leaders are somewhat ambiguous and at times overlap. This accounts for the diversity of polity (organization) across the Christian spectrum. Nobody today precisely reproduces or imitates first-century, near-eastern church leaders, nor does the New Testament say that they must do so. Precision on this topic is not a condition of salvation. In the end, providing godly leadership is far more important than the label used to describe the person who provides it. Substance matters more than form.