Results 1 - 5 of 5
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | What are the duties of a pastor? | NT general Archive 1 | srbaegon | 128355 | ||
Hello Country Girl, If you do a thorough study you'll find that pastor, bishop, overseer, elder, shepherd are not the same. What comes out is this: Pastor means the same as shepherd. Elder means the same as bishop. Elders are overseers and shepherds. Pastors are not mentioned as being elders. There are always multiple elders in a church. Food for thought. Steve |
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2 | What are the duties of a pastor? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 128356 | ||
I'm confused. You said Pastor means the same as shepherd. Elder means the same as bishop. Elders are overseers and shepherds. Pastors are not mentioned as being elders. There are always multiple elders in a church. My response: 1) Pastor equals shepherd 2) Elders equals overseers and shepherds but 3) Pastors cannot equal elders I seem to recall in algebra, trigonometry or one of those mathematical courses so long ago in school that if 1 and 2 above are true, then the end product of both are equal to each other. I don't want to be a dumb blonde about this but it seems that God's Word is fairly clear on this, His Apostles were talking about the same office when any of these words were mentioned or derivatives therefrom. The one thing I agree with you most emphatically is that of multiple elders per congregation. The Lord NEVER meant for a single man to run, lead or govern a congregation of the Lord's church. Elders are always spoken in the plural in a congregational setting throughout the Bible. Most organizations using Pastor in some other office or title are referring to the one that does the preaching, proclaiming God's Word from a pulpit in Sunday morning worship assemblies. This function sounds like the NT word for preacher or prophet which throughout most of the Bible means "mouthpiece of God." There are separate passages/verses describing duties and ideal qualifications for this office. I also agree this is a good topic for discussion thus good "food for thought." I do appreciate your response and blessings to you. Country Girl |
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3 | What are the duties of a pastor? | NT general Archive 1 | srbaegon | 128363 | ||
Hello Country Girl, It was algebra. :-) I left out something. Sorry. There is no good reason to assume that those given as gifts to the church (Eph 4:11) were to the local church. Rather they are better understood as to the entire church. That being said, pastors would not be elders. See my reasoning? Steve |
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4 | What are the duties of a pastor? | NT general Archive 1 | Country Girl | 128372 | ||
I'm thinking maybe you're a little confused as Paul's guidance here to the Ephesians was given for all christians throughout all time, yes I agree. Eph 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, Eph 4:12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; Eph 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. But since we don't have anyone who can meet the qualifications of an Apostle as cited in Acts 1, we don't have any potential Apostles. All the other positions are certainly valid in today's world. Of course, like I mentioned the word prophet in Bible language meant "mouthpiece of God" as in the case of a preacher, minister from the pulpit or TV either one. He could also be a evangelist like our missionaries we send to other parts of the country or across the ocean. Notice that Paul left out deacons and those with miraculous abilities to heal. Apparently, Paul didn't cover the whole entire subject, listing all the different positions, titles or their qualifications as he did with Timothy and Titus. But I still must emphasize my previous point about the synonyms for the office of elder or pastor. They're both referring to the same person or function within the local church at the congregational level. At least this is what I've experienced all my life and the Lord's pattern works just fine when it's done in accordance with God's Word. This is further endorsed since like you mentioned pastors CANNOT be seen properly to run the Lord's Chruch by themselves. We all know what abuse that leads to, as shown by the Catholic organization over the centuries. Hope this is clear and blessings to you. Thanks for your response. Country Girl |
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5 | What are the duties of a pastor? | NT general Archive 1 | srbaegon | 128385 | ||
Hello Country Girl, All is clear, thank you. :-) My point was that those in Eph. 4 were/are itinerant ministries, therefore to the church at large. The reason I go that way is the tone of the epistle seems to be to the universal church rather than a local church. Whereas, Paul told Timothy and Titus to do specific things in local churches. I would disagree somewhat with your definition of prophet. Any Christian can be a "mouthpiece of God," but not all are prophets. There has to be a more strict definition. I'm not saying it is strictly someone who predicts the future, but I would say it has to be under the direct leading of God in some way. (Now wasn't THAT fuzzy logic?! But it was the best I could do.) Steve |
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