Lydia

“Pastor is both in my opinion. You do not want someone as a pastor who is not gifted to be there. Also it is an office. Overseer/elder/ shephard all convey the same meaning as ‘Pastor’. ”

There are tons of hirlings out there doing ‘formal’ church. That is why we are having this discussion.

Pastor is actually mentioned once in the NT yet has become the single most important function in the church since when? Since
Constintine when the church was legalized and these ‘offices’ became important to men?

What is the difference between a pastor and a teacher/evangelist/preacher/missionary, etc. As an example, scripture defines Stephen as a deacon but we know he stepped outside that box big time.

What exactly does ‘pastor’ mean in the NT? And how does that line up with how it is defined now?

Where do we see one main pastor for each Body in the NT? How do we know there were not many in the Body? Let me give you a recent example. A missionary in South American country that is very backward wrote me about one of my comments on another blog about the spiritual gift “pastor”. As they are starting churches in the jungles and discipling people, they are totally relying on the Holy Spirit to bring forth spiritual gifts in the believers as they grow and start other churches. A surprising thing has happened. Women are being gifted as ‘pastors’ (shepherds) to new believers. They are ‘pastoring’ these new believers. This happened naturally from prayer, worship and study. They do not even know what a formal office of pastor would look like because they have not been corrupted by traditions. They are simply operating in their gifting. It is not them. It is the Holy Spirit.

It is a function that comes from the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. And yes, they are ‘pastoring’ men who are new believers.

(One of my contacts says the same thing happens in the underground church in China. Many men have to go into hiding or go to prison. They do not have the luxury of roles)

But let’s face it, our goal should be mature believers who go on to “pastor” others. To make it an official office for a few means we cut the Holy Spirit out. We have made it into a man made tradition and office. That is the truly sad part.

Don’t let our English translations and bias’ against roles interfere with terminology conveying the same things. Perhaps you want to dispute like many that there are no such offices at all in the New Testament? I’m not sure? As far as i know Paul is VERY interested in overseers/elders/presbyters/deacons which were all present in the early church and his letters.