The Pastor's Office or Study? - by JV Fesko

Found here. Our comments in bold.
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The author's article comes from a complete misunderstanding of how churches are to governed, and what a pastor's role is in a church. He bemoans the change in the pastor's role from his tradition to a new tradition, i.e. a student of the Word to a church manager.

Well, neither role is biblical, and both descend from the same false idea, that the pastor is the head of the local church. However, there is absolutely no biblical evidence that pastors lead churches. None. A pastor cares for the flock, a teacher instructs the people on the word, and the elders lead the church (1Ti. 5:17, 1Pe. 5:1-2).

Further, the purpose of his article is to correct people regarding what a room in a church building should be called. This apparently is a matter of importance to him.

Lastly, since the author neither quotes nor references any Bible verse, we must deem this Bad Bible Teaching.

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How often have you ever thought about the words we use? These days we might talk about going to church and dropping by the pastor’s office to say hello. In days gone by people would not have used this word to describe the room where the pastor worked. They would instead have talked about stopping by the pastor’s study. What’s the difference?

The historic understanding of a pastor’s role was somewhat different than what it is today. (What about the biblical role?)

Historically, people looked at the pastor as one who was well studied in the Scriptures. His primary role was to study the word of God, spend many hours exegeting the Scriptures, in prayer, and in meditation on the word in his efforts to bring the weekly sermon. (Perhaps the author could point out where any of these activities are found in the Bible?)

Sure, the pastor spent time with his congregation—he made regular visits with his flock, counseled, made hospital visits, and the like. (This sounds more like what a pastor should be doing, but the author relegates it to second place.)

But his primary task was to study the word of God. Hence, people would refer to the pastor’s study.

These days, much has changed in the broader church. People do not view the pastor as a student of Scripture but as the CEO of the church, an administrator, or a manager. (Well, actually, the historical practice has implied these roles, while the contemporary view overtly states them.)

In larger churches I suspect this is the case. If a church has a large staff and many elders, then the pastor likely has to spend a lot of time managing these people. This means that you would find the pastor in his office—he was not studying but rather managing. (The author offers a false binary equation. Pastors have always "managed," because as the head the local church a pastor is expected to preside over church leadership, to direct the Sunday service, to oversee the building, and to head up all the other activities of the church. This all makes the pastor the defacto church manager.)

Should the business world make such inroads into the church? (Should tradition dictate the way a church is led?)

Should the pastor spend most of his time managing or studying God’s word? (How about if he spends time pastoring?)

I suppose the answer to this question all depends upon what type of pastor you want. Do you want someone who is a good manager or someone who is skilled at preaching God’s word? (The author persists in this false choice.)

Personally, I think the answer is clear. The apostle Paul, for example, says little about a pastor’s managerial skills and a whole lot about his responsibilities to preach the gospel. (Where does the apostle Paul tell us this? What Bible verses discuss the pastor's responsibility to preach the gospel?

Well, there are no verses about this.)

I’m not saying that a pastor should be completely ignorant about certain management skills. Rather, management and business isn’t his main task—his bread and butter is preaching God’s word. (Please, tell us where we find this in the Bible?)

Maybe I’m a little too word-focused, but I can’t help but think that churches who want to communicate the nature of the pastor’s calling should appropriately label his workspace—put a sign on the door that says, “Pastor’s Study.” Such a label will let the church know that when the door is closed the pastor is inside studying God’s word—preparing to point people to Christ, the manna from heaven. (Oh my. The author closes with a flourish of nonsense. "Don't disturb the pastor, his door is closed because he's engaged in the holy work of studying, so he can amaze us on Sunday morning."

This is twisted.)