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The author actually explains the job of the elders, not the pastor. He wants very badly for the two to be the same, because he wants the pastor to be a leader, maybe even the chief leader, as is practiced in most churches today.
But biblically speaking, pastors aren't leaders or even teachers. They are shepherds. They care for the flock. They comfort, encourage, restore, counsel, and reconcile. They might teach or lead, but the Bible doesn't tell us this.
In fact, the author will never explain biblical pastoring. He will never use the word "shepherd."
A Crucial Role
Leaders play a crucial role in any church, and we’ll refer to them as pastors and elders interchangeably because that’s what the Bible does (see Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5, 7; 1 Pet. 5:1–2). (Let's quote, since these scripture are the foundation for everything that follows:
Each part of the body has work to do. We all participate in the project of building up the body in love. And pastors teach and train us for this work. (There we have it. The author dumps this all on the pastor, but where is the teacher, the apostle, the evangelist, and the prophet? There are five who are charged to build up the body to maturity.)
The weekly church gathering, then, is a time of job training. (We might be picking nits, but where in the Bible does it tell us that the church gathers Sunday mornings for training? We find the NT church gathered for studying the apostle's teaching, prayer, fellowship, and to share meals [Acts 2:42]. Worship was likely a daily thing [Acts 2:46]. They spent a lot of time together in one another's homes, giving to the poor, and sharing their possessions with each other [Acts 4:32].
The bottom line is, the author cannot bring himself to upset the apple cart. The traditional church with a CEO pastor is a given for him. He either likes it this way or isn't willing to challenge it. He seems to know better, but unfortunately he is part of the system and cannot unplug from it.
A Crucial Role
Leaders play a crucial role in any church, and we’ll refer to them as pastors and elders interchangeably because that’s what the Bible does (see Acts 20:17, 28; Titus 1:5, 7; 1 Pet. 5:1–2). (Let's quote, since these scripture are the foundation for everything that follows:
Acts 20:17, 28 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church... 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.
Tit. 1:5, 7 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might straighten out what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless — not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain.1Pe. 5:1-2 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers...
The author is clearly mistaken. Elders and overseers are not synonymous with pastors and shepherds. The Titus reference does not even mention pastors. In the Acts verses Paul instructed the Ephesian elders to BE shepherds. Peter makes the very same exhortation, BE shepherds. These elders were very nearly being rebuked. They weren't doing what they were supposed to be doing.
Does the make pastors into elders? Obviously not. It would be unwise to assume that Paul or Peter were being prescriptive. Indeed, there is no Bible verse that tells us pastors are elders. Go ahead, dear reader. Look for yourselves.
This means that a large portion of the author's presentation is misdirected.)
Your ability to do your job as a church member depends on pastors or elders doing their jobs. Your job is to be a priest-king. (?? Church members are to be priest-kings? An astonishing claim, and he won't be explaining it.)
Jesus tasked you with watching over the what and the who of the gospel, as well as extending the gospel’s dominion throughout the earth by making disciples. (Pastors don’t do this?)
But what is a pastor’s job?
(...)
The short description of a pastor’s job is that he is to equip you to do your job.
We learn this in Ephesians 4:11–16. The apostle Paul tells us that Jesus has given a number of gifts (Five, actually.)
We learn this in Ephesians 4:11–16. The apostle Paul tells us that Jesus has given a number of gifts (Five, actually.)
to his church, including pastors (v. 11). Then he tells us why Jesus gave churches this gift: (sic. "These gifts.")
“to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (v. 12). (The author skips verse 11. Let's quote it:
Eph. 4:11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers...
Let's now see where the author fails again.)
The pastor’s job is to equip the saints to do their job. They teach us how to minister to one another, to this end:
Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (vv. 15–16)
Each part of the body has work to do. We all participate in the project of building up the body in love. And pastors teach and train us for this work. (There we have it. The author dumps this all on the pastor, but where is the teacher, the apostle, the evangelist, and the prophet? There are five who are charged to build up the body to maturity.)
The weekly church gathering, then, is a time of job training. (We might be picking nits, but where in the Bible does it tell us that the church gathers Sunday mornings for training? We find the NT church gathered for studying the apostle's teaching, prayer, fellowship, and to share meals [Acts 2:42]. Worship was likely a daily thing [Acts 2:46]. They spent a lot of time together in one another's homes, giving to the poor, and sharing their possessions with each other [Acts 4:32].
But Christian "job training?" We don't think so.)
It allows those in the office of pastor to equip those in the office of member to know the gospel, (The author uses the term "office" too loosely.)
to live by the gospel, to protect the church’s gospel witness, and to extend the gospel’s reach into one another’s lives and among outsiders. If Jesus tasks members with affirming and building up one another in the gospel, he tasks pastors with training them to do this. If the pastors don’t do their jobs well, neither will the members. (The pastor alone. Still no mention of the other offices.)
Elders’ job + members’ job = Jesus’s discipleship program (Discipleship is not mentioned in the Bible. We can certainly infer it as a process, but the Bible never provides any specific instruction on how discipleship works.)
When you put the pastor’s job together with the members’ job, what do you get? Jesus’s discipleship program. This is not a program you can purchase from a Christian bookstore, a boxed package that comes with a teacher’s manual, a student’s guide, and posters for the Sunday school classroom wall. It’s right there in Ephesians 4.
Equipping by Teaching
A pastor’s or elder’s ministry of equipping (Do elders equip? Elders are not mentioned in Ephesians 4.)
Equipping by Setting an Example
Elders don’t only teach. They also must set an example for the flock in their lives. “I exhort the elders among you,” Peter teaches, “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Pet. 5:1–2). How do they do that, Peter? By “being examples,” he answers (v. 3). (The author continues to get things right when it comes to elders. It's only when he equates elders with pastors that he messes up.)
An elder works by calling people to imitate his ways. So says Paul to the Corinthians: “I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church” (1 Cor. 4:16–17). (Paul was an apostle. He never identified himself as an elder.)
Sometimes Christians are surprised when they search for an elder’s job description in the Bible, only to discover that the authors are more systematic in describing an elder’s character (1 Tim. 3:2–7; Titus 1:6–9). Also interesting is the fact that these descriptions of an elder’s character point to attributes that should characterize every Christian—being sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money, and so forth. Shouldn’t every Christian aspire to those things? The only exceptions are “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2) and “not a recent convert” (v. 6). Folks might wonder why Paul doesn’t require, well, something more extraordinary of elders, such as “demonstrated track record in leading large organizations,” “started seven orphanages,” or “spearheaded a revival leading to the conversion of hundreds.” The reason, it would seem, takes us right back to the idea of an elder being an example. Other than being able to teach, his life should be something that other Christians can copy. (The author continues to teach accurately. But the title of the article is about the job of the Pastor.)
Elders do not constitute a separate “class” of Christians, like the division between aristocrats and common folk, or between medieval priests and laypeople. Fundamentally, an elder is a Christian and a member of the church who has been set apart because his character is exemplary and he is able to teach.
The difference between an elder and a member, though formally designated by a title, is largely a difference of maturity, not class. (Indeed. Elders should in fact be training up their peers into their replacements, and/or to be sent out.
Elders’ job + members’ job = Jesus’s discipleship program (Discipleship is not mentioned in the Bible. We can certainly infer it as a process, but the Bible never provides any specific instruction on how discipleship works.)
When you put the pastor’s job together with the members’ job, what do you get? Jesus’s discipleship program. This is not a program you can purchase from a Christian bookstore, a boxed package that comes with a teacher’s manual, a student’s guide, and posters for the Sunday school classroom wall. It’s right there in Ephesians 4.
Equipping by Teaching
A pastor’s or elder’s ministry of equipping (Do elders equip? Elders are not mentioned in Ephesians 4.)
centers on his teaching and his life. We encounter the formula in Paul’s instruction to Timothy: “Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:16). (Paul's encouragement to Timothy is not related to pastoring, since Timothy wasn't a pastor, and he wasn't an elder.)
Let’s take each in turn. One of the main things that sets elders apart from members is that they must be “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2). That doesn’t mean an elder must step into the pulpit, stand in front of a thousand people, and enthrall them with his wisdom and wit. It means that if you’re struggling to understand the Bible or how to handle a tough life situation, you know you can stop by his house and ask him for help, and you’ll get a biblical answer. You trust that, when he opens the Bible, he doesn’t say crazy things from it. He provides you with a faithful understanding of it. He teaches “what accords with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). (All true. Finally some good information.)
Some Sunday afternoon, read through the entirety of Paul’s three letters to two pastors, Timothy and Titus, and underline every reference to teaching. Your hand might get tired. To pick just one: Paul says in his second letter to Timothy that Timothy must hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that he has heard from Paul (2 Tim. 1:13). What he has heard from Paul he should commit to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also (2:2). He is to be diligent in correctly teaching the word of truth (v. 15). He is to avoid empty speech that deviates from the truth (vv. 16, 18). And he must teach and instruct only as God would have him teach, knowing that repentance will lead to a knowledge of the truth (vv. 24–25). (Again, all true.)
Let’s take each in turn. One of the main things that sets elders apart from members is that they must be “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2). That doesn’t mean an elder must step into the pulpit, stand in front of a thousand people, and enthrall them with his wisdom and wit. It means that if you’re struggling to understand the Bible or how to handle a tough life situation, you know you can stop by his house and ask him for help, and you’ll get a biblical answer. You trust that, when he opens the Bible, he doesn’t say crazy things from it. He provides you with a faithful understanding of it. He teaches “what accords with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). (All true. Finally some good information.)
Some Sunday afternoon, read through the entirety of Paul’s three letters to two pastors, Timothy and Titus, and underline every reference to teaching. Your hand might get tired. To pick just one: Paul says in his second letter to Timothy that Timothy must hold on to the pattern of sound teaching that he has heard from Paul (2 Tim. 1:13). What he has heard from Paul he should commit to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also (2:2). He is to be diligent in correctly teaching the word of truth (v. 15). He is to avoid empty speech that deviates from the truth (vv. 16, 18). And he must teach and instruct only as God would have him teach, knowing that repentance will lead to a knowledge of the truth (vv. 24–25). (Again, all true.)
Paul concludes by commanding Timothy to persist in preaching the Word, correcting, rebuking, and encouraging with great patience (4:2). (True, except that preaching is not teaching. The Greek word for "preach" in this verse is kérussó, to herald or proclaim the Gospel. It reads, Kérussó hon logos, i.e. proclaim the living Word, Jesus.
Jesus spoke in two distinct ways here, teaching and preaching. He taught biblical knowledge [didaskó], and He preached the Gospel [kérussó]. The two are not the same.)
The picture Paul provides for both Timothy and Titus is the slow, patient, day-to-day, repetitious work of seeking to grow people in godliness. An elder doesn’t force but teaches, because a forced act of godliness is no godliness at all. A godly act is willfully chosen from a regenerate, new covenant heart.
When elders teach, the congregation begins to serve and do good works. A wonderful picture of this pattern occurs in Acts 16, when Paul and his companions show up for the first time in Philippi. Paul teaches a group of women, (No, they spoke to the women [the Greek word laleó, which simply means to speak]. If Luke wanted to tell us Paul "taught" the women he would have used the word didaskó. But since the women weren't believers, what most likely happened was that Paul was engaging in kérussó, though we can only infer that from Lydia's response.)
Heralding is the public proclaiming of the Gospel. Kérussó.
"Teach," however, is the Greek word didaskó, nearly always refers to teaching the Scriptures (the written Word of God)..., as found for example in 1 Tim. 4:11: Command and teach these things.
Preaching and teaching are different things. This idea is obvious in this verse:
Mt. 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.
The picture Paul provides for both Timothy and Titus is the slow, patient, day-to-day, repetitious work of seeking to grow people in godliness. An elder doesn’t force but teaches, because a forced act of godliness is no godliness at all. A godly act is willfully chosen from a regenerate, new covenant heart.
When elders teach, the congregation begins to serve and do good works. A wonderful picture of this pattern occurs in Acts 16, when Paul and his companions show up for the first time in Philippi. Paul teaches a group of women, (No, they spoke to the women [the Greek word laleó, which simply means to speak]. If Luke wanted to tell us Paul "taught" the women he would have used the word didaskó. But since the women weren't believers, what most likely happened was that Paul was engaging in kérussó, though we can only infer that from Lydia's response.)
including one named Lydia. “The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul,” we read (v. 14). He baptizes her. Then she says to Paul and his companions, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” Luke, who is writing this account, concludes, “And she prevailed upon us” (v. 15). So Paul preaches, Lydia gets saved, and then she immediately gets to work showing hospitality! (Um, no. Lydia was a gentile and also a woman, so she was speaking to the fact that Jewish men would be forbidden by the Law to do such a thing. She in effect testing them to see what they really believed.)
Equipping by Setting an Example
Elders don’t only teach. They also must set an example for the flock in their lives. “I exhort the elders among you,” Peter teaches, “shepherd the flock of God that is among you” (1 Pet. 5:1–2). How do they do that, Peter? By “being examples,” he answers (v. 3). (The author continues to get things right when it comes to elders. It's only when he equates elders with pastors that he messes up.)
An elder works by calling people to imitate his ways. So says Paul to the Corinthians: “I urge you, then, be imitators of me. That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church” (1 Cor. 4:16–17). (Paul was an apostle. He never identified himself as an elder.)
Sometimes Christians are surprised when they search for an elder’s job description in the Bible, only to discover that the authors are more systematic in describing an elder’s character (1 Tim. 3:2–7; Titus 1:6–9). Also interesting is the fact that these descriptions of an elder’s character point to attributes that should characterize every Christian—being sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money, and so forth. Shouldn’t every Christian aspire to those things? The only exceptions are “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2) and “not a recent convert” (v. 6). Folks might wonder why Paul doesn’t require, well, something more extraordinary of elders, such as “demonstrated track record in leading large organizations,” “started seven orphanages,” or “spearheaded a revival leading to the conversion of hundreds.” The reason, it would seem, takes us right back to the idea of an elder being an example. Other than being able to teach, his life should be something that other Christians can copy. (The author continues to teach accurately. But the title of the article is about the job of the Pastor.)
Elders do not constitute a separate “class” of Christians, like the division between aristocrats and common folk, or between medieval priests and laypeople. Fundamentally, an elder is a Christian and a member of the church who has been set apart because his character is exemplary and he is able to teach.
The difference between an elder and a member, though formally designated by a title, is largely a difference of maturity, not class. (Indeed. Elders should in fact be training up their peers into their replacements, and/or to be sent out.
But the author still has nothing to say about the CEO pastor who typically presides over the local church.)
Like a parent with a child, the elder constantly works to call the member up and into maturity. (There is no verse that tells us this.)
Like a parent with a child, the elder constantly works to call the member up and into maturity. (There is no verse that tells us this.)
It is a distinct office, to be sure. (Is eldership an office?)
And not every mature Christian qualifies. Yet the point remains: an elder strives to duplicate himself insofar as he imitates Christ (see 1 Cor. 4:16; 11:1). (These verses are both about Paul, an apostle. Are elders [or pastors] apostles? The author continually conflates them.
We certainly believe that leaders should be worthy of imitation, and here is a more appropriate verse for that:
Heb. 13:7 Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
He will quote this verse at the end, but instead use it to point to the duties of the members.)
Speaking figuratively, he demonstrates how to use the hammer and saw, then places the tools into the member’s hands. He plays the piano scale or swings the golf club, then asks the member to repeat what he has done.
To be a pastor/elder, (Now he puts the two together without explanation.)
Speaking figuratively, he demonstrates how to use the hammer and saw, then places the tools into the member’s hands. He plays the piano scale or swings the golf club, then asks the member to repeat what he has done.
To be a pastor/elder, (Now he puts the two together without explanation.)
you might say, makes one’s whole life an exercise in show-and-tell. You remember show-and-tell. You would bring a toy to class, tell your classmates about it, and show it to them. You might let them handle it and see how it worked.
Such is a pastor or elder’s life. He says to his church, “Let me teach you the way of the cross. Now watch me walk it. Here’s how you endure suffering. Here’s how you love your children. Here’s how you share the gospel. Here’s what generosity and justice look like. Let me show you how to be valiant for the truth and tender toward brokenness.”
What is our job as members in relation to our elders? The author of Hebrews lays it out succinctly: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (13:7).
This article is adapted from Rediscover Church: Why the Body of Christ Is Essential by Collin Hansen and Jonathan Leeman.
Collin Hansen (MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is the vice president for content and editor in chief for the Gospel Coalition and the executive director of the Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. He hosts the Gospelbound podcast and wrote Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation. He is an adjunct professor and cochair of the advisory board at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. You can follow him on X at @collinhansen.
Jonathan Leeman (PhD, University of Wales) is the president of 9Marks and cohost of the Pastors Talk podcast. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books and teaches at several seminaries. Jonathan lives with his wife and four daughters in suburban Washington, DC, and serves as an elder at Cheverly Baptist Church.
Such is a pastor or elder’s life. He says to his church, “Let me teach you the way of the cross. Now watch me walk it. Here’s how you endure suffering. Here’s how you love your children. Here’s how you share the gospel. Here’s what generosity and justice look like. Let me show you how to be valiant for the truth and tender toward brokenness.”
What is our job as members in relation to our elders? The author of Hebrews lays it out succinctly: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith” (13:7).
This article is adapted from Rediscover Church: Why the Body of Christ Is Essential by Collin Hansen and Jonathan Leeman.
Collin Hansen (MDiv, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is the vice president for content and editor in chief for the Gospel Coalition and the executive director of the Keller Center for Cultural Apologetics. He hosts the Gospelbound podcast and wrote Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation. He is an adjunct professor and cochair of the advisory board at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama. You can follow him on X at @collinhansen.
Jonathan Leeman (PhD, University of Wales) is the president of 9Marks and cohost of the Pastors Talk podcast. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books and teaches at several seminaries. Jonathan lives with his wife and four daughters in suburban Washington, DC, and serves as an elder at Cheverly Baptist Church.
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