Biblical Theology and Shepherding

How would you write a pastor’s job description? Where would you look for models? Maybe you’d ask a few other local churches for theirs and make a few tweaks to reflect your own church’s schedule and programs.

That assumes, of course, that everyone already knows what a pastor is supposed to be and do. But how do we know what a pastor’s fundamental role is?

Certainly we should look to Scripture to tell us what a pastor is. But where in Scripture? We could start with the work implied in elders’ qualifications (1 Tim. 3:1–7; Tit. 1:5–10), and carefully consider explicit commands given to church leaders. When we scratch beneath the surface of some of those commands, though, an interesting picture emerges. Consider Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:1–3, both addressed to elders of local churches:

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for [Gk. poimainein] the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. (Acts 20:28)

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd [Gk. poimanate] the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. (1 Pet. 5:1–3)   Continue at Bobby Jamieson

A Defense against Pastoral Burnout

Plurality of shepherds in a local congregation is the model of leadership we find in the New Testament church, which is a model first established in the Old Testament. Just as Jethro made it clear to Moses that solo leadership was “not good” then, so it is not good now. Jethro’s reasons are just as pertinent today as they were then. “You will surely wear out, both yourself and these people who are with you, for the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone” (Exodus 18:18). Without a plurality of shepherds, both the pastor and the people suffer and do not experience the best the Lord has for us. Certainly there are times when solo leadership is the only option, but it should be viewed as temporary and men should be intentionally discipled toward leadership qualification, roles, and responsibilities.

Our elders recently read Timothy Witmer’s exceptional book, The Shepherd Leader: Achieving Effective Shepherding in Your Church, and spent many hours discussing its implementation recommendations at an all-day elders’ retreat. We are really excited about the intentional shared-shepherding strategy we are embarking upon.

Since pastoral burnout is a widespread problem in the Western church, as well as a current topic of discussion among many, I thought I’d pass on the following portion from Team leadership, as Witmer makes clear, is one practical defense against pastoral burnout.

One of the practical outcomes of the identification of those who give themselves to preaching and teaching is that these individuals have often become viewed as primus inter pares—first among equals. This may have practical benefits in terms of providing initiative and direction in the local church. However, we must not lose sight of the fact that the biblical picture of leadership is ‘team’ leadership. All elders, including teaching elders (pastors), are called to shepherd the flock, but not all elders have the gift of teaching, though they should be apt to teach.    Continue at Paul Tautges

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Congregationalism Is Used by Satan...Like He Uses Everything Else

Did you catch James MacDonald's critique of congregationalism yesterday morning? It’s not clear to me if he was referring to hyper-congregationalism or congregationalism in general, but since most of us at 9Marks hail from a congregational tradition, we thought it provided us with a good opportunity to think about congregationalism in general. It may surprise him and others that, in some circles in the SBC, 9Marks is seen (and critiqued!) as being advocates for having a plurality of elders and even giving those elders leadership in the congregation.

MacDonald offers five critiques of congregationalism, which I think we can see quite readily are indeed Satanic abuses of congregationalism:

1) Congregational Meetings Can Be Forums for Division: Satan will often employ many God-given gifts and institutions--from biblical marriage to civil government to biblical congregationalism--for diabolical ends. You name it, and he'll use it to undermine leadership, to divide friends, even to present a poor witness for the gospel. With congregationalism, for instance, Satan will use things like unregenerate church members, decades of failing to practice church discipline, and man-fearing pastors in order to make a congregation ornery.

I think of John Dagg who wrote, "We concede that the independent form of church government is not adapted to ungodly pastors, and unconverted church-members" (Manual of Church Order, 278). Of course, that's true of any church order. Still, you can feel it more quickly in a congregational members’ meeting. Keep Reading...

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