Pastor: Office or Gift?

Editor’s note: This article has been adapted from a talk I presented at 9Marks at 9 at the SBC in New Orleans in 2023.

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In recent years, a growing number of churches have begun distinguishing between the offices of “elder” and “pastor.”

Typically, the purpose for making this distinction is to create a space for female pastors among complementarian churches. These churches adhere to 1 Timothy 2:12’s prohibition against women having authority over men in the church. Yet by treating “elder” as the authoritative office and “pastor” as a gift, a woman can assume the title of “pastor” while not being an elder.

Current advocates of the pastor-as-gift position include author Rick Warren, pastor Sam Storms, and the late Bible scholar Harold Hoehner. Their argument rests primarily on Ephesians 4, which refers to Christ’s giving gifts. Paul then names these gifts: apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers (v. 11).

Notice, says Hoehner, that Paul doesn’t attach a list of character qualifications to these gifts, as he does with elders or overseers in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Elder or overseer is an authoritative office, he says. The gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4 are just gifts, not offices.

Why exactly Hoehner and others insist on distinguishing office and gift instead of saying that that elders are both officers and gifts is unclear. That’s how most Christians have read the text. Not every biblical text needs to say everything. Can’t one text emphasize authority and character qualifications and another the fact that these men are gifts? Or must every mention of an office include another recitation of the character qualifications, as if Ephesians 4 should read, “And he gave . . . the shepherds and teachers (who, just to remind you, are to be above reproach, the husbands of one wife, and not drunkards) to equip the saints.”

Furthermore, Hoehner’s logic implies that elders are not gifts to the church. It implies they’ve earned the position themselves apart from Jesus. After all, you don’t get to say Paul must be obviously talking about something other than elders because he uses the word “gift” and then turn around and say, “Well, sure, of course elders are gifts, too.” If the word “gift” provokes you to say “not elders,” then you have no grounds on which to turn around and say they’re also gifts. You can’t have it both ways. Bottom line: elders are not gifts by this rationale.

Here are seven more thoughts regarding the separation of pastor and elder:

1. The Argument Is Disingenuous, Calling “Pastor” a Gift, Not an Office, to Justify an Office

The word “disingenuous,” typically, gets at a person’s motive. It describes someone who intends to mislead. That’s not what I’m charging. I trust those making the argument believe it sincerely.

But I do want to help them and others see that the argument itself affirms what it denies. It denies that “pastor” in the Bible refers to an office. Then it affirms that women can hold the office of pastor.

For instance, one author argues, “Just because I counsel someone doesn’t mean I’m a licensed counselor. Function and office are not always the same.” That’s true, of course. And I’m happy to say something like, “My wife did an exceptional job pastoring her small women’s small group through that tough conversation.” When I use the word like that, no one thinks I’m giving her a job with the title “pastor.” With several similar examples of his own, the author concludes, “the office and the function are, indeed, separate.”

Great, we can agree so far.

Yet notice where this author—as with everyone defending the distinction between office and function—goes next. He argues there is no biblical mandate that only men “can be called or have the title of pastor.”

Wait, so we are talking about something with a title and not just a function?

Let’s be clear: the second we give a particular function a title, we have created an office—an authorized position with particular duties, privileges, and, yes, authorities. Look up “office” in the dictionary or, better, any theological discussion defining what an office is.

Now, we can throw in a name plate on an office door, a photo on the church website’s staff page, and a line-item on the church payroll, all of which is why we’re having the whole conversation in the first place.

The purpose of distinguishing between gift and office, in other words, is to create an office out of the gift. That’s why I’m saying the whole exercise is in some respect disingenuous, even if well-intended. And nowhere does the Bible specify a third office (beyond elder or deacon), list its qualifications, or describe what these officeholders do. We’ve fabricated it out of nothing.

2. To Shepherd Is to Exercise Oversight or Authority

Suppose someone were to argue, “Okay, fine, we’re creating a third office, but it’s a different office than the overseer or elder. Shepherds shepherd, but they don’t give oversight. They don’t exercise authority.”

We all agree shepherds shepherd, but what does it mean to shepherd?

If a shepherd does anything, he gives oversight. Just start with the picture of an actual shepherd. The job exists not just to encourage the sheep or hang out with the sheep. The job exists for the purpose of giving oversight to the sheep. What do you call a literal shepherd who doesn’t give oversight to his sheep? A really bad shepherd who needs to be fired because he’s not doing the very thing his job calls him to do.

Furthermore, let’s scan our eyes over the whole of the Bible to see that this is what shepherds do—give oversight, as when Peter describes Jesus as “the shepherd and overseer of your souls” (1 Pet. 2:25). Moses was counted as a shepherd because he watched over the flock of God in the wilderness. David was counted as a royal shepherd because he pointed to the true shepherd, Jesus Christ. The prophets call God a shepherd and then promise that from Bethlehem “shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people” (see Matt. 2:6). Did you catch that? Shepherds rule.

Rule is definitional to shepherding.

Jesus then comes as the good shepherd. His sheep know and hear his voice and follow after him. He loses none of the sheep that the Father has given him.

Peter then ties the work of elders to the shepherding work of Jesus: “So I exhort the elders among you . . . shepherd the flock of God that is among you. . . . When the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” (1 Pet. 5:1–4).

Finally, the Bible culminates with the picture of a lamb who is also a shepherd sitting on God’s throne (Rev. 7:17).

In short, the idea of separating shepherding (pastoring) from oversight or authority works against the storyline of the Bible, not to mention the metaphor itself. It’s non-sensical.

3. The Bible Explicitly Ties the Office of Elder to the Work of Pastoring and Overseeing, Yet No Other Job Description Is Given to Pastors

For this point, a crucial sidenote first: the word for “shepherd” and “pastor,” whether as a noun or verb, are the same word in the Greek (poimen—noun; poimaino—verb). With that in mind…

Peter exhorts “the elders” to “shepherd [pastor] the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight . . . being examples to the flock” (1 Pet. 5:1–3).

Paul, likewise, tells the “elders” in Ephesus to “pay careful attention to . . . all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers” (Acts 20:18, 28).

So what do elders in the Bible do? What’s their activity? The exegetical link is explicit and tight: elders shepherd. Elders give oversight to the flock. That’s the biblical job description. For that reason, Christians have long treated the titles of “elder” and “overseer” as interchangeable, as well as the titles of “elder” and “pastor.”

If, however, “pastor” is a separate office from elder, we would expect to find texts that talk about what pastors do that’s distinct from elders. The trouble is, no such texts exist. The Bible doesn’t provide us with one set of elder texts and another set of pastor texts. Rather, we have elder texts, and those texts say that elders shepherd. End of story.

What about Ephesians 4, which says pastors “equip the saints”? The trouble with invoking this text is that it only offers an overarching summary of what apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers together do, which is equip the saints. Nothing specific is said about pastors.

To summarize: we have texts clearly tying the elder to shepherding, but no texts tying a shepherd to anything else. In fact, we can honestly say that distinguishing between the office of pastor and elder lacks any explicit textual basis whatsoever. It’s pure supposition. Furthermore…

4. There Are Two Church Offices in the New Testament (Elder, Deacon), Not Three (Elder, Pastor, Deacon)

Amidst the flurry of church job titles that are common today, it’s easy to lose our bearings: senior pastor, executive pastor, children’s pastor, children’s director, music pastor, music director, worship leader, minister of music, administrator, Sunday School administrator, secretary, admin assistant, ministry assistant. The list goes on.

Part of the reason churches find themselves embroiled in this present conversation is pragmatism. Our pragmatism loosens the screws on knowing how to think biblically about the church.

Admittedly, those different titles may serve good organizational purposes, and I’m not necessarily against them. However, beware of how easy it is for business-think and corporate-think to determine the church’s shape. Even if we use different titles, we need to tighten the biblical screws again. How? First, we start by acknowledging that the Bible instructs us to establish only two church offices. Paul confirms as much when he writes to the church in Philippi: “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons” (Phil. 1:1).

Second, whatever titles we choose, we must make sure the jobs themselves are drawn out of one of two buckets: an elder bucket and a deacon bucket. Those who teach and exercise authority are pastors or elders or overseers. Those who assist the elders in that work by caring for the tangible needs of the church are deacons. That means . . .

5. Every Church Job Should Be Tied to Elder Qualifications or Deacon Qualifications

Recognizing that every job in the church comes from one of those two buckets helps protect the integrity and witness of the church because it ties every job to one of two lists of character qualifications.

For instance, Paul says a deacon must not be a double-tongued. You don’t want your church secretary to be a double-tongued. I’m not saying you need to call the church secretary a deacon, but you do want to tie her job to deacon qualifications. Go ahead and read through those qualifications in 1 Timothy 3. Do you see one you’d be happy for the church secretary not to have?

This brings us back to the biblical theology of shepherding we began in point 2. The bad shepherds of Israel (kings and priests) were indicted for their bad character and ungodliness. The Lord said through Ezekiel, “Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep?” (34:2). And through Jeremiah, “Their shepherds have led them astray” (50:6). Therefore, God promised Israel: “I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them.” Yet not only does God promise one shepherd, he promises many shepherds: “I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding” (Jer. 3:15; 23:4).

Who are those shepherds today? The pastors or elders of your church.

In light of these prophetic indictments, it’s no surprise that God would tie the office of elder or pastor to character qualifications. Why in the world, then, would Hoehner and others want to detach the job or office or gift or role or whatever you call it of pastoring from the list of qualifications in Timothy and Titus?

6. Choose Titles That Reinforce the Biblical Division of Labor and Don’t Blur or Confuse Them, Especially by Paying Attention to the Nouns in Those Titles

Perhaps the easiest way to clarify who has what job in a church is by being less flexible with the elder or pastor title, while allowing for more titling flexibility with diaconal jobs.

Save the title of pastor or elder, along with any adjective you might place in front of it (assistant, associate, etc.), for those who are elder qualified. In other words, don’t call someone a youth pastor who is not elder qualified.

If it’s clear who the pastors or elders are, and if it’s clear that every other job is diaconal, a church has the flexibility to name those latter roles whatever they want within reason.

Finally, be careful with the title of “minister.” This title is especially ambiguous and has a history of being employed for the purpose of blurring lines between elders and everyone else.

7. Affirm the Necessary and Indispensable Work of Women in the Church Because They, Too, Are Priests

Women’s contribution to the mission of the church is not just important or even critical. Women are “essential and indispensable” to the church’s mission and ministry, as I argued at length here.

This is because women, too, are new covenant priests who have received the Great Commission. Ultimately, while elders are gifts to the church, Christ is himself the gift given to every new covenant priest—that is, every Christian. Therefore, we should not exalt pastors as being more valuable or ultimate to the church than every man or woman who has received Christ by faith.

Might a vigorous congregationalism help us to better see the necessary and indispensable work of men and women alike?