The Man Of The House

How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed?  And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?  And how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach unless they are sent?  As it is written:  "How beautiful are the fee of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"
Romans 10: 14 -15 NKJV

Why is it that you go to church?  Do you go for the fellowship?  The worship?  Or, do you go because of the charismatic pastor?  After all, isn't the pastor the voice of the congregation in a matter of speaking?  Well, from my experience, there are good pastors and some not so good ones as well.  Pastors are, after all, human and subject to the same thoughts and behaviors as the rest of us.  I'm always amazed at the shock and dismay displayed by other every time a pastors bad behaviors hit the local news.  What were you expecting?  Folks, if you yourselves are subject to the occasional misbehaviors, then all the same for your preachers as well.  We seem to have become accustomed to placing a crown of royalty upon the head of our preachers.  He is, after all, the man of the house of worship.  But wait, does God really desire for us to look up to such men as our leaders?  Do the  scriptures even allow for that position of a pastor in our congregations?  Well, as near as I can tell, the scriptures of the new testament tell of a elder to watch over the flock of the followers of Jesus {Titus 1:7}.  Of course, these elders were to also be "above reproach."  Good luck with that.  I have not found a scripture where the elders of the congregations were given the duties and expectations of the pastors of today.  I've not found where our pastors should be in total control over a congregation.  Likewise, I've not found in scripture where a pastor has been called upon to rule over a congregation of believers.  So, where did we come up with this idea of the duties of our pastors?  Might I suggest that we ourselves are to blame for this?  I've never been in a church where the pastor did not have a list of "duties" ranging from keeping in touch with the congregation, attending to the business needs of the church and providing for fundraising.  This is indeed a big load to place on anyone's shoulders.  I would say that the expectations we all have of our pastor will all too often lead to discord in the church.  Again, I've seen it one too many times.  I attended a church when I was younger where it was not the pastor who ran the show, but one family within the congregation.  Where is that provided for in scripture?  Perhaps this is why the early church was directed to appoint overseers among them.  Not so much to control things in the flock, but to guide them.  I trust that definition more than the position of pastor which man hath created.

"And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."
Jeremiah 3: 15 NKJV

On a whim, the other day I looked up the word pastor for a definition.  What I found was interesting indeed.  It seems that one of the translations of the word we know as pastor was for a shepherd.  From my experience, a shepherd never controls his flock, but watches over it and protects it from harm.  I would be all for a pastor adhering to these responsibilities.  Then we are left with the question which was raised earlier.  Since scripture does not seem to provide for the position of pastor as we know it today, why do we even have them?  Of course, I know the answer, but I thought I would throw it out there.  Likewise, if our congregations were without pastors, would they survive?  I'm thinking that were we to do away with the position of pastor in our houses of worship that we would be in for a dynamic shift in how we do church.  We would concentrate more on learning and experiencing our Lords presence than man made traditions.  From the scripture description of the early church we find in Acts I have found no mention of praise and worship bands, communion or a weekly offering.  Why is that?  Oh, I also found that the church of the early followers of Jesus lacked another thing...pastors.  Can we learn a thing or two from this early church?  Can we agree that one man with total control over a congregation is not needed?  Perhaps.  However, we would need to agree that the man of the house was never intended in  the first place.

Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.  So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
Acts 2: 44 - 47 NKJV

~Scott~