A Prayer
of Jesus
I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.
Edition No. 42        WE ARE HERE TO LISTEN TO      February 1, 2005
The Voice of Jesus
This is my Son, my Chosen; Listen to Him!

False Doctrines of Christendom
#11 - The Office of Pastor and Teacher
The False Teaching

As is often the case, this false doctrine of the pastor and teacher started with Paul of Tarsus, and the churchmen preserve it by use of another false doctrine, that of biblical inerrancy. Paul wrote: And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers.. (Eph.4:11). So there it stands, with other illegitimate offices and titles. But here we speak only of the office of pastor and teacher.

From the Southern Baptists: Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes.  In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord.  It scriptural officers are pastors and deacons.  While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.

From Catholics: Pastor - This term denotes a priest who has the cure of souls (cura animarum), that is, who is bound in virtue of his office to promote the spiritual welfare of the faithful by preaching, administering the sacraments, and exercising certain powers of external government, e.g., the right of supervision, giving precepts, imposing light corrections -- powers rather paternal in their nature, and differing from those of a bishop, which are legislative, judicial, and coactive.
Exposing the Error

Churchmen often think of pastor and teacher as a single office, with teaching being a function of the pastor. What we say here applies to both. Every church has its pastor, who teaches. It is an old and time honored office that is seldom questioned.  One who believes in biblical inerrancy never sees the error, for there it is, in Eph. 4:11. Churches have formed and called pastors due to Paul's doctrine.  We must go to Jesus to expose this error, and there the typical Christian will miss the exposure because the word, pastor, does not appear in most translations. But pastor is from the Latin, pastor, which means a herdsman (shepherd), and this is equivalent to the NT Greek word, poimhn (poinēn), which also means shepherd or pastor. Therefore, the real significance of the word, when uttered by Jesus and rendered shepherd from the Greek, fails to be associated with the office of pastor and teacher. The result? Both laymen and pastors are blind to the error and continue in good conscience to honor the office. They never question this erroneous doctrine that puts a pastor/teacher in every church. The pastor has a mercenary motive also for failing to see that the Lord has never sanctioned his office or called anyone to fill it.  Therefore these two things,  belief in biblical inerrancy and the veiled translations combine to hide the error of the doctrine that places a pastor in every church.  Go here to read more of biblical inerrancy, then see the Truth concerning the pastor and teacher in the next column.
Declaring the Truth
Hear Jesus: I am the good shepherd (pastor); I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd (pastor) (Jn.10:14-16). So much for all those "pastors."  The Lord has authorized only one for all of his sheep, the good pastor -- who is himself.
  What of the many teachers? Hear Jesus again: But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brethren (Mat.23:8). Who is that one teacher? Listen to Jesus yet again: You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am (Jn.13:13).The one flock consists of those from every fold who heed my voice. Thus heeding his voice, they know only one pastor / teacher, and so Jesus is their one Lord, pastor, and teacher. Jesus defined all others (Jn.10:1,5,8,12) as thieves, robbers, strangers and hirelings.  Sadly, the churchmen are excluding themselves from the one flock by not heeding his voice.  Who do they heed?  The "scripture" with its voice of Paul.  It is Paul who is their Lord, for it is his voice they heed.  There is a word for this, claiming the Lordship of Christ while ignoring his voice. And Jesus asks: Why do you call me `Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? (Lk.6:46)