To answer your question, we need to know what the Bible definition of a “pastor” is. The average person today believes that the pastor is a man who goes to a Seminary or Bible college to get an education so they can be qualified to be the “leader of a congregation in a local church.” Then they apply for openings in local churches and at some point, will be “interviewed for the job” and if accepted they will be “officially ORDAINED by men” to be accepted as the “pastor of the church.” You can study the New Testament and not find any scriptures whatsoever for any of these “steps in becoming a pastor.”

There is only one verse which mentions the word pastor and that is Ephesians 4:11: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.” Earlier, in verses 7-8, we read, “But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore He says: ‘When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive and GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.’” We learn here that the pastor, as well the apostle, prophet, evangelist, and teacher, is a GIFT that the ascended Christ gives to men. It is NOT an “official office” that men can occupy based on a college education and an ordination by men. It is a “spiritual gift” given by the Lord Jesus “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (verse 12). These “public gifts” in verse 11 are to enable all other believers to know how they might serve the Lord with the gift (or gifts) the Lord has given to them. Here is a brief description of these public gifts:

APOSTLES & PROPHETS: These gifts were given to men to “lay the foundation of truth” (all the “doctrines of the faith of Christianity”). See Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Corinthians 3:9-11. You only “lay a foundation once” so these gifts have passed off the scene.

EVANGELISTS: This gift was given to enable men to “preach the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ to sinners.” They have a special love for lost souls and can show the sinner their need of salvation and then present the gospel clearly and simply to them. See Philip as an example in Acts 8:4-8, 26-35 with 21:8.

PASTORS: The word “pastor” is sometimes rendered “shepherds.” Like a literal shepherd, the pastor has a special love for God’s “flock” and with their gift they are able to care for Christ’s “sheep and lambs” (John 21:15-17).   They will “feed them” and “be an example to them” (Acts 20:28 & 1 Peter 5:1-4). This is often a “private work” as they seek to comfort and counsel those in trials and warn those who may be wandering away from the Lord.

TEACHERS: This gift gives men the spiritual ability to present the scriptures to believers and to TEACH them the clear meaning of passages so they can be edified (i.e. built up) and established in the truth. The Apostle Paul was not only an apostle, but he was also a preacher and a TEACHER (see 2 Timothy 1:11). See Acts 11:25-26; and 2 Timothy 1:13, 2:1-2.

We have seen that the “pastor” is NOT a man “with ALL THE GIFTS rolled into one.” And he certainly is not the “leader of a congregation.” His gift is to the “whole church of God” and not confined to one local church. We do need men with this gift and Christ has provided them for us, but we must not think he is an official leader in the church with every spiritual gift. I will never forget meeting a woman that I met going house-to-house giving out gospel tracts. She was a believer and she had just moved to the town I was in from a rather large city. She said to me, “I am not very happy with the pastor of the church I’m attending now, for he does not preach the gospel very clearly and he does not have a passion for witnessing to lost sinners. My former pastor had a real zeal for the lost and preached the gospel clearly and forcefully.” I responded by saying, “Why do you expect this man to have every spiritual gift, including the gift of the EVANGELIST?” I then went over some of the passages mentioned above with her to show her that the “pastor” is only one of the gifts Christ has given and it seems clear this man does not have the gift of an evangelist. She did admit he was good at comforting and counseling people, and I told her that he may indeed have the “gift of a shepherd.” I ended by telling her it is sad that believers are expecting one man to do everything (preach the gospel, teach the saints, comfort the lonely and afflicted, marry people and bury people, etc.). And when this is the case, many believers become “spectators” instead of “participants.” We saw in Ephesians 4:11-12, the public gifts are “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” All believers have a gift! And all have a ministry (service) that the Lord has for them!  As we parted company she said, “This is all new to me and you have given me much to think about.”  (DO)  (728.3)