Shepherds, Not Celebrities: Restoring the Pastor’s Role
The Office of the Pastor: It’s about Shepherding, Not Titles
One of the clearest signs that something has gone off course in the modern Church is our obsession with titles. We speak about leadership as though the five-fold ministry were a corporate ladder with roles to ascend, ranks to achieve, and positions to validate spiritual importance. But Scripture never treats the Church like a C-suite, and God never designed leadership to function as a hierarchy of prestige.
This obsession with titles has produced more than frustration. It has produced confusion.
And not just personal confusion, but structural confusion within the Body of Christ.
Scripture is clear: God is not the author of confusion. When confusion becomes normalized in the Church, it is often a sign that we have abandoned God’s design for how the Church is meant to function.
When Function Is Replaced by Titles
One of the ways confusion has entered the Church is through the misappropriation of spiritual gifts and offices. We have taken biblical functions and turned them into labels, often assigning titles to people that do not reflect their true calling or assignment.
Just because someone evangelizes does not make them an Evangelist.
Just because someone teaches does not make them a Teacher.
Just because someone cares deeply for people does not make them a Pastor.
Just because someone prophesies does not make them a Prophet.
Just because someone leads large groups does not make them an Apostle.
Every believer is called to the work of the ministry, and most believers will operate in a combination of spiritual gifts. But the five-fold offices are not defined by activity alone. They are defined by assignment, responsibility, and authority given by God.
The five-fold ministry exists for one primary reason: to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4).
When five-fold leaders replace the saints instead of equipping them, the Church becomes dependent, immature, and confused.
Equipping, Not Performing
An Evangelist does not merely evangelize. They equip believers to share the gospel and strategize opportunities to reach the lost.
A Prophet does not merely prophesy. They equip believers to hear God clearly and often carry prophetic assignments that bring instruction and alignment to cities, regions, and nations.
An Apostle does not merely lead. They equip believers to build according to God’s design, developing and deploying leaders and gifts to influence culture and establish healthy structure.
A Teacher does not merely teach. They equip believers with sound doctrine, helping guard theological integrity and grow spiritual maturity.
And a Pastor does not merely care for people. They equip believers to move from being discipled to becoming disciple-makers.
This is where the Church has drifted most significantly.
The Pastor, Shepherd, and Elder: A Biblical Grouping
In Scripture, pastor, shepherd, and elder are not competing titles. They are complementary descriptions of the same relational function.
Peter writes:
“Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers—not by compulsion but willingly… nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”
(1 Peter 5:1–4)
Peter addresses elders, commands them to shepherd, and defines leadership not by dominance but by example. Oversight is present, but control is forbidden.
Paul echoes this same framework in Acts:
“Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God…”
(Acts 20:28)
The same leaders are called elders, overseers, and shepherds, because leadership in the early Church was not segmented by title. It was unified by function.
Pastoring is not a standalone position of distance or platform. It is local, relational, and proximate.
Jesus: The Measure of True Shepherding
Jesus identifies Himself as the Good Shepherd. He contrasts true shepherds with hirelings; those who treat shepherding as a profession rather than a calling.
The Good Shepherd knows His sheep.
He is known by them.
He protects them.
He lays down His life for them.
Shepherding, as modeled by Jesus, is not corporate leadership, platform authority, or distance governance. It is incarnational, relational, and sacrificial.
A pastor who does not know the people they serve is not functioning as a shepherd, regardless of title.
Shepherds Who Stayed Grounded
This pattern of leadership did not originate in the New Testament. Throughout the Old Testament, God entrusted leadership to men who understood shepherding long before their authority expanded.
Abraham stewarded flocks before stewarding covenant.
Moses shepherded in obscurity before confronting Pharaoh.
David was taken from tending sheep to shepherding Israel.
As responsibility increased, these leaders remained grounded. Their authority expanded, but their hearts stayed anchored to care.
Shepherding produced leaders who made wise decisions, protected what was entrusted to them, and did not abandon the heart of their assignment.
How Confusion Took Root
In the New Testament, pastor is a function. Elder describes maturity. Leadership is plural and relational.
Over time, pastor became a title, and eventually the only one many churches felt comfortable using. Apostles, teachers, evangelists, and administrators were all labeled “pastor,” regardless of function.
The result was predictable:
Gifts became misaligned
Leaders became overextended
People became under-discipled
Confusion became normal
When everyone is called pastor, no one knows who is actually shepherding.
Restoring Order Through the Five-Fold
The five-fold ministry was never designed to collapse into one role. Each office equips the Church in a specific way, and all five are necessary for maturity.
Shepherding is the most relationally proximate role in the Church, not the most authoritative, but the most personal.
What This Looks Like at Abiding Church
At Abiding Church, this is not theory; it is intentional design.
Apostolic leadership builds and aligns.
House churches establish local pastors and elders.
Shepherding happens in proximity.
Discipleship happens around tables, not stages.
We believe that multiplication will not come by filling amphitheaters, but by filling homes. As house churches grow, the Church grows collectively, just as it did in the book of Acts.
Not everyone is called to the office of pastor, but every believer is called to make disciples.
Pastors equip the Church to shepherd one another by example.
A Clear Definition
A pastor is a mature believer entrusted with the relational care and spiritual formation of God’s people. The pastoral function is to shepherd the flock through close proximity, guiding, protecting, discipling, and nurturing believers toward spiritual maturity. Pastors lead by example, not by control. They know the people they serve, walk with them through seasons of growth, and model what it means to follow Christ faithfully. The role of the pastor is not to replace the work of the body, but to equip others to shepherd, so the Church grows in health, unity, and maturity.
The Church does not need fewer leaders.
It needs leaders in the right place, doing the right work.
When shepherds shepherd, elders lead with maturity, and gifts are set in order, confusion loses its authority, and the body grows the way God intended. If you’re looking for a church that has returned to this kind of model, check out https://www.abidingchurchsc.org/ in Upstate, SC and join us!