“My Journey Out” (Part 3)

Click on following for earlier articles: Part 1 and Part 2.

“Too much pastoring in the church.”

The Holy Spirit’s words stunned me, but at the same time, they instilled a desire to understand more about the pastor’s calling. So, I began studying the Bible.

Did you know the word pastor is only mentioned once in the New Testament?

And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers (Ephesians 4:11)

The Greek word poimen (Strongs #4166) which is translated pastor in the above verse is also mentioned seventeen other times in the New Testament, but in these verses, it is translated into the English word shepherd(s).

A verb derivative of poimen, the Greek Word poimano (Strongs #4165), is mentioned ten times in various verses, but is translated in the King James Version into the English words feed or rule.

Now let’s say, that a Bible somehow landed in the hands of a linguistic expert who lived on Mars. After studying the Old and New Testaments, he convinced his government to capture an American Christian out of the traditional church system and bring him back to Mars.

Of course, the Mars expert would question the captured Christian.  And being a knowledgeable believer, the Christian would have done quite well, explaining Jesus, the Gospel and the New Birth.

But when the Christian would have explained the church and our modern CEO-like pastor, the Mars expert would have most likely blinked his eyes in unbelief. “Hey, are you sure that you haven’t got the Old Testament and the New Testament mixed up?” he would have asked.

Then, the Christian would have blinked his eyes in amazement. To his scriptural reasoning, the traditional church and our modern CEO-like pastor are so obvious that he can not explain it to others. Maybe, he would have thrown his hands up in the air and said, “That’s just the way it is, okay?”

The captured Christian could have been me. Because when I started studying the calling of pastor, I looked through the lens of all the teachers who had been my instructors for over ten years.

A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. (Luke 6:40)

Admittedly, I am resistant to change. I like to walk on the paths of our church forefathers, men like Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, D. L. Moody, Smith Wigglesworth and so forth who have been a part of the traditional church system. This seems to be the well-tread path of safety, right?

So, what has caused me to veer off onto old, hardly visible paths?

(Continued in Part 4)

Larry Who’s writings and teachings appear on this site on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. It’s  a little of this and a little of that, all written  to encourage and exhort believers in their Christian journeys.