My approach to this query is strongly influenced by the thinking of one of my pastors (used as a verb) who didn't view 'pastor' as a title but a calling, a vocation. Although out of respect we young'uns would still call him Pastor John, his conviction was that he was, "John the pastor, not Pastor John. After all, I don't call you Brickie Bill or Plumber Ted..." Now I have no problem with titles (well, maybe just a little bit), but I really resonate with John's view-point: pastor is a function I perform in the body of Christ, not a title or position of authority to aspire to.
In his book, 'Confessions of a Reformission Radical,' Mark Driscoll relates how in the structure of Mars Hill Church no one holds the title of Senior Pastor except for Jesus. I like that. Jesus is the good shepherd (pastor being another word for shepherd), and in Hebrews 13 Christ is called the great shepherd of the sheep. Interestingly I sat in a meeting a while back when an international speaker led the audience in chanting, "We're not sheep." I didn't join in, because I am, and that's good because I have a shepherd whom I follow and who laid down his life for me. The question that caused me to think in my assignment was, if pastor is a verb, a doing word, what does a pastor do?
Naturally a pastor cares for the sheep (he is a shepherd after all), but that can mean many different things. A pastor is also a leader, but what is the right mix between leading and pastoring? And if leading dominates over pastoring are you still a pastor? Some would suggest that many times being a pastor is more like being the owner of a sheep station and making sure the flock is managed well rather than having an intimate relationship with the flock, which is fair comment, but doesn't seem to sit with the biblical picture of a pastor. Perhaps that is more of a leader, so why the title pastor? In the Ancient Near East, including Israel, the kings of the nations were said to shepherd the people, but the New Testament seems to shift the metaphor somewhat and makes it more personal and intimate. So if pastor is a noun, that's fine, but if it is a verb we have some re-thinking to do.
Here's my point, I don't intend to be all negative and pharisaical about this, but I do think that if, like me, a person believes they are called to pastoral ministry, then we need to give serious consideration to what that means in light of scripture and cultural context. If we live in a time when people are screaming out for community and authentic connection, that it seems to me that God has placed within his church people who have been gifted to facilitate love, care and leadership in an engaged and relational manner. Pastors (of the verb kind).
Pastors can't be recognized by title or size of congregation or training or charisma, they are only known by what they do. Pastors shepherd the people of God. Pastors don't pretend to be the voice of God to those they are shepherding (who needs that kind of pressure?), pastors don't coerce or manipulate people, pastors don't seek position or power. That's what Jesus accused the spiritual guides of his time of doing. No, Jesus gave his followers - and those called to shepherd - a different way, the way of the kingdom he inaugurated. Jesus taught us to lay down our lives, to serve, to love, to put the needs of others before our own, and to seek to live in a way that differentiates us from the way our culture operates.
Ultimately I think pastor has to be a verb because being a pastor isn't who you are but what you do. Who I am is husband and father and friend and follower of Christ, my vocation, how I work that out, is through answering God's call to pastor.
Are you a noun or a verb? Do you define yourself by what you call yourself or what you do? Or, is what you do an expression of who you are in your core person?
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