Ephesians 4:11–12 — And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
The gift of pastor-teacher is the last we will consider in the long list mentioned in the Scriptures, concerning the provision God has made for the building up of the church.
This gift is given to particular men in the fellowship, the elders, whom God has called to shepherd the flock. He gives them the gift to be able to instruct His children and to act as shepherds to lead, feed, guide and defend them. Some regard pastoring and teaching as two separate gifts, but a moment's thought will lead us to realize that when such a man teaches the flock, he is performing as a shepherd (feeding, guiding, defending and so on), and one of the main ways he has by which to shepherd God's people is to teach them God's Word. Thus the two functions are inseparably connected, and this therefore constitutes one gift, and not two.
God tells us a lot in the Bible about the qualifications men must have if they are to be appointed as elders in the church (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9). The bar is set very high, because the responsibility is great. This is not a role that men should rush into, or be appointed to early in their lives as believers, because those who assume this role will face a stricter judgment (James 3:1). We are also told that a true fellowship of the Lord will be led by a plurality of gifted elders.
We are facing a crisis in the church today in the western world, one cause of which is found in those appointed to be elders, and in the attitude that members of the fellowship have towards them.
In the first case, the church has lowered the bar in terms of qualifications possessed by the elders well below the standard set in Scripture. In some cases, men are appointed in recognition of long service in a church. In other cases (rather like the case with King Saul) they are appointed because they are popular, attractive, or have an earthly charisma. A study of the passages above will show us that none of these things makes an elder. In other cases, men are appointed too soon and are filled with pride that leads to their ruin. Some churches wrongly appoint women to this role, when the Scriptures are quite clear that it rightly belongs only to men. In all cases where elders are appointed who lack the biblical qualifications, the outcome cannot be good for them or for the church, since we have rejected the clear instruction of God's Word and chosen our own standards, rather than God's.
In the second case, having appointed elders in the church, the members are required to submit to them in matters of faith where they speak within the bounds of biblical authority. They cannot tell us what color of car we should buy, because that is not within the scope of their authority. But they can, with all the authority of Christ Himself, command that a believer not marry an unbeliever, or that a believer caught in an adulterous relationship must renounce it and repent. The problem is that our generation resents authority. We do not like being told what to do and we are reluctant to believe that anyone has this right.
Hopefully it is clear that the church is doomed to weakness and ineffectiveness as long as we do not place the right men in the role of eldership and then submit to their legitimate authority in that role.
What a blessing it is though, where a church follows the teaching of Scripture in both regards; recognizing the men God has provided to shepherd them and gladly submitting to their leadership. How we should desire to be present in such a place as this! Needless to say, if we hold ourselves aloof from the body and are not present to be shepherded and taught, we will miss this blessing and our behavior will be to the detriment of the entire fellowship.
