As I said recently in a post about Jan Wilborn and the term “born again”, some fellow Mid Acts Dispensationalists have been creating religious dogma in the name of “rightly dividing the word of truth”. They are letting their religion interfere with what the Bible says.
The fellow that made the Facebook post above is a Mid Acts Dispensationalist like myself. He claims to let the Bible say what it means and mean what it says. However, his religion says that if Israel had “pastors” then the church the Body of Christ cannot have them. I would like to see a chapter and verse for this rule of Bible interpretation. Israel breathed oxygen under the law, does that mean we cannot breathe oxygen under grace? Of course not. Terms such as “saved”, “righteous”, “justified”, etc. are used of both groups….along with many others (such as a new birth, Galatians 4:29). There is no Bible rule that if a word is used for Israel then it cannot be used for the Body of Christ also.
So the fellow above says that “pastor” is a Jewish term only for Israel. I wonder if he would say the same thing about the word “teacher” since it is first used in 1 Chronicles, Psalms, Proverbs, etc. to Jews? How do we know what terms can be used for both Israel and the Body of Christ? Do we need a religious guru to tell us? No. The answer is simple. If the Bible uses a term for both groups, then it is a term that can be used for both groups…
Ephesians 4:
[11] And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
[12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
[13] Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
Pastors are clearly given as something used to edify the Body of Christ after the resurrection.
What does the word pastor mean? It comes from a Latin word meaning “to feed” and is connected to shepherding sheep.
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary: “ A shepherd; one that has the care of flocks and herds.”
Is this a fitting word for the Body of Christ?
Acts 20:
[28] Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
[29] For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Paul likened the believers to a flock and the teachers to overseers feeding them. So how could “pastor” not be a fitting word, unless your religion is blinding you to the word of God?
Mark 7:13 Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.
Religious tradition is creeping into the so called “grace movement”. People are creating false rules of interpretation based on tradition (dispensational based tradition is still tradition) rather than what the scripture says. Some people are forgetting that creating a false division in the word of God is just as much a failure to “rightly”divide as not making a division at all. 2 Timothy 2:15 is not just commanding to divide, the division must be “RIGHT”.