Pastoral Theology in the Baptist Tradition

Distinctives and Directions for the Contemporary Church

Creech, R. Robert

• Publisher: Baker Academic
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781493432639
• Topic: Teologia e religione
• Subtopic: Ministro del culto cristiano

A veteran Baptist pastor and ministry professor offers a distinctive free church vision for pastoral leadership, attending to voices from the past four centuries as they speak about the practice of ministry. The book contains theological reflection on current ministry issues among Baptists based on biblical and historical foundations and reflects a diversity of Baptist life across time and around the world, including many different voices. Each chapter contains reflection questions to help readers consider the implications of Baptist thinking.

Part One: Becoming a Pastor

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Pastoral Identity

The Shepherd and the Flock

Shepherds are they called. Oh, keep and feed the lambs of Christ; leave them not nor disdain them.

—Menno Simons, The Complete Writings of Menno Simons

I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep before himself, sacrifices himself if necessary. A hired man is not a real shepherd.

—Jesus (John 10:11–12 Message)

Mike and I played golf as a twosome one spring morning when a young man asked to join us. We welcomed him, and Mike introduced himself. Then, gesturing toward me, he said, “And this is Robert. He’s my pastor.” Later I asked him, “If I were your barber, would you have said, ‘This is Robert. He’s my barber’?” Mike looked puzzled. I learned something about pastoral identity that morning—how I understand myself in the role of pastor and how members of the congregation think about that. I do not just do the work of a pastor. I am a pastor.

Church members have introduced me as “our pastor” in hospital rooms, in community meetings, and at funerals, weddings, and family gatherings. Never once have they presented me as “our elder” or “our overseer” or “our bishop,” although in the New Testament these words more frequently describe church leaders. “Pastor” is different. The term connotes a relationship marked by compassion, care, and concern. The possessive pronoun “my” fits with it, as it does with “my friend,” “my father,” “my mother,” “my daughter,” or “my son.” These expressions do not indicate ownership but mutuality.

Forming a pastoral identity involves coming to terms with the unique relationship between the pastor and the congregation. What does it mean to be a pastor? What demands and expectations appropriately accompany that office? This chapter explores the biblical terms and guiding metaphors that have shaped a Baptist understanding of this role. We will survey how Baptists have formulated our thinking about church leadership in our confessions of faith over the past four centuries. And finally, we will consider the practical aspects of pastoral identity by reflecting theologically on what it means to be called “pastor.”

Biblical Foundations

Titles—Elders, Bishops, and Pastors

The “this is that” principle discussed in the introduction, which has guided Baptists in reading Scripture, informs our thinking about pastoral identity. We look to Scripture to discover examples and models of what it means to “be a pastor.” Unfortunately, explicit examples of pastoral ministry are few, and biblical terminology can sometimes be confusing. The noun “pastor” (poimēn) as a reference to a church leader occurs only once in the New Testament (Eph. 4:11). More frequently, the church leader is an “elder” (presbyteros) or “overseer” (episkopos),1 titles that the early church used interchangeably.

In Acts 20:28, Paul addressed the Ephesian “elders” (presbyterous, v. 17), encouraging them to “shepherd” (poimainein) the “flock” over which the Holy Spirit had made them “overseers” (episkopous). Paul uses these concepts synonymously. Elders are the ones who shepherd (pastor) and oversee the flock. The Holy Spirit has given them this task.

A similar pattern occurs in 1 Peter 5. Peter addresses the “elders” (presbyterous) as a “fellow elder” (sympresbyteros) and urges them to “shepherd” (poimanate) the “flock” (poimnion) of God, “overseeing” (episkopountes) with integrity and modeling the Christ-life for the “flock” (poimniou) (5:1–3). In 5:4 he calls Jesus the “chief shepherd” (archipoimenos). Earlier, Peter describes Christ as the “shepherd [poimena] and guardian [or overseer, episcopon] of our souls” (2:25). As in Paul’s address to the Ephesian elders, Peter encourages the elders in his congregations to serve as shepherds (pastors) and to oversee the flock.

The conversation between Peter and the resurrected Jesus that John narrates in his Gospel is echoed in 1 Peter 5. Peter had denied Jesus three times (John 18:15–27) as the Lord himself had predicted (13:36–38). Now, restoring Peter to service, Jesus asks Peter three times about his love for him (21:15, 16, 17). Three times Peter affirms his love for Jesus, and three times Jesus gives him a practical way to demonstrate that love: “feed my lambs [arnia]” (v. 15), “tend [poimaine] my sheep [probata]” (v. 16), and “feed my sheep [probata]” (v. 17). Jesus gave a pastoral (shepherding) commission to an apostle who will later describe himself as an elder (1 Pet. 5:1).

Additionally, in his Letter to Titus, Paul tells his coworker in Crete to appoint “elders” (presbyterous) in every town (1:5–6). Paul then changes terms, referring to these leaders as “bishops” or “overseers” (episkopoi) in verse 7 as he continues to delineate their qualifications. The apostle uses the terms “elder” and “overseer” interchangeably in this passage.

These key terms—elder, overseer, and pastor—have formed the basis for a Baptist understanding of the pastoral role. Yet Baptists have, for the most part, settled on the title “pastor” to define the office of congregational leadership.2

Models—Prophets, Priests, Apostles, and Scribes

Besides the titles themselves, Baptists have indirectly used a variety of New Testament models to understand pastoral ministry, such as the acts and teachings of Jesus, the stories of the Twelve, the seven leaders selected in Acts 6, and the lives of Paul and his associates. We have often looked to these resources for direction and examples to understand church leadership. These models do not provide specific instructions for pastors or definitions of the pastoral role, but they nevertheless offer guidance for the practice of leadership in the kingdom of God. Baptists regularly turn to such passages to clarify the role of congregational leadership that our pastors occupy.

Other biblical figures have helped form a Baptist understanding of pastoral ministry as well. The call of the Old Testament prophets, the compassion of the Old Testament priests, and the commitment of the New Testament apostles all resonate with our thinking about who our pastors are and what God has called them to do. The critical thing to Baptists has been the line connecting God’s people in the Old Testament, the earliest church, and contemporary congregational life.

The hermeneutical move from the contemporary pastor to the images of prophets, priests, apostles, elders, overseers, and shepherds of God’s flock is classically Baptist: “this is that.” The interpretive principle that leads Baptists to affirm that the church today is the church of the apostles and the eschaton connects the leaders of the early Christian movement, their ancestors in ancient Israel, and the church of every age. Baptist pastors have opened the Scripture and have seen themselves and their work reflected in the various leaders of God’s people that appear in the sacred narrative. This is that.

The Old Testament prophets were not pastors, yet their faithfulness to their calling, their bold proclamation, and their willingness to offer sacrificial obedience to God have shaped pastoral identity among Baptists through the years. Because God has called pastors to proclaim the Word of God, the Old Testament prophets have shaped a Baptist understanding of the task of preaching.

Ancient priests stood faithfully between Yahweh and Israel, interceding for them, offering them grace, and leading them in worship. Although Baptists have affirmed that all believers are priests, this priestly work of prayer and care has formed our understanding of pastoral work. Pastoral work was the responsibility of Israel’s priests, just as it is for those who serve Baptist congregations (Ezek. 34).

Additionally, the Jewish role of scribe, showing up first in the Old Testament in Ezra’s ministry, has contributed to our thinking. The scribe’s careful study and exposition of Scripture parallels the pastoral work of research and teaching that is part of most Baptist pastors’ weekly activity. Jesus referred to the “scribe . . . trained for the kingdom of heaven” who can bring out of his treasure both old and new truth (Matt. 13:52).3 This is what we strive to become.

Peter, James, and John play leading roles in Luke’s account of the earliest church in Acts. Luke never refers to them as pastors. They are apostles. Yet their ministry in the Jerusalem community gestures toward pastoral leadership. Paul, who calls himself an apostle, not a pastor, has frequently provided a model for interpreting the pastoral role. His epistles describe his ministry and his relationship to his churches, which have served as paradigms for Baptist pastors over the past four hundred years.

Qualifications and Accountability

Despite a lack of biblical specificity about the role, Baptists persist in relying on Scripture for direction and understanding of pastoral ministry. The New Testament provides no clear examples of what pastors do, leaving us to infer pastoral roles from the prophets, priests, scribes, and apostles. However, the New Testament does offer guidance about the character that qualifies one to occupy the position of pastor. Consequently, the effort to ground the pastor’s work biblically carries profound ethical implications for Baptist pastoral identity. The role requires both character and skill (1 Tim. 3:1–7; Titus 1:5...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Epigraph
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part One: Becoming a Pastor
• Part Two: Proclamation
• Part Three: Care
• Part Four: Leadership
• Appendix: A Baptist Who’s Who
• Scripture Index
• Subject Index
• Back Cover