everyone’s a pastor, no one is a pastor, jesus was a pastor

I’m a pastor, you’re pastor, he’s pastor, she a pastor, wouldn’t you like to be a pastor too. OK which one is it. Is everyone a pastor or is no one pastor, and was Jesus a pastor . John Frye has been stirring up a lot of conversation over at his blog  on this subject.

I have to admit that the longer I have been in ministry the more my discomfort with the term pastor has grown. When I first started out everyone called me reverend. Talks about a disconnect. Then pastor Andre now I’m happy to just be called Andre. Just don’t call me late for dinner.

The term pastor has so much baggage attached to it. Pastors are to be chaplains to the flock tending to their every need. What ever happened to the priesthood of all believers. The typical pastor is to be a jack of all trades, administrator communicator care giver and more (I like looking at the job descriptions for pastor in magazines). 

I much prefer to be thought of as the leader of a faith community with some pastoral gifts. I aspire to be able to a cultural architect as Erwin McManus describes himself. Is the alternative to move toward the kind of pastoral community that Frye describes? I don’t know. Just about anyone can care for another but not everyone can give pastoral care  think that requires a spiritual gift (mercy).

So everyone isn’t a pastor but those gifted as pastors by God need to be raised up to function alongside others with different gifts to provide holistic leadership to our faith communities.

One problem I have with some in the emerging church conversation is an insistence on a kind of generic "flat" model of "pastoral" leadership which seems to ignore the idea that while we are all equal in God’s eyes we are differently gifted. Exercising those gifts doesn’t have to lead to a hierarchical leadership situation.

So what do you think?

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