A Church without a Pastor?

It is very hard for most Christians to imagine a church without a Pastor. This unbiblical clergy idea has been so intermingled with Christianity for so long that the very idea of how a church could exist and function without 'The Pastor' is absolutely inconceivable, especially to Pastors. Still, the fact remains that there are no Pastors mentioned anywhere in the Bible.

How can these things be?

Part of it is an unbiblical idea of the Body of Christ to begin with. 'Church' is actually quite different from the Ekklesia that Jesus established, that we see and read about in the Bible. Perhaps nothing shows this difference more than the church-building. Although church-people quickly admit that the building is not the church (in the sense of being the Body of Christ), nevertheless they are the very first to refer to the building as the Church. We recently visited a local church where the Pastor happened to choose that very morning to launch a 'We Need a New Church-Building' campaign. Unbelievably, they were sitting in the already new church-building that isn't even two years old yet, and for which they are still in debt. Yet the Pastor was manipulating these poor people into believing that God was not satisfied with the old building, they needed to get started on a new building program, and those who might not be too sure about this were 'naysayers' who were standing in the way of God's will. He whipped up emotions about the will of God for the whole service, and then passed out pledge cards for people to commit to.

Guess what it said in bold letters at the top of the pledge cards: On This Rock I Will Build My Church.
This is just not at all what Jesus was talking about.

In the Bible, the Ekklesias of God were all (everywhere, in every place) led by a team of local, unpaid, un-seminaried men from among the local Body called Elders. In different places the Bible also calls them Overseers and Shepherds. Paul and Peter both clearly identify them as being Elders, Overseers, and Shepherds. There was never just one alone, there was never a 'Pastor' over them, and, unlike the Apostles, they were expected to provide a living for themselves and not be provided for by the Ekklesia. The closest thing the Bible has to a 'Pastor' is Diotrophes in John 3, who John condemns because he 'loves to have the pre-eminence among them.'

When the Ekklesia is led by true biblical Elders there is only one head to the body – Jesus.

But, what about Timothy and Titus? Weren't they 'Pastors'? 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are the 'Pastoral Letters'!

Yes, 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus are often called the 'Pastoral Letters', because they deal with the establishment of proper oversight (shepherding) of the Ekklesias. No, Timothy and Titus were not Pastors, they were Paul's assistants. They have been called Apostolic Delegates, or members of Paul's Ministry Team. They might possibly even qualify as Apostles themselves because, whatever you call them,  they were two of a group of men that served Paul and whom he 'sent' (apostle, sent one) wherever he needed, and called them back as he had need. Some of these men that we know of were Timothy, Titus, Tychicus, Artemas, Demas, Crescens, Erastus, and Trophimus.

In Titus, Paul has left Titus in Crete 'to set in order the things that remain' in the Ekklesias there, chief of which is the establishment of Elders. At the end of the letter he tells Titus that he will send Artemas or Tychicus to replace him as Paul's representative there. In 1 Timothy, Timothy has also been left behind in Ephesus for the very same purposes. 1 Timothy does not tell us who is to replace Timothy in Ephesus, but in 2 Timothy we know that he is no longer in Ephesus because Paul tells him that he has 'sent' (apostle, sent one) Tychicus to Ephesus. These men were Apostolic Delegates, Paul's Assistants, coming and going at Paul's command wherever he had need of, helping Paul to get Ekklesias started (with proper Elder leadership) or helping Paul to get them back on the right track.

I know, I know, it is very hard for most Christians to imagine a church without a Pastor. This unbiblical clergy idea has been so intermingled with Christianity for so long that the very idea of how a church could exist and function without 'The Pastor' is absolutely inconceivable, especially to Pastors. Still, the fact remains that there are no Pastors mentioned anywhere in the Bible.