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3. On one occasion, the New Testament uses the word "pastor" or "shepherd" in relation to a leadership role in the early church: Ephesians 4:11. It is unlikely that such a "pastor" was a minister like we have today. Rather, this is probably another way of referring to an elder or overseer in a church.
1 Peter 2:25 pushes us in this direction. "You were straying like sheep but you have returned now to the shepherd and overseer of your lives." Jesus is of course the good shepherd (John 10:14). He is the great shepherd (Heb. 13:20), the one that God brought up from the dead.
Although we might think today of a pastor being soothing or being a minister in the role of a counselor, the image is clearly one of keeping the sheep safe and in the right place. A shepherd brings errant sheep back to the fold. A shepherd guards the sheep from enemies and hostile forces. So a shepherd is not a passive or soothing role but the role of one who is ready to fight for the sheep and discipline them if necessary to keep them on track.
Accordingly, Ephesians 4:11 is probably thinking of the role of an elder or overseer when it uses the word pastor. We have argued that this was not likely a role for a single individual in a given church but a group of individuals. They collectively guided the church in the right direction.
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