By Angus Harley

As NCTers, we are not fans of the concept of the ‘pastorate’ as understood today, and for very good reasons. Whatever associations in the distant past the ‘pastor’ had with a purely shepherding function have been buried under an avalanche of faulty conceptions. In some circles, the role of a ‘pastor’ has become synonymous with a kind of professional-clergy model, much the same as the Christian ‘counselor’ has come to reflect a Christian version of a secular, professional, counselor. There is also the clerical aspect of the pastor functioning as the head of a strict hierarchy, of which he possesses almost complete power, and never really comes under scrutiny. His assembly is like his own fiefdom. NCTers incessantly complain, too, of the modern ‘pastor’ being a one-man-band, not one leader among a plurality of elders, but the ‘Renaissance man’ who seems to be able to do everything all by himself.

Some of us are not happy, too, with even using the term ‘pastor’, for it represents all of the above. Yes, Ephesians 4:11 uses the term, but it is by our time equated with the above failings. Better to use new terminology. Indeed, the Greek noun poimen (‘pastor’) is used of elders only one time in the bible, in Ephesians 4:11 itself. So, it is not unknown for some NCTers to bypass the use of ‘pastor’ in favor of ‘elder’, for it is used far more frequently in the NT.

That being said, NCTers are not dismissing Paul’s use of poimen to refer to elders in Ephesians 4:11. It is to say that, this role is best not represented by the term ‘pastor’ (by the way, that is why I’ve use inverted commas to draw attention to the name). What, then, is this role of poimen better understood as? And what translation ought we use if not ‘pastor’? The basic question at hand is this: why does Paul use the term poimen of an elder? Of course, the simple answer is this: one major role of the elder is to shepherd the flock of Christ. So, the solution to the translation issue is to re-render poimen in Ephesians 4:11 as ‘shepherd’, for elders are shepherds-teachers of God’s flock.

The Greek term poimen is, leaving aside Ephesians 4:11, invariably used in the NT to indicate a shepherd. Strikingly, Jesus is set forth as the Shepherd (poimen) of his flock, the assembly (John 10:11 (x2), 12, 14, 16; Heb.13:20; 1 Pet.2:25). Therein lies the fundamental reason why Paul uses poimen of elders, for their role as shepherds reflects the sacrificial ministry of the Great Shepherd himself.

Similarly, the Greek, NT, cognates of poimen indicate shepherding and flocks of sheep: poimano (verb, ‘to shepherd’), poimne (fem. noun, ‘flock’), poimnion (neut. noun, ‘flock’).

This makes it all the more striking that almost all translations interpret poimaino in Revelation 12:5 and 19:5 as ‘rule’. This is most understandable as an option because of the context of King Jesus crushing the nations with a rod of iron, fulfilling the prophecy of Psalm 2:9. Psalm 2:9 LXX uses the verb poimaino (‘to shepherd’), and undoubtedly John is picking up this LXX translation of Psalm 2:9. This is a strong case for poimaino not always meaning ‘to shepherd’.

However, even in regard to Psalm 2:9 (LXX) and Revelation 12:5 and 19:5, there is a good case for maintaining that poimaino is to be translated as ‘to shepherd’. In regard to the OT, the Davidic king was God’s appointed shepherd (Eze.34:23; 37:24-25; see 2 Sam.5:2; cf., Isa.44:23-45:8: Jer.23:1-4). See how “ruler” and “shepherd” in 2 Samuel 5:2 are used interchangeably of the king. Now, the common objection to rendering these verses with ‘to shepherd’ is that the context is about crushing enemies and ruling over them as king. Absolutely true! Yet, we have forgotten that the Shepherd of Psalm 23- who is Yahweh, the King- is indicated to be a violent protector of his flock from enemies. ‘Shepherding’ involves defending from, and attacking, the wolves! We have another reason to favor ‘to shepherd’: the LXX and John could easily have used the Greek term for ‘to rule’ and they did not. There is another reason, at least as to the Revelation texts, to promote the translation ‘to shepherd’: John takes terms and phrases that had a salvific value in John’s Gospel and uses them in the context of justice and vengeance in Revelation. The most outstanding example of this is his use of ‘Lamb’ in regard to Jesus. In the Gospel, the “Lamb of God” is the one who takes away the sin of the world. However, in Revelation the same “Lamb” is a violent destroyer of his enemies (Rev.6:16; 7:14). Of that “Lamb” it is said that, from the center of his throne, he will “shepherd” God’s people (Rev.7:17).

Now, if we are looking for a concrete, pragmatic, test of the above, just look at Acts 20:17ff., and Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders. They are called “elders” (v17) and “overseers” (v28), and have the role of guarding the flock of God and shepherding it (v28), protecting it from “savage wolves” (v28). The core and consistent idea of the shepherd model is that of intense care and protection of the sheep, sacrificing oneself for them, even in battle with the ‘wolves’ who would devour the flock.

Even though ‘elders’ is the name we ought to use to refer to those who lead the assembly, they function as shepherds who sacrificially watch over the flock, and are willing to fight to protect them.