House Church Talk - House church or simply church wherever people are

[Glenn Frank]

On 7/28/04 6:01 PM, "jim sutton" <goodword at bresnan.net> wrote:

> I appreciated all of what you had to say, Glenn.  And I tend to agree.  But
> I've noticed one thing common to many hc discussions about pastors that is not
> universally true in the IC congregations and a denominational organizations.
> 
> To a lot of believers in hc, the "pastor"figure in a given group is the one in
> charge.  That is certainly how it appears in many groups.  And it is actually
> true in some small and/or independent churches.  But in the larger
> associations it can be worse than that...

It doesn't matter if the "pastor" is in charge or not in an IC church or a
house church. My point was that he is not intended to 'be in charge'
anyway... Just because he is gifted as a pastor.

My point is that the scripture speaks of a GIFT of pastoral ministry...
Nowhere do we see Paul telling Timothy or Titus to appoint 'pastors'. They
appointed ELDERS... Men with the right heart for servant leadership who were
in touch with the Lord and qualified.

Being gifted as a 'pastor' really is like having a gift of hospitality or
wisdom or any of the other gifts... (it does not automatically make you a
leader or give you a position in the church) It is a GIFT not an OFFICE of
the church.

We can all find examples of people using the title "pastor" in both the IC
and house churches and complain about it and the pros and cons of having a
pastor in charge or a 'board' in charge over him.... Point is... Neither is
right. Nor should it be that they are hirelings of a greater Board or
denomination. 

"Pastor" is just another one of those words which has been distorted by
church tradition over the centuries. It has lost its real meaning and has
sadly degenerated into a title of an officer or employee of an IC... Or
sometimes a dictator of a house church. (don't take offence at that... It is
simply a single head leader of a group... Something scripture does not
support). Everywhere in scripture we see that ELDERS (plural) were the
leaders in any given group of believers. Some of them might be gifted as
pastors... Or maybe some other gift. And there might even be people gifted
with the pastoral gift in the non-eldership part of the fellowship who will
never be elders in a church. But the "pastor" was never intended as an
office. The pastor was intended as a gift to the church for the building up
of the body... Eph 4.

Glenn Frank