What is a pastor? It’s a simple question really, but we live in a time where we can no longer assume that simple questions are approached logically. Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson is an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Jackson was nominated to the Supreme Court by President Joe Biden on February 25, 2022, and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 7, 2022. However, during the nominee status prior to being confirmed, she was asked a series of questions by the Senate publicly, and it was during this time period that massive controversy erupted. She was asked by Sen. Martha Blackburn, “Can you provide a definition for the word ‘woman’?” Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson was unable to define the word.
While the controversy over the inability to answer the simple question caused conservatives to question Jackson’s ability to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States, the liberals praised her answer and pushed her to confirmation as a member of the highest court in our nation. We are witnessing a leftist agenda play out in the sphere of politics and it’s interwoven through the fabric of our entire society. However, not everyone is pleased with the deconstructionist agenda. That has been clearly seen with the success of Matt Walsh’s film project, “What Is a Woman?”
Yet, this ongoing social justice driven agenda has likewise impacted evangelicalism—including the Southern Baptist Convention.
Challenging the Definition
In May of 2021, Rick Warren and Saddleback Church made news by ordanining three women to the office of pastor. Warren praised the move as a “historic night.” This resulted in a motion to disfellowship Saddleback from the SBC at the 2021 annual meeting. What many people didn’t realize was that Rick Warren was setting up Saddleback for his departure which would involve an egalitarian leadership transition. When Warren announced his retirement plans, he likewise introduced the new co-pastor husband and wife team that would be replacing him.
Since then, Saddleback has been disfellowshipped from the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC Executive Committee affirmed a recommendation from the SBC Credentials Committee on February 21st, 2023 to deem Saddleback Church as “not in friendly cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention.” 1Baptist Press: Saddleback Church deemed ‘not in friendly cooperation’ with SBC This sparked a passionate response from Rick Warren where he committed himself to return to the SBC annual meeting to make his case to reinstate Saddleback. Leading up to the annual meeting this June, Warren has been stirring the pot through his large following on Twitter to press his case and to challenge the definition of a pastor.
Although Warren states that he has not been influenced by the culture and that he has been come to his new egalitarian position based on the study of Scripture, we must view his new position in light of the cultural revolution. In 2017 Barna Research Group pointed out that there was a distinct rise in women serving in the office of pastor. According to their study, “One of every 11 Protestant pastors is a woman—triple as many as 25 years ago.” According to the statistical report titled, “State of Clergywomen in the U.S.: A Statistical Update” the numbers indicate that within “most Mainline denominations, the percentage of clergywomen has doubled or tripled since 1994.”
What must be made clear is that any challenge of God’s Word and God’s original design aligns oneself with Satan rather than God.
What must be made clear is that any challenge of God’s Word and God’s original design aligns oneself with Satan rather than God. We see this in the Garden of Eden when Satan asked Eve a simple question: “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”2Genesis 3:1 It was this engagement of Eve by Satan that not only twisted God’s Word, but it also led to the very first role reversal where Eve took leadership over Adam. We must remember the warning of Scripture about Satan that comes just before the record of Satan’s question to Eve. He is indeed “more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made” (Gen. 3:1a).
Definitions Matter: What Is a Pastor?
While we can challenge Warren’s claim that he wasn’t influenced by the culture and that it’s rather suspicious, we must challenge his exegesis and interpretation of Scripture. Rather than asking ourselves how Rick Warren defines the office of pastor, we must ask ourselves how God defines the office of pastor.
In the New Testament, we have various different terms for the office of pastor that indicate the different roles and responsibilities of the office. For instance, in 1 Peter 5:1-4, Peter employs these different terms to describe the function of the pastoral office. Peter charges the elders (presbúteros) to shepherd (poimaínō) the flock of God and to exercise proper oversight (episkopḗ). These words are not references to differing offices among the church, but one office with a variety of differing responsibilities.
In 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, Paul provides two accounts of the biblical qualifications for the office of pastor. It should be noted that all men are to aspire to be holy and faithful in character as described in these passages, God raises up some men within the church to serve as overseers in order to faithfully shepherd the church. Without any hermeneutical gymnastics, the office of pastor is clearly reserved for men. We must remember what Paul communicates prior to arriving in 1 Timothy 3. A key to biblical interpretation is that we always interpret the text within it’s proper context.
In 1 Timothy 2:12, Paul articulates a clear prohibition related to women in the local church. He says, ” I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” There is a distinction between the teaching and exercise of authority that should be acknowledged. Paul was a bit of a revolutionary in his day, since women were often not permitted to learn, but Paul encourages them to be learners—studying out the faith and gaining greater knowledge of their God (1 Tim. 2:11).
Paul was willing to stretch the boundaries of ancient Ephesus, but he wasn’t willing to stretch God’s boundaries that were rooted and grounded in creation.
Although the Holy Spirit led Paul to stretch the boundaries of women in one cultural area, he revisited historic boundaries in the area of teaching that God had put into place back in the Garden. Women, as Paul stated, were not to teach men. This is a reversal of roles. Paul was willing to stretch the boundaries of ancient Ephesus, but he wasn’t willing to stretch God’s boundaries that were rooted and grounded in creation.
From the very beginning, God established a specific order. That blueprint, rooted and grounded in God’s creation, established male headship and leadership in all three spheres of life: the society, the home, and the church. While you don’t see brick buildings and white steeples in the Garden of Eden, you do have Paul pointing back to the creation mandate in 1 Timothy 2 to establish God’s ordination of male headship.
It has never been God’s plan for men to submit to the teaching of women within the church. You cannot make a biblical case for such interpretation. In fact, in order to reach this position, you would have to twist the Scriptures beyond God’s established order and boundary.
Leadership involves authority. For instance, in Hebrews 13:17 the text clearly states that the church is to “submit” to their leaders which is always connected to the teaching and preaching of God’s Word. The word teach, “διδάσκω,” according to Thomas Schreiner, has in mind the public teaching and involves authoritative transmission of tradition about Christ and the Scriptures (1 Cor. 12:28-29; Eph. 4:11; 1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 3:16; James 3:1).3 Andreas J. Köstenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, Women in the Church (Third Edition): An Interpretation and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15, (Wheaton: Crossway, 2016), 190. It has never been God’s plan for men to submit to the teaching of women within the church. You cannot make a biblical case for such interpretation. In fact, in order to reach this position, you would have to twist the Scriptures beyond God’s established order and boundary. John MacArthur observes:
Women may be highly gifted teachers and leaders, but those gifts are not to be exercised over men in the context of the church. That is true not because women are spiritually inferior to men but because God’s law commands it. He has ordained order in His creation—an order that reflects His own nature and therefore should be reflected in His church. Anyone ignoring or rejecting God’s order, then, weakens the church and dishonors Him.4John MacArthur, “Can Women Exercise Authority in the Church?” [accessed 4-17-18]
Men have been called by God to be leaders, protectors, and providers. That’s why we see God’s pattern of raising up men as husbands, fathers, warriors, Kings, prophets, Apostles, and pastors. This has been God’s consistent pattern from the Garden of Eden to this present hour.
Men have been called by God to be leaders, protectors, and providers. That’s why we see God’s pattern of raising up men as husbands, fathers, warriors, Kings, prophets, Apostles, and pastors. This has been God’s consistent pattern from the Garden of Eden to this present hour. This was not the original design for women. That’s not to diminish the value or giftedness of women, but God simply didn’t design women for the same tasks as men. There are different roles and responsibilities for men that are distinct and unique from the roles and responsibilities that God has designed for women. In his excellent book titled Biblical Eldership, Alexander Strauch describes the function and responsiblitiy of pastors, who are most commonly refered to as elders in the New Testament:
Elders lead the church [1 Tim 5:17; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 5:1-2], teach and preach the Word [1 Timothy 3:2; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 1:9], protect the church from false teachers [Acts 20:17, 28-31], exhort and admonish the saints in sound doctrine [1 Timothy 4:13; 2 Timothy 3:13-17; Titus 1:9], visit the sick and pray [James 5:14; Acts 20:35], and judge doctrinal issues [Acts 15:16]. In biblical terminology, elders shepherd, oversee, lead, and care for the local church.5Alexander Strauch, Biblical Eldership, (Colorado Springs, CO: Lewis and Roth Publishers, 2003), 16.
What is a pastor? A pastor serves as a leader, provider, and protector of God’s church. These tasks are accomplished through the preaching and teaching of Scripture as part of God’s ordinary means of grace established for the wellbeing and nourishment of his church. This responsibility is to be taken seriously and should never be redesigned to fit the framework of a progressive culture. We must always remember that the society as a whole has no anchor firmly grounded in Scripture. The progressive society has a sail rather than an anchor. This sail is used to catch the cultural winds which results in constant change and progression. However, this progress most certainly leads away from God.
Historically we find progressive non-compliance and rogue attitudes in our culture—expressed often in clever marketing campaigns that appeal to the fallen sinful nature of humanity. For instance, David Wells explains:
The early pioneers were Nike’s “Just Do It!” (in other words, don’t think about it and don’t let anything stand in the way to your doing it) and Burger King’s “Sometimes, you gotta break the rules.” And the imitator’s have been numerous. Bacardi Black rum, which advertises itself as “the taste of the night,” goes on to say, “Some people embrace the night because rules of the day do not apply”; Easy Spirit shoes even latched onto this theme promising a shoe that “conforms to your foot so you don’t have to conform to anything”; Ralph Lauren’s Safari celebrates “living without boundaries”; even stayed and reliable Merrill Lynch declares that “Your world should know no boundaries”; and Nieman Marcus encourages its customers to relax because, it says, there are “No rules here.”6David Wells, “Our Dying Culture,” in The Formal Papers of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals Summit (April 17-20, 1996), 13.
We can expect corporate America and progressive nominees for the Supreme Court to challenge God’s boundaries, but the church must remain committed to Scripture even if that is not viewed as acceptable within the progressive culture of our pagan society. We must not make the mistake of ancient Israel who did what was right in their own eyes (Judges 17:6). We have a King, and he is seated upon his sovereign throne. He has given us a Book, and we must obey. Any move to feminize the pulpit is a move away from God and his sufficient Word.
Christians who stand firm upon God’s Word will be maligned and mocked. Faithful Christians who point back to God’s Word as the standard will be called fundamentalists (as Rick Warren did in his tweet), but the “F” word will not be employed in the vein of J. Gresham Machen. Instead, it will be used as a pejorative to mock such Christians as being out of touch with society and even legalistic in their interpretation. I’ve addressed that tactic in my article titled, “The ‘F’ Word: The Revival of Fundamentalism.”
When politicians, the corporate world, and every other sphere of our society seems to have their feet planted in mid-air, we must stand unashamedly upon the sufficiency and authority of God’s inerrant Word.
Make no mistake about it, there is a battle for the dictionary today. Definitions matter. God has defined the office of pastor in his Word. We must never be ashamed to stand firmly upon God’s definition. If God is for us, who can be against us (Rom 8:31)? The SBC should send a clear message to Rick Warren that a pink pulpit is not the answer to modern decline or to the cravings of culture. When politicians, the corporate world, and every other sphere of our society seems to have their feet planted in mid-air, we must stand unashamedly upon the sufficiency and authority of God’s inerrant Word.
References
| 1 | Baptist Press: Saddleback Church deemed ‘not in friendly cooperation’ with SBC |
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| 2 | Genesis 3:1 |
| 3 | Andreas J. Köstenberger and Thomas R. Schreiner, Women in the Church (Third Edition): An Interpretation and Application of 1 Timothy 2:9-15, (Wheaton: Crossway, 2016), 190. |
| 4 | John MacArthur, “Can Women Exercise Authority in the Church?” [accessed 4-17-18] |
| 5 | Alexander Strauch, Biblical Eldership, (Colorado Springs, CO: Lewis and Roth Publishers, 2003), 16. |
| 6 | David Wells, “Our Dying Culture,” in The Formal Papers of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals Summit (April 17-20, 1996), 13. |
