Pastor-Teacher Series: The Spiritual Gift of Pastor-Teacher

Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it says, ‘WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.’ 9 (Now this expression, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things) 11 and He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers. (NASB95)

Ephesians 4:11 says that after the ascension and session of our Lord in heaven that our Lord gave the church four great communication gifts: (1) apostles (2) prophets (3) evangelists (4) pastor-teachers.

1 Corinthians 12:28 has a corresponding list.

1 Corinthians 12:28 God has appointed in the Church (Body of Christ), first apostles, second prophets, third teachers (Pastor-Teachers). (NASU)

First he gave the church the apostles, some of whose writings are found in the New Testament.

Paul says in Ephesians 2:19-20 that the Church which is “God’s household” has been “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone.”

The mystery doctrine of the church age was revealed to the apostles and prophets through God the Holy Spirit (John 13-17; Eph. 3:4-5).

The gift of apostleship is no longer extant and is a temporary spiritual gift. Apostleship was the highest temporary spiritual gift and was accompanied by the gift of teaching, healing, prophecy and miracles, which were given to prove that the apostles were from God.

The men with spiritual gift of apostleship had maximum authority to command in the church.

The gift of apostleship was given only to twelve men.

The spiritual gift of apostleship functioned under two categories: (1) Writers of the New Testament (2) Establishment of local churches.

The apostles in establishing local churches were responsible for: (1) The clarification of the mystery doctrine for the church age (2) The maintenance of a true systematic theology with dispensational emphasis (3) The training of pastors (4) Establishment of local church policy.

The second spiritual gift mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 is that of the prophet.

This also was a temporary spiritual gift and is no longer extant today.

The prophets were given to the church for the purpose of communicating God’s will, purpose and plan for the church age before the canon of Scripture was completed in 96 A.D.

Now that the canon of Scripture has been completed there is no longer a need for prophets.

Everything that God desires to say to us today is found in the completed canon of Scripture.

We now have the completed revelation from God now that the canon of Scripture is closed. God does not communicate to man in the church age through dreams or visions or through prophets because everything He desires to communicate to the church is found in the completed canon of Scripture (Hebrews 1:1-2).

The third spiritual gift mentioned in Ephesians 4:11 is that of the evangelist.

This too was a communication gift just as the gifts of apostleship and prophet.

This spiritual gift is still in existence today and is for the benefit of the unbeliever and not for the believer.

The spiritual gift of pastor-teacher is specifically designed for the believer.

The spiritual gift of evangelism is specifically designed for the unbeliever.

The man with the spiritual gift has the dynamic ability to communicate the gospel to the unbeliever.

The evangelist must be under the authority of a pastor-teacher.

He does not have authority over the pastor-teacher.

The fourth gift given to the church by our Lord after his ascension and session is that of the gift of teaching.

As we noted in our vocabulary study of the different words ascribed to the pastor-teacher in the Greek New Testament, the phrase “pastors and teachers” in Ephesians 4:11 is an incorrect translation.

It does not speak of two individuals but in fact speaks of one man because of the figure of hendiadys.

God uses all types of men to communicate His Word throughout history.

He employed kings, peasants, prime ministers of countries, fisherman and even a donkey (Nm. 22:30).

The personality of the man is not important or critical in choosing a pastor.

You choose a pastor-teacher based upon the content of his message and the content of his character and not his charming personality or dignified appearance.

It’s the message not the man that counts.

It is the content of the Pastor’s message that is important and not his overt personality or appearance.

Paul rebuked the Corinthians who rejected his authority due to his unimpressive personal presence and oratory skills (2 Corinthians 10).

The Scriptures do not place any personality qualifications on the pastor-teacher.

He is responsible to study and teach the Word of God to his congregation.

The delivery of the pastor’s message is not the issue, only the content of his message.

Never select a man to be your pastor on the basis of his overt personality or appearance.

The selection of a pastor-teacher must be based upon the content of his message.

Does he have the spiritual gift?

The presentation or delivery of his message is irrelevant.

The content of his message is what is relevant.

The content of his message will be determined by how faithful he has been studying the original languages of Scripture.

A pastor who studies diligently the Word of God will not rely upon his personality. Pastor’s who do not study have no content in their message and rely upon being personable behind the pulpit.

The pastor must level with his congregation (Gal. 4:16).

He is a sinner with an old sin nature saved by the grace of God just like the members of his congregation; therefore, the members of his congregation should also deal him with in grace.

The arrogance of certain members of the congregation put the pastor on a pedestal and become shocked when he sins or doesn’t measure up to their own false concept of what a pastor should be.

He does and will sin.

He is not impeccable, the Lord is.

This does not imply that the pastor is not responsible to exemplify Christian conduct, he is.

His job is not to marry and bury you but to feed you the Word of God on a daily basis.

He should communicate Bible doctrine and not emote.

The pastor’s doctrine should be imitated and not his personality or lifestyle.

His lifestyle should be one of studying and teaching Bible doctrine.

The pastor, who loves his congregation, feeds his congregation the Word of God.

His love for his congregation is determined by his attitude toward studying and teaching Bible doctrine (John 21:15-17).

He is not a counselor but rather the Word of God is his council.

The pastor is not a marriage counselor, though what better person than the pastor to counsel people about their marriage problems because he has greater knowledge of the Word of God.

He is not someone you tell all your problems to or sin for that matter!

He is responsible for communicating the Word of God to you in order for you to deal with your own problems under your very own royal priesthood.