By Sam Storms

 Responding to Objections

As you might expect, my complementarian friends (and they are friends!) pushed back against my previous proposal with several objections. I’ve combined their responses and respond to them here.

(1) One argument was made that “bishop/elder/pastor” are merely three ways of referring to the one office of leadership in the local church. This conclusion, so it was asserted, is the fruit of biblical exegesis, not tradition or fear. But in point of fact, the Bible says no such thing. There is not a single text in Scripture (not even 1 Peter 5:1-2, to which many made an appeal) which says that “every pastor” is also a bishop or elder. It most assuredly does say that every bishop or elder is to serve as a pastor. But the reverse is simply not true. If my friends cannot point me to a text that says every pastor is an elder, I remain steadfast in my assertion that women can be pastors.

(2) I often heard it said, in response, that “pastor” is an office. But again, no biblical text has been cited to prove this. The word “pastor” is never used in the NT of an “office.” It is a spiritual gift (see Eph. 4:11; much like the prophet has the spiritual gift of prophecy, and the teacher has the spiritual gift of teaching, and the evangelist has the gift of evangelism, and the apostle has the gift of apostleship [see 1 Cor. 12:28-29]). Yes, those who hold the “office” of Elder are to fulfill their calling by pastoring God’s people. But nowhere does the NT say that a person who “pastors” God’s people (however we may end up defining the specific tasks in doing so) is necessarily also an Elder.

(3) Someone also cited Peter’s description of Jesus himself as “the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls” (1 Peter 2:25). So, yes, Jesus both shepherds God’s people and oversees them. But this in no way proves that in a local church a person with the gift of pastoring will always and invariably be an overseer. An overseer in a local church will always and invariably be responsible for pastoring or shepherding God’s people, but the reverse is being assumed, not demonstrated.

My friendly opponent contends that since Jesus shepherds the entire flock, anyone who is a shepherd in the local church has the same extensive authority and responsibility. But Jesus leads and teaches the entire church not because he’s a shepherd, but because he’s Jesus! As Jesus, Lord of all, he shepherds and leads all. But that doesn’t mean that a person in a local church cannot serve as a shepherd or have the spiritual gift of teaching unless he/she exercises authority over the entire congregation. Similarly, Elders shepherd (or pastor) the entire flock not because they have the gift of pastor, but because they are Elders!

(4) Others who responded to me cited Acts 20:28 where Paul urges all the elders in Ephesus to pastor or shepherd God’s people. They concluded from this text, along with Acts 20:17, that Luke also has all three word-groups appearing in this one chapter to refer to the one office. No! That is not what Luke does. He assuredly equates the elder with the bishop/overseer, and assuredly encourages all such elders/bishops/overseers to exercise their gifting as pastors to shepherd God’s flock. But this is not the same thing as saying that “pastor” is an office. Pastoring is a gifting that is to be exercised by those who hold the office of Elder. But nowhere does the NT assert that Elders/Bishops/Overseers are the only ones who can function as pastors.

(5) One friend pushed back against me by saying that to make “pastoring” a non-authoritative gift would strain the clear teaching of the function of a pastor in the New Testament” But what is that “clear teaching”? Where is it clearly taught that to serve as a pastor one is necessarily exercising senior governmental authority? Answer: nowhere! So please listen closely. Those who hold senior governmental authority in the church, that is to say, those who hold the office of Elder/Bishop/Overseer, must also be pastors. But to say it yet again (and yes, I know it is getting repetitive), the reverse is not true. Nowhere are we told that to serve as a “pastor” one must also be an Elder/Bishop/Overseer.

(6) This same individual contends that the pastor teaches, leads, protects, and cares for the entire flock. Again, I have to say, No. The elder/overseer/bishop teaches, leads, protects, and cares for the entire flock. But no NT text says this is what all pastors do.

Consider the analogy with teaching. All Elders must teach. But not all teachers are Elders. Someone can possess the spiritual gift of teaching and make use of it in a variety of contexts in the local church, but that does not mean that this person is therefore also an Elder.

I’m still waiting for someone to show me where all pastors must be Elders. In the absence of such a text, and given the fact that “pastor” is a spiritual gift, not an office, I see no reason why a woman cannot be given that title. As I said above, the way in which a woman can then exercise that spiritual gift without violating 1 Timothy 2:12 will be explained below. I can think of numerous ways, especially as I see some women at my church, who shepherd and care for people in our body but in no way do so in violation of 1 Timothy 2:12.

(7) Another said that my view is an argument from silence that goes like this: “The New Testament doesn’t say that women can’t be pastors, therefore they can.” The point of this pushback is that even though no text says a woman can’t be a pastor, there is good and necessary inference in the NT that provides us with more than enough information to know that a woman can’t be a pastor.

In other words, my friend argues that God has given us clear instruction about the function of a pastor and about whether a woman is permitted to exercise those functions. By good and necessary inference, so he claims, we have more than enough revelation from God’s word to know that God does not approve of women serving as pastors (whether or not one conceives of pastor as an office). According to this argument, in scripture, the primary role of the pastor is leading and teaching the entire flock. And it is these two activities that the Bible explicitly forbids to women (1 Tim. 2:12).

In response to the contention that my case is an “argument from silence” I would simply ask, if it is such an essential element in NT ecclesiology that women can’t be pastors, wouldn’t you think the NT authors would say so explicitly? The silence in this regard is deafening, and quite substantial. Let us also not forget that “the NT doesn’t say that all pastors must be men.” Yet those who take issue with my view insist that they are.

Let’s also apply this line of argumentation to other spiritual gifts. Is it not reasonable to conclude that since the NT doesn’t say that women can’t be evangelists, therefore they can? Or since the NT doesn’t say that women can’t exercise the spiritual gift of faith, therefore they can. And we could do the same with virtually all the spiritual gifts, since none of them is gender specific (with the possible exception of apostleship).

In other words, why should the NT be expected to tell us that women can be pastors, especially if it is a spiritual gift and is not inextricably identified with one gender to the exclusion of the other? So again, nowhere does the NT say that women can’t be exhorters or ones who show mercy or ones who have the gift of giving. We do not dismiss these possibilities because it is an argument from silence. We simply acknowledge that since there is nothing gender specific about faith or exhortation or evangelism or giving or showing mercy that any and all can potentially be the recipient of such gifts.

(8) The objector concedes that it is true that there is no line in scripture that exactly says, “A woman must not be a pastor” or “A woman may not have the gift of pastoring.” But he then goes on to assert that God has given us clear instruction about the function of a pastor and about whether a woman is permitted to exercise those functions.

No, in fact God has done no such thing. He has given us clear instruction about the function of an Elder or Bishop or Overseer (all of which are largely synonymous and interchangeable). All such individuals must be men, and all such men must be pastors. But no text says or suggests that all pastors must be men.

You shouldn’t be bothered by the fact that the NT doesn’t describe the functions of a pastor or provide us with specific qualifications for someone who might be so designated. The NT doesn’t do this for most spiritual gifts. We aren’t told the function of someone who has the gift of word of knowledge or the gift of giving or, for that matter, of any other spiritual gift. But this doesn’t hinder us in identifying when someone displays these charismata. I honestly don’t think it’s all that difficult to know what it means to say someone has the gift of pastor, any more than it is difficult to say that one has the gift of teaching or the gift of tongues or the gift of prophecy, etc.

(9) One individual, in an attempt to refute my position, repeatedly inserts the word “shepherd” in place of Elder to prove his point that the former always has authority over “all the flock” or the entirety of the church. He contends that “the shepherd/pastor metaphor has reference to the entire flock, not parts of it.” No, the office of Elder/Overseer has reference to the entire flock. They are to “pastor” or to “shepherd” the entire flock, but that does not necessarily mean that no one else, of either gender, can serve in a pastoral gifting to the benefit and blessing of a single individual or smaller groups within the body of Christ.

Consider a hypothetical situation at virtually any church. Most local churches have a young man who pastors the youth of their congregation. He is incredibly gifted as a pastor as he leads them, encourages them, prays for them, loves them, and tenderly cares for their spiritual welfare. But he is not an Elder (although one day he likely will become one). Should we not call him a “pastor”? Is he not the shepherd over our youth? No one in the church thinks of him as exerting authority over the entire flock simply because he is referred to as a “pastor”. The same is true of a worship pastor, as well as the pastor who leads discipleship and oversees small groups. They all fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to one who has the spiritual gift of pastor but is not yet an Elder. They both know that the extent of their authority and responsibility is limited.

(10) This same individual again asserts that “the Bible clearly reveals that the pastoral gift involves functions that are exclusive to the office of elder/overseer – namely, the functions of leading and authoritatively teaching the entire flock.” Of course, as you’ve come to expect from me, my response is that the Bible nowhere reveals anything of the sort.

I simply don’t understand how anyone can continue to make such an assertion in the absence of a biblical text that says this. Consider a church that is blessed with a lady who pastors those in her care, prays for them, encourages them, teaches them, rebukes them when needed, and always faithfully loves and guides them, yet she is not an Elder and does not, in the use of her spiritual gift, in any way violate the guidelines of 1 Timothy 2:12.

Do some pastors exercise authority over and teach the entire flock? Absolutely. Elders do. But other pastors may make use of their gifting in less comprehensive ways and without the governing authority that inheres in the office of Elder.

(11) It has also been said that my view is pastorally unwise. What the objector means is that there’s a widespread and longstanding assumption that pastors are office holders and that they do exercise authority/oversight over the whole church.

Of course, I agree with him about how “pastor” is understood in today's world. But this is part of my point that our use of the word “pastor” is more governed or shaped by traditions within the church, as in the way we use language, than it is by Scripture itself. My friends are certainly correct that we would face an uphill battle in re-educating our people, even children, in what it means to be a “pastor”. Perhaps it is a battle we could never win. But I'm still committed to doing everything I can to bring our language into conformity with Scripture rather than merely capitulating to how that language has been used.

I know one lady in particular who had been director of children's ministries for several years. She was extremely pastoral in that she encouraged, prayed for, challenged, instructed, taught, and guarded the people who served under her leadership. She knew she would never be an Elder, nor would any other female at a complementarian church. But I don't know how I can justify biblically not calling her or referring to her in accordance with the spiritual gift that we believe God has given her. Thus, she was given the title, Pastor of Children’s Ministries.

(12) The noun “Pastor”, so I’m told by those who take issue with my view, ordinarily connotes preaching and overseeing. The word “pastor” in the English-speaking world today is taken, by almost everyone who knows the word, to refer to a person with official leadership in the local church that ordinarily involves preaching and governing. Thus, “pastor” would be roughly the same as lead elders or overseers. That’s the ordinary meaning of the word in English. So, the question becomes, should a word with that ordinary meaning in English be used to refer to laypeople in the church, whether men or women, who do not have that kind of official leadership role of preaching and teaching and governing as elders and overseers? The answer given by this individual is, No.

I concede that this person is correct when he says that in the English-speaking world the word “pastor” ordinarily refers to a person with official leadership and governing authority. That is precisely why I wrote these articles, to argue that this shouldn’t be permitted, that it is inconsistent with the way the word is used in the NT. The objector’s point is not an argument against referring to women as pastors but a simple acknowledgment as to why it typically isn’t.

(13) This same individual pointed out that Greek has only one word for shepherd and pastor: poimēn. Aside from Ephesians 4:11, the English word “pastor” never occurs in the ESV. In fact, it doesn’t even appear there, as the ESV translates poimēn with the English word “shepherd.” He then argues that if I really want to recover NT language, a case could be made for calling people “shepherds” and not “pastors.” He concludes by saying that it’s highly misleading to claim that in applying the word pastor to laypeople, we are recovering New Testament usage. That’s highly misleading when the word pastor does not even occur in the ESV, and only once does it occur in other versions.

But I don’t see how this is an argument against the legitimacy of referring to some women as pastors. All that has been done is to point out the obvious, a fact that no one denies, namely, that the Greek word poimēn can be rendered either “shepherd” or “pastor” and that perhaps we should refer to local church leaders as “shepherds” rather than “pastors”. In other words, my friend has argued that the very word “pastor” itself is not the most accurate English term to translate poimēn, but that “shepherd” is more accurate. So? What does this prove? How is this an argument against applying the Greek word poimēn or the English word “shepherd” to women?

(14) Related to several points made earlier by those objecting to my argument, this person once again asserts that Elders and overseers shepherd the flock. He contends that when the apostles Peter and Paul describe church leaders as doing the work of a shepherd (with the verb poimainō, which has the same root as the noun poimēn), they were thought of not as laypeople, but as elders and overseers.

Respectfully, No, I would suggest that Peter and Paul do no such thing. They do not identify shepherding with the task of overseeing. Rather they identify overseeing as involving shepherding. Yes, all overseers are to shepherd or pastor people. But nowhere do Peter or Paul or any other NT author say that anyone who has the spiritual gift of pastoring necessarily serves as an overseer. It is one thing to say that all Elders “pastor” or “shepherd” God’s flock. It is another thing entirely to say that no one else does. All Elders are also called on to “teach” the flock, but no one would argue that teaching is the exclusive responsibility of Elders. So why is it argued that everyone who has the gift of pastoring must be an elder/overseer? Of course, one more thing that this individual has failed to do is address the argument I put forth that pastoring is a spiritual gift, not an authoritative office.

An appeal was also made to John 21:16, where Jesus says to the apostle Peter, “Shepherd my sheep.” So, not only is there no New Testament word that corresponds to pastor as distinct from shepherd, but the idea of shepherding in the New Testament was consistently associated with the leadership of elders and overseers.

Yes, it was “consistently associated with the leadership of elders and overseers” in that to be an elder one must also pastor or shepherd God’s flock. But what this person assumes and fails to demonstrate is that a person who has the spiritual gift of pastoring is always an elder. That is something the NT nowhere asserts.

Another thing Peter says is that all elders/overseers are to be “examples” to the flock. But does this mean that someone who isn’t an elder can’t serve as an “example” to God’s people? Of course not. All elders must be “one-woman” men, that is, faithful to their spouse. But non-elders also are called on to be faithful to their spouse. So my point is simple: the fact that the NT twice (Acts 20:28; 1 Peter 5:1-2) exhorts elders to pastor/shepherd God’s flock does not mean that only elders pastor/shepherd God’s flock.

As I pointed out earlier, it is not at all difficult to understand how one may “pastor” or “shepherd” God’s people without holding an authoritative office. Here at my church we have more than a few women who encourage and warn and counsel and teach and exhort and pray for and lovingly rebuke other believers and provide profound and extremely wise and timely insight into situations that call for decisive action and yet they are not Elders.

They serve in areas of women’s ministry, inner healing and deliverance, lead evangelistic outreaches and often supply practical guidance to many who are facing challenging circumstances. And those are only a few of the ministry tasks into which they speak and provide leadership. And all this occurs as only called and qualified men continue to exercise authoritative governance as Elders/Overseers. As I have watched and greatly benefited from what these women do, I have no hesitation in contending that what they bring to the life of God’s people is a result of their having received the spiritual gift of pastoring.

(15) Continuing along the previous line of argumentation, this person says that the title pastor for a woman undermines the New Testament teaching on church leadership. Giving the title “pastor” to a woman is going to inevitably communicate, over time, especially to our young people growing up in the church and to people newer to the church, that the office of pastor, as almost everyone understands it in English, is properly filled by women.

My response is to say, not necessarily. It won’t undermine the NT teaching on leadership if we take the time to teach our people, especially our young people, that the NT explicitly restricts the office of elder/overseer to men. It won’t undermine the NT teaching on leadership if we labor to explain how the NT term poimēn is actually used, how that it isn’t said to be solely the responsibility of elders, that it is a spiritual gift and not an office.

In fact, it is precisely part of the responsibility of elders/overseers to take steps to ensure that our young people understand how biblical language is used, how not all elders possess every spiritual gift, how non-elders may often possess the same spiritual gifts that elders do, and that nowhere does the NT teach that only elders are gifted to pastor God’s people.

There are other NT words that need to be carefully explained to our people that otherwise might cause confusion, words like “predestination” and “election” and “fornication” and “homosexuality.” If we should discover that many of our young people are investing in these words meanings and implications that are inconsistent with Scripture, we must take steps to inform and instruct them otherwise. And that is precisely what I am advocating for in the use of the word “pastor” or “shepherd.”

I respectfully rest my case.