The Pastor

Jeremiah 17:16 KJV

As for me, I have not hastened from being a pastor to follow thee: neither have I desired the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was right before thee.

The word pastor or pastors is only found nine times in the Bible. Eight of those times is in the Old Testament and each of those eight is in the book of Jeremiah. He refers to the pastors almost always negatively. But this once we find it used in the most positive way; Jeremiah identifies himself as a pastor and claims that is means to follow the Lord. Jeremiah's point is that he had not taken this role too hastily, had only done it after the leading of the Lord and saw himself in this role as a follower of the Lord.

The term is only used one time in the New Testament (though the concept of the pastor as a shepherd is used many times in the Epistles) and that very positively. I suspect Baptists began using this term for the shepherd of their congregations because of it connection with Jeremiah.

• It is a role taken only after God's obvious leadership
• It is an office accepted with caution and humble dependence upon the Lord
• It is a position under the Lord Jesus Christ; not so much a position of leadership but followship
• It is a position of equipping in the local church
• It is a not to be take lightly as is noted by the negative references throughout Jeremiah's book.